Radio Havana Cuba-25 July 2000 02:00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 25 July 2000 02:00 . *CUBA'S STRUGGLE AGAINST WASHINGTON'S HOSTILE POLICIES WILL CONTINUE *TRAFFICKING OF HUMAN BEINGS FROM CUBA TO FLORIDA: AN INDUSTRY THAT GROWS DAILY *YOUNG PASTORS FOR PEACE CARAVANISTAS PLAY BALL IN HAVANA *U.S. MAYOR CALLS ON WASHINGTON TO LIFT SANCTIONS AGAINST CUBA *MEMBERS OF CUBAN-AMERICAN ALLIANCE ARRIVE IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL *CUBA AND FAO SIGN THREE COOPERATION PROJECTS *CUBAN WORKERS CONTRIBUTE OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS TO HEALTH PROGRAMS *FURNITURE INDUSTRY SURPASSES 50 PERCENT OF ANNUAL PRODUCTION PLAN *Viewpoint: THE WORST AND MOST DIFFICULT IS YET TO COME . *CUBA'S STRUGGLE AGAINST WASHINGTON'S HOSTILE POLICIES WILL CONTINUE Havana, July 24 (RHC)-- Cuba's struggle against Washington's hostile policies will continue. According to a front-page editorial published in Monday's editions of the Cuban news dailies Granma, Juventud Rebelde and Trabajadores, the Cuban Adjustment Act grants residency and special treatment to illegal Cuban immigrants who reach U.S. territory. The editorial points to many recent cases of Cubans whose lives were placed in danger while attempting to benefit from such treatment, not given to immigrants of any other nationality. Challenging Washington to grant the same treatment to others -- including Mexicans, whose country, along with Canada and the United States, forms part of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the editorial states that the Cuban Adjustment Act should be completely eliminated. Regarding Washington's blockade and economic war against Cuba, the editorial recalls that the 1948 Convention to Prevent Genocide and the 1949 Convention for the Protection of Civilians During Times of War -- both signed by Cuba and the United States -- clearly prohibit any country from denying another nation food and medicine. In terms of recent moves to lift restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba, the editorial states that without U.S. government or private credits -- which would not be allowed -- and due to the damage the blockade has inflicted on the Cuban economy, Cuba would be unable to purchase food and medicine under those conditions. The editorial states that on the morning of July 26th, Cuba's national holiday, there will be a massive march in the capital to once again destroy Washington's lies and hypocrisy and send the message of the Cuban people to all corners of the world. Forty years have demonstrated that efforts to destroy a revolutionary process that has brought so much social justice, education and ethics to the Cuban people have not been and will never be successful. . *TRAFFICKING OF HUMAN BEINGS FROM CUBA TO FLORIDA: AN INDUSTRY THAT GROWS DAILY New York, July 24 (RHC)-- The trafficking of human beings from Cuba to Florida is an industry that is growing daily, according to the national newspaper USA Today. An article in Monday's edition of the news daily asserts that people being taken to the United States are rarely arrested, while those actually carrying out the contraband operations were not arrested or charged until just recently. USA Today writes that the rapid manner in which Cuban baseball player Andy Morales made a second attempt to reach U.S. shores reveals a great deal concerning the audacity of the traffickers in human beings and the special status that U.S. immigration authorities grant to illegal Cubans. According to the newspaper, the U.S. Coast Guard arrested 206 Cubans off the coasts of Florida in 1996, while so far this year, the number of those detained stands at 1334. The article quotes an immigration law expert who said that had Andy Morales been Haitian, he would have been immediately deported. . *YOUNG PASTORS FOR PEACE CARAVANISTAS PLAY BALL IN HAVANA Havana, July 24 (RHC)-- Young caravanistas with the Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan played ball with their Cuban counterparts Sunday morning. In the first of three games slated during their stay here in the Cuban capital, the Cuban youngsters -- ages 11 and 12 -- won 17 to 9, with 10 hits and two errors, compared to nine hits and five errors on the part of the U.S. caravanistas. The youngsters -- from Los Angeles, California -- form part of the 67 members of the 10th Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan that arrived in Cuba last Friday. The caravan crossed the border into Mexico on Wednesday, without requesting U.S. Treasury Department authorization. Following a simple ceremony at the ballpark Sunday morning, Pastors for Peace leader, the Reverend Lucius Walker, threw the first pitch of the game. The remaining two games will be held on Tuesday and Thursday. Sports equipment for Cuban school children was included in the humanitarian donations the caravanistas brought to Cuba. . *U.S. MAYOR CALLS ON WASHINGTON TO LIFT SANCTIONS AGAINST CUBA Havana, July 24 (RHC)-- The mayor of the U.S. city of Oakland, Jerry Brown, has called on Washington to lift sanctions against Cuba. Mayor Brown is currently visiting Cuba, aimed at establishing a sister city association between his city in eastern California and the eastern Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba. During a meeting Monday morning with the president of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, the Oakland mayor recalled that two years ago, the Oakland Municipal Council passed a resolution calling on U.S. President Bill Clinton to eliminate all unilateral sanctions imposed on the Caribbean island during the Cold War Era. . *MEMBERS OF CUBAN-AMERICAN ALLIANCE ARRIVE IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, July 24 (RHC)-- Officials from the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) welcomed members of the Cuban-American Alliance, an organization based in the United States. The director of the Cuba Office at the Foreign Ministry, Jose Cabanas, met with members of the group Monday morning. They discussed the current situation on the island, relations between Cubans living in the U.S. and Cuba, and the return of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez. Cabanas stressed the importance of the Cuban-American community's support in the struggle for the return of Elian to Cuba. He praised their work to end the almost 40-year-old blockade against the island and the criminal Cuban Adjustment Act, which encourages illegal departures from Cuba. The president of the Cuban-American Alliance, Delvis Fernandez, said that during the illegal kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez in Miami, the vast majority of Cuban- Americans were in favor of his immediate return to Cuba. He stated that this was not reflected by the mass media, which only gave press to the ultra-right wing minority in Miami. During their stay on the island, members of the Cuban-American Alliance will meet with Cuban officials to discuss issues related to the Cuban economy, tourism, the National Assembly and future relations between Cubans abroad and on the island. . *CUBA AND FAO SIGN THREE COOPERATION PROJECTS Havana, July 24 (RHC)-- Cuba and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have signed three important cooperation agreements. The projects, including international aid, were signed by the Cuban Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Marta Lomas and the FAO representative in Cuba, Fernando Robayo. Financed with nearly 600,000 dollars provided by Holland, one of the projects is aimed at supporting Cuba's natural resource conservation program in the Zapata Swamp. The other two projects sponsored by the FAO, worth 200,000 and 235,000 dollars, are aimed at the recovery of the fruit sector in Cuba and setting up a national strategy to fight forest fires. On hand at the signing ceremony were the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Havana, Cornelia Minderhoud, and United Nations System Coordinator in Cuba, Luis Gomez Echeverri, as well as officials from the Cuban Interior Ministry and Agriculture Ministry. . *CUBAN WORKERS CONTRIBUTE OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS TO HEALTH PROGRAMS Cienfuegos, July 24 (RHC)-- Cuban workers in the sectors of gastronomy, commerce and services have contributed more than 500,000 dollars over the past four years to the National Cancer Treatment Program. Irma Teresa Consuegra, General Secretary of the National Union of Gastronomy, Commerce and Services Workers, explained that during the current year, workers of the CIMEX Corporation have pledged to donate 180,000 dollars to the public health sector. Of that amount, the workers have already contributed more than 71,000 dollars. . *FURNITURE INDUSTRY SURPASSES 50 PERCENT OF ANNUAL PRODUCTION PLAN Batabano, July 24 (RHC)-- The Cuban Furniture Industry has already surpassed 50 percent of its production plan of over 100,000 pieces of furniture for the upcoming school year. The industry produces furniture for boarding schools island-wide, providing them with bunk beds, school desks and computer tables, as well as 40,000 mattresses. Furniture is also produced for tourists, destined for hotels in Cayo Largo, such as the Linda Arena Hotel, which is in its final phase of completion. The Cuban Furniture Industry employs more than 500 workers and its annual production plan surpasses eight million Cuban pesos. . The following is an English-language version of an editorial that appeared in Cuban newspapers and was broadcast on radio and television on Monday, July 24th: *Viewpoint: THE WORST AND MOST DIFFICULT IS YET TO COME The return of Elian Gonzalez was a victory for the people of Cuba and a serious reversal for the right wing extremists in Miami. Throughout the affair, the people of the United States showed their support for the Cuban boy and his family and spoke out against the aggressions of their past and present administrations against this island. Here in Cuba, the people were able to demonstrate complete solidarity and untiring strength in the face of the myths and lies perpetrated about them and their country. Their high level of education, morals and political consciousness enabled the Cuban people to prevail, although it would be naive to think that the struggle is over. The kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez was the fruit of the Cuban Adjustment Act. Eleven people died on the boat that took him to sea. Who knows how many others have drowned and how many more will perish. Scores of other children have had their lives put at risk in these crossings since Elian returned. People who deal in human beings for profit, often using vessels that are not seaworthy, organize these dangerous trips. A group of 37 people were recently found on an uninhabited island in the Bahamas after five days without food and water. One of them was an unconscious little girl who was flown to a hospital in Florida. And not a word was heard afterwards. The government of the United States consistently denies all information relating to children that have been illegally taken to the country and rarely prosecutes those responsible for this trade in human beings. In fact, the U.S. intercepts very few vessels on the open seas, in clear violation of migratory accords between both nations. The Cuban Adjustment Act continues to entice these people with promises of automatic residency and an improved economic situation in the U.S. if they reach dry land. Such are the promises inherent in this Act, that a Cuban woman recently took her daughter on the risky journey, only a few days after the child had undergone heart surgery; an operation that would have cost tens of thousands of dollars in the country to which she was going, supposedly to improve her economic situation, but which was performed free-of-charge in Cuba. No one knows how many Haitians and Dominicans perish at sea in their attempt to reach the U.S. For them, reaching dry land does not provide them with the same guarantees. Three hundred Mexicans die every year attempting to cross the wall that separates their country from the United States. Yet, along with Canada, Mexico is a partner with the U.S. in the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA. Free trade obviously does not apply to the movement of nationals. Thus, the U.S. allows the trade of Cubans and denies the same right to other economic migrants. Either the whole region should be granted the same treatment or the Cuban Adjustment Act should be revoked. The genocidal and criminal blockade imposed on Cuba has the sad glory of being the longest in history. The U.S. government has clearly lost control of the unjust economic measures brought against the island. The recent initiative to authorize the sale of food and medicine to Cuba reflects the desire by an increasing number of legislators to put an end to this genocide, which is clearly defined in the 1948 and 1949 international conventions relating to genocide and civilians in time of war -- conventions to which both the United States and Cuba are signatories. The deprivation of food and medicine to civilians is prohibited by international law -- even during times of war. The Cuban-American right wing mafia fiercely opposes the lifting of restrictions on the sale of food and medicine, but even if current efforts in this regard succeed in the U.S. Congress, it would be impossible to reconcile this with the laws and amendments that make up the blockade. A country that continues to suffer losses that have already reached some $100 million is in no condition to purchase food and medicine while an economic war continues to be waged against it. Yet, we are expected to be grateful for the smallest scrap tossed to us in the supposed reduction of the blockade. The conditions under which the restrictions on the sale of food and medicine have been partially lifted are unacceptable and resolve absolutely nothing. On the morning of July 26th, to commemorate the attack on the Moncada Barracks and honor those who were killed that day -- the beginning of our Revolution -- a huge march will take place in Havana to demand an end to the economic war that affects every one of the 11 million Cubans every day of their lives. We will not abandon our efforts midway, but will struggle until the very end of this political battle. We will fight every one of the lies and every act of hypocrisy. To the people of the United States, we will grant every consideration and respect. We do not fight against them, but against an indefensible and criminal policy. We defend the right of the people of the United States to visit us -- to come and see for themselves, to learn the truth about our island. We defend their right to sell agricultural and industrial products to us and to invest in our economy if they so desire. The size of our economy is unimportant, but the right of U.S. citizens and residents to enjoy cultural and economic exchange with any nation on earth is a right that only an unethical policy would ignore. For 41 years, we have demonstrated that the policy of attempting to destroy a Revolution of such equality, social justice, education and ethical values was and will continue to be useless. It will simply never happen. Any attempt to overturn these gains will have enormous political and human costs for our enemy. The Cuban Adjustment Act kills. The genocidal blockade and the economic war against the island of Cuba must and will end. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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