Radio Havana Cuba-13 December 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 13 December 2000 . *CUBA HAS ONE OF LOWEST INFANT MORTALITY AND HIGHEST LIFE EXPECTANCY RATES *RUSSIAN FEDERATION PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN ARRIVES IN HAVANA LATE TONIGHT *CUBA WILL CONTINUE TO DENOUNCE WASHINGTON'S COMPLICITY IN TERRORISM *INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL "PLAZA 2000" KICKS OFF IN HAVANA *CUBAN ECONOMISTS DEMAND THE EXTRADITION OF INTL TERRORIST POSADA CARRILES *CUBA HOSTS CHINESE DELEGATION *Viewpoint: DEMOCRACY ... US STYLE . *CUBA HAS ONE OF LOWEST INFANT MORTALITY AND HIGHEST LIFE EXPECTANCY RATES Havana, December 13 (RHC)--Cuba has been placed among the 23 countries in the world with the highest life expectancy of 76 years, according to Cuba's Health Minister Carlos Dotres. The Cuban Health official made the statements during the inauguration of the first national conference of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. With the participation of some 300 delegates from nine countries, Dotres offered a master conference that outlined the universal character of the free and accessible Cuban public health care system. The Cuban Health Minister also added that the island was placed among the first 19 nations in the world with the lowest infant mortality rate despite Washington's almost 40-year old economic blockade against the island. Dr. Leonardo Perez, representative of the International Health Promotion and Education Association, said that the conference included exchanges of experience and knowledge between doctors, nurses, technicians, teachers, journalists and other specialists. Other participants to the event include the President of the Federation of Cuban Women, the coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, and Dr. Gabriel Montalvan, representative of the World Health Organization in Cuba, among other important figures. *RUSSIAN FEDERATION PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN ARRIVES IN HAVANA LATE TONIGHT Havana, December 13 (RHC)-- The president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, is due to arrive in the Cuban capital late Wednesday night, leading a delegation of more than 80 business representatives. The Russian leader is visiting Cuba at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart, President Fidel Castro. Earlier this week, during an interview in Moscow, Vladimir Putin stated that his country's relations with Havana are excellent and will be even better with this visit to the island. The Russian president added that he always thought the deterioration of relations some ten years ago between Russia and Cuba was a mistake and called for a renewal of those traditional relations. And the Russian leader called for an immediate end to the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba. Putin stated that Washington's blockade cannot be rationalized from any point of view -- emphasising that U.S. sanctions are illegal according to international law. The Russian president told reporters in Moscow that Cuba is his country's principle trading partner in Latin America and that he has intentions of reenforcing those ties during his visit to Havana. *CUBA WILL CONTINUE TO DENOUNCE WASHINGTON'S COMPLICITY IN TERRORISM Havana, December 13 (RHC)-- Cuba will continue to denounce terrorism practiced by the United States against the island. During a speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, Cuba's Ambassador to the world body, Bruno Rodriguez, called on all member-nations to fight against terrorism -- specifically pointing to U.S.-sponsored terrorist activities against the island. The UN ambassador spoke in favor of a resolution against all forms of terrorism. Cuba voted in favor of the resolution, which was passed by an overwhelming majority. Bruno Rodriguez put the issue of terrorism in its proper context -- condemning the terrorist activities of Luis Posada Carriles and noting that he had received training and assistance from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Following the Cuban ambassador's comments, the U.S. delegation asked for the floor and said that Cuba was out of order. The U.S. representative, Robert B. Rosenstock, claimed that the Cuban ambassador was falsely accusing Washington of sponsoring terrorism. He said that Washington was tired of hearing what he called "the same old diatribes" from Cuba. UN Ambassador Bruno Rodriguez responded with a heated response, listing -- with facts and specific dates -- exactly when Luis Posada Carriles and his terrorist accomplices were in the United States and received aid and assistance from numerous U.S. administrations. Rodriguez said that Posada Carriles had received direct support from the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations. The United Nations moderator of the discussion interceded after the ten-minute limit expired, asking that Cuba's ambassador wrap up his speech. Bruno Rodriguez requested an additional 30 seconds -- emphasizing that Havana has much more documented evidence on Washington's ties to terrorism against the Cuban Revolution -- but that it would take much longer than ten minutes to list them all. *INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL "PLAZA 2000" KICKS OFF IN HAVANA Havana, December 13 (RHC)--The International Jazz Festival "Plaza 2000" kicked off Wednesday night in Havana with a concert by renowned Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes and his Spanish counterpart Chano Dominguez. The International Jazz Festival "Jazz Plaza 2000," which will run until the 17th December will have important musicians from 15 countries participating in concerts and workshops in different locations around the Cuban capital. This year's jazz festival will be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the great US trumpet player and singer, Louis Armstrong. Musicians from the blues and jazz city of New Orleans will be on hand. *CUBAN ECONOMISTS DEMAND THE EXTRADITION OF INTL TERRORIST POSADA CARRILES Havana, December 13 (RHC)--Participants in the 5th Congress of Cuba's Economists Association currently underway in Havana, have demanded that Cuban-born terrorist Luis Posada Carriles be extradited to Cuba. Posada Carriles was arrested in Panama for entering the country with false documents and planning the assassination of Cuban President Fidel Castro during the 10th Ibero-American Summit. The over 400 delegates and guests to the event urged that terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and accomplices be judged in Havana by an international court in accordance with the serious crimes that he has committed against the Cuban people. Posada Carriles has admitted to his involvement of the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner with the loss of 73 lives, and the 1997 bombing of hotel in Havana with the loss of one life and many injured. The Congress of the Association of Cuban Economists -- which will wind up on Thursday at Havana's International Convention Center -- is discussing the current Cuban economy, the international situation in the light of global economics, the quality of life of the island's population, internal financial controls, the fight against economic crime, public accountability and much more. During the inaugural event, the President of the Economic Commission of the Cuban Parliament, Osvaldo Martinez provided statistics and figures indicating the negative consequences of an unfettered free market for the majority of humanity. *CUBA HOSTS CHINESE DELEGATION Havana, December 13 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro met Tuesday night in Havana with a Chinese delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Shi Guengsheng. The Chinese Minister is heading the 13th Cuba-China Joint Economic Commission whose agreements were signed on Wednesday. The two sides had come to agreements on bilateral issues and cooperation. Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage also met with the delegation, providing information on the island's economy and referring to the effects of oil price hikes and the reduction of the prices of sugar in the international market. Cuba, he explained, has nonetheless been able to economically grow in spite of the hardships and privations of the Special Period. *Viewpoint: DEMOCRACY ... US STYLE The magnitude of the political scandal that has hit the world's only super-power has sent reverberations around the world. The nation that lectures the world on how to run a democracy -- including elections -- has been shamed into admitting that its problems are similar if not worse than those of many of the Third World countries whose electoral systems it criticizes. Tuesday's decision by the US Supreme Court took a full month after the nation's presidential elections took place. It has effectively put an end to the political battle, opening the way for the Republican candidate George W Bush to enter the White House in January. But it also helped put an end to any notion that the system was "Democratic." This is not the first time in the history of the United States that a candidate has won the election without gaining a majority of the popular vote. This time, however, the very credibility of US so-called Democracy is on the line. Democracy that involves a national voter absentee rate of 50 percent. Democracy that, consequently (and given the vote that Al Gore received), allows the man who takes over as president in January to do so with the support of less than 25 percent of the electorate. Democracy that refuses to allow a serious alternative contender for the presidency to publicly debate the other two principle candidates on national TV. Democracy that allows a state legislature such as Florida's to ignore the vote of its people and decide for themselves who will or will not be given the electoral votes so essential to win this election. Thus, for the first time in its history, a state legislative body of a little over 100 representatives has effectively elected the US president. Democracy that allows two US Supreme Court justices to vote on such an important issue when they both have clear conflicts of interest in doing so. Justice Thomas's wife being directly involved in the Bush campaign, and Justice Scalia's two sons hired as attorneys for two law firms representing the Bush campaign in its arguments to the Supreme Court (and thus, their father) itself. Hardly the notion of the true democratic representational system Washington pundits and politicians are forever lecturing the rest of the world about. Most of the countries that Washington roundly criticizes for not having "democratic" elections have a second round of voting when the first is contested so closely -- but not the self-proclaimed champion of Democracy. The U.S. Supreme Court is the country's highest judicial body and an appeal against any of its rulings has little chance of success. The electoral votes of the state of Florida have been stolen from the people by their so-called representatives and apportioned along strictly partisan lines in a winner-take-all system that defies every notion of Democracy. A new chapter of U.S. electoral history will begin with Bush's inauguration on January 20th 2001. It is too early to say if the status quo that passes for US Democracy will be maintained in the light of this election scandal, but most experts say that once the dust settles everyone will get back to living the same routine. However, there will be many who will nonetheless recall that the man in charge of what he calls the "Greatest Democracy on Earth" for the next four years, will have to come to terms with the fact that he won the election on the political whim of the legislature of his own brother's state without the support of the vast majority of his people. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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-22667 2000-Dec-14 07:12:28