Radio Havana Cuba News - 4 April 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 4 April 2000 -NEW HAVANA PLAZA FACING US INTEREST SECTION HONORS MARTI -U.S. GRANTS VISA, PROMISES CUSTODY TO ELIAN'S FATHER -CUBANS MARK 38th ANNIVERSARY OF THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE -PRE-ELECTORAL PROCESS IN CUBA: MUNICIPAL PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS -BUSINESS DELEGATION FROM ANDALUSIA VISITS CUBA -Viewpoint: THE FIRST SOUTH SUMMIT JOSE MARTI ANTI-IMPERIALIST TRIBUNE INAUGURATED IN FRONT OF U.S. INTERESTS SECTION IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, April 4 (RHC)-- A permanent stage, set on a newly-built plaza in front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, was the scene Monday evening of yet another denunciation of the illegal kidnapping of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez. The plaza -- named the Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Tribune -- was formally inaugurated with a special program that not only called for the immediate return of Elian to his father, but also demanded an end to Washington's hostile policies toward the island. Together with Cuban President Fidel Castro and delegates attending the 12th Congress of Latin American and Caribbean Students here in Havana, more than 10,000 gathered for the political and cultural program -- with music, poetry readings and statements by Jose Marti and other anti-imperialist fighters. Singer/songwriter Silvio Rodriguez played for the excited crowd, along with performances by Sara Gonzalez, Amaury Perez and other leaders of Cuba's New Song Movement. Monday night's special program ended with a fireworks display, lighting up the sky over the Cuban capital. The new plaza is located on Havana's seaside drive, known as the Malecon, directly in front of the building that houses the U.S. Interests Section. It marks the site where the first open tribunes were held in early December, shortly after the kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez. Construction of the Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Tribune began inmid-January and workers labored day and night to complete the monumental structure. Four enormous steel arches, erected on concrete pedestals, were built to support lighting and audio equipment. One of the pedestals has the names of U.S. citizens honored in Cuba -- among them, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and the Martyrs of Haymarket Square. Another pedestal bears the names of Latin American patriots -- including Simon Bolivar, Salvador Allende, Augusto Cesar Sandino, Omar Torrijos and Pedro Albizu Campos. A third pedestal honors Ernesto Che Guevara, Karl Marx, Frederick Engels and Vladimir Illich Lenin. A bronze sculpture of Cuba's National Hero Jose Marti holds a small child in one arm, while his other hand points an accusing finger directly at the door of the U.S. Interests Section. U.S. AUTHORITIES SAY CUSTODY OF ELIAN GONZALEZ WILL BE GRANTED TO HIS FATHER, JUAN MIGUEL GONZALEZ, WHO RECEIVES ENTRY VISA Washington, April 4 (RHC)-- The U.S. State Department has announced that custody of Elian Gonzalez will be granted to his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who has been issued an entry visa. Juan Miguel, his second wife, their six-month-old son, one of Elian's 10-year-old cousins, a child psychiatrist and Elian's kindergarten teacher have been granted visas to travel to the United States. U.S. authorities clarified, however, that Elian will be turned over to his father by means of a "gradual process" to avoid further emotional damage. The announcement by the U.S. government changed the course of negotiations Monday evening between the attorneys of the distant relatives holding the child in Miami and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The INS once again postponed the suspension of Elian's temporary migratory status, resuming talks this morning. But, by early Tuesday afternoon, those talks were suspended once again without an agreement. The attorneys of Elian's kidnappers are reportedly demanding that a panel of child psychologists determine whether or not the boy should return to this father in Cuba. The INS says that any group of child psychologists would only be used to determine the best way to facilitate Elian's repatriation. U.S. authorities are now reportedly concentrating on how and where the child should be turned over to his father. If Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, continues refusing to surrender the child, the Justice Department will ask a federal judge to issue an order forcing him to do so. If he refuses to obey that order, he could face arrest. Elian's father will probably have to remain in the United States until the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta hears the case, expected to take place in early May. Havana is still awaiting authorization for another 22 entry visas for some of Elian's classmates and others who can help the child to readapt. CUBANS MARK 38th ANNIVERSARY OF THE YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE Havana, April 4 (RHC)-- Cuban young people who have made good grades in school or excelled on the job received recognition during a ceremony held on Tuesday in Havana to mark the 38th anniversary of Cuba's Young Communist League (UJC). As part of the activity, 38 Cuban students received the Julio Antonio Mella Award as well as the Jose Antonio Echevarria and the Abel Santamaria Orders, granted by Cuba's Council of State. Today, April 4th, also marks the 39th anniversary of the Jose Marti Pioneer Organization, made up of grade school children throughout Cuba. To mark the date, a group of renowned Cuban personalities and institutions received the Little Pink Shoes Award, named after a poem dedicated to children by Cuba's National Hero Jose Marti. PRE-ELECTORAL PROCESS CONTINUES IN CUBA; PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS AT MUNICIPAL LEVEL SLATED FOR LATER THIS MONTH Havana, April 4 (RHC)-- The biographies and photos of candidates to the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power were posted Tuesday in public places throughout Cuba -- part of a process island-wide to elect deputies to the Parliament next April 23rd. In Cuba, campaign spending is not an issue. Candidates do not spend tens of millions on campaign publicity; in fact, they spend absolutely nothing. The only campaigning allowed is a photo along with a short biography listing one's achievements. Those running for office are known by their neighbors and co-workers, who nominate their own representatives. Thus far, 31,000 candidates have been nominated at neighborhood meetings across the island. Once elected, delegates to the Cuban Parliament serve without a salary. In Cuba's participatory democracy, serving the people is considered a duty and a privilege, not a career. BUSINESS DELEGATION FROM ANDALUSIA VISITS CUBA Havana, April 4 (RHC)-- A delegation from the Chamber of Commerce, industry and shipping of Malaga, in the Spanish autonomous region of Andalusia, is currently in Cuba to explore possibilities for strengthened bilateral cooperation with the Caribbean island. The delegation, made up of some 20 business executives, brought with them samples of products manufactured in that Spanish autonomous region, which cover sectors such as real estate, tourism and the textile industry. This is the second visit to Cuba of a delegation from Malaga's Chamber of Commerce. Their agenda on the island also includes contacts with Cuban business representatives in the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Matanzas, as well as a tour of the world famous Varadero Beach Resort. RHC Viewpoint: THE FIRST SOUTH SUMMIT: UNITY OF ACTION AND MUTUAL COOPERATION At the beginning of next week, over 50 heads of state and government of the Group of 77 will meet in Havana to celebrate the first South Summit. The gathering is named after the underdeveloped countries that occupy most of the Southern hemisphere. These nations, affected by unequal economic exchange with the industrialized North, have realized that the solution to their problems depends on unity of action and mutual cooperation. These nations have suffered poverty, desperate health conditions and ignorance without hope for a viable solution since the end of European Colonialism. The policy traditionally followed by the world powers regarding these nations, which are a majority, has been to foment disunity and isolation and to exploit the South's natural resources to feed the powerful, developed North. The Third World has begun to realize that its primary political and strategic need is unity. Only if Third World countries unite will they have the strength to negotiate something they have historically lacked. The foreign debt of the Southern hemisphere has mounted to billions of dollars, an amount that can never be repaid under current international economic conditions. Every year, these countries are forced to earmark a considerable part of their national income to pay the interest on the debt if they wish continued access to new credits. But with every new credit, debt grows and the possibilities of investing in social and economic development vanish. If Third World countries do not politically unite, medieval philosopher Machiaveli's sinister formula "Divide and Conquer" will continue serving the Northern powers. The underdeveloped countries must not allow the New Millennium to begin under those premises; they must unite to defend their common positions and problems. The upcoming South Summit in Havana will be an opportunity for the nations of the South to take a step in that direction. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba. All rights reserved. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= rhc-eng-10107 2000-Apr-05 00:48:42