Radio Havana Cuba-16 June 2000 01:00
 
 
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 16 June 2000 01:00


*THE LEGAL MANEUVERS CONTINUE: KIDNAPPERS APPEAL TO ATLANTA... AGAIN
*"KIDNAPPERS WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO PREVENT ELIAN'S RETURN" -- ALARCON
*UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT BEGINS OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA
*PRESIDENT OF AUTONOMOUS REGION OF MURCIA MEETS WITH CUBAN OFFICIALS
*COMMEMORATIVE STAMP ISSUED IN CUBA TO HONOR CHE GUEVARA
*14TH BOLEROS DE ORO FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN EASTERN CAMAGUEY PROVINCE
*IBERO AMERICAN SINGERS JOIN IN MUSIC FOR SOLIDARITY
*FIRST CARIBBEAN GASTRONOMY FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA
*NEW BOOK ON GUANTANAMO SHEDS LIGHT ON THE HISTORIC US-CUBA DIFFERENCES
*US EXECUTIVES ONCE AGAIN LOBBY FOR FOOD & MEDICINE SALES TO CUBA
*Viewpoint: FUTURE OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION GUARANTEED


*THE LEGAL MANEUVERS CONTINUE: KIDNAPPERS APPEAL TO ATLANTA... AGAIN

Atlanta, June 15 (RHC)-- Attorneys for the Miami kidnappers of six-year-old
Elian Gonzalez have appealed their case to the full Atlanta Court of
Appeals. The appeal -- to review an earlier three-judge decision rejecting a
hearing for political asylum for the young Cuban boy -- will now go to all
12-members of the same court.

Observers agree that the appeal, coming on the very last day granted for the
judicial action, is nothing more than another legal maneuver to delay the
inevitable return of Elian to his home in Cuba. According to legal experts,
the case will now go to the full panel of judges at the 11th Circuit Court
of Appeals in Atlanta for their review. If they uphold the decision of the
three judges who ruled two weeks ago that Elian is not entitled to an asylum
hearing, the case can then be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In this morning's edition of the Cuban news daily Juventud Rebelde, a
front-page article -- anticipating the latest maneuver of the Miami
kidnappers -- calls the appeal yet another attempt to delay Elian's return
to the island.


*"KIDNAPPERS WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO PREVENT ELIAN'S RETURN" -- ALARCON

Havana, June 15 (RHC)-- Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon,
responding to Thursday's appeal by Elian's kidnappers, affirmed that the
Cuban-American mafia is stopping at nothing to prevent the young boy's
return to Cuba, including violating all existing legal norms.

Speaking during a session of a special work commision of the Latin American
Parliament, known as PARLATINO,

the Cuban leader noted that the kidnappers in Miami have been in violation
of international law since the beginning of this episode more than six
months ago. Alarcon pointed out that even U.S. law is clear on the subject
of parental custody rights, further demonstrating that this situation is
only another political attack against the Cuban Revolution.

The head of the Cuban parliament said that the case of Elian Gonzalez
constitutes the first time in history that a kidnapping has been carried out
in public, emphasizing that no one has been arrested or even charged with
the crime of kidnapping or child abuse.


*UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT BEGINS OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA

Havana, June 15(RHC)-Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchman has begun a two-day
official visit to Cuba -the first by a leader of the former Soviet Republic-
aimed at strengthening bilateral economic and social ties with the island.

During their stay in Cuba, the Ukrainian president and his delegation will
meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro, as well as with other high-ranking
government officials.

The visitors' agenda also includes a tour of centers of social, cultural and
economic interest. Over the past 10 years, some 18,000 children and adults
from the eastern European nation, victims of the nuclear accident in the
Ukrainian city of Chernobyl, have received highly specialized medical
treatment in Cuba.

According to official sources, the Ukrainian president will present his
Cuban counterpart, Fidel Castro, with the Yaroslav Order. The award, named
after the renowned Ukrainian scientist, is the highest granted by Kiev to
Ukranian and foreign personalities.


*PRESIDENT OF AUTONOMOUS REGION OF MURCIA MEETS WITH CUBAN OFFICIALS

Havana, June 15(RHC)-- The visiting President of the Spanish Autonomous
Region of Murcia, Ramon Luis Varcarcel, met on Wednesday in Havana with the
Vice President of Cuba's Council of Ministers, Jose Ramon Fernandez.

During the meeting, the Spanish dignitary expressed his government's
interest in expanding trade and cooperation, with Cuba, in areas such as
pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

The Murcian president, who is on a private visit to Cuba, has officially
announced another visit to the island for next November, at the head of a
business delegation from the Spanish autonomous region.

President Varcarcel's agenda includes his participation, as a special guest,
in the annual Congress of the Pharmaceutical Mediterranean Foundation. The
event, currently underway here in Havana marking the 50th anniversary of the
pharmaceutical foundation, is being attended by more than 800 foreign and
Cuban delegates.


*COMMEMORATIVE STAMP ISSUED IN CUBA TO HONOR CHE GUEVARA

Havana, June 15 (RHC)-- A special commemorative stamp has been issued here
in Havana to honor internationalist guerrilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara.
He is remembered in Cuba as the Heroic Guerilla, on the occasion of the 72nd
anniversary of his birth, on June 14th.

The stamp commemorates the 35th anniversary of Che's arrival in the Congo,
on April 25th 1965, leading the first group of internationalist Cuban
fighters.

June 14th also marks the 155th anniversary of the birth of another hero of
Cuban independence, Antonio Maceo. To commemorate this important historical
date, an exhibition was inaugurated in Havana's Postal Museum, showing how,
despite the fact that they lived in different eras, Maceo and Che Guevara,
fought and died defending the same ideals and principles.

Likewise, the city of Santa Clara was the scene, this June 14th, of
different activities paying homage to both independence heroes. Hundreds of
people visited the Mausoleum in the central Cuban city that holds the mortal
remains of Che Guevara and many of his comrades-in-arms, who fought and died
alongside Che in Bolivia.


*14TH BOLEROS DE ORO FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN EASTERN CAMAGUEY PROVINCE

Camaguey, June 15 (RHC)-- Representatives of nine Latin American, European,
and Asian countries will attend the 14th International Boleros de Oro
Festival to be held in Camaguey, and Santiago de Cuba, from June 21st
through the 24th.

Jose Loyola, festival President and Vice President of the Association of
Cuban Writers and Artists, told reporters that this year's event will be
dedicated to Spain, and Cuban singer/song writer Antonio Machin (1903-1977),
who lived most of his life in Spain as Cuba's Cultural Attache.

Participants include, Spaniards Carmen Sanchez y Pier, Mexicans Rodolfo
Muniz, Maricarmen Perez and Gabriel Inclan and Colombians, Marcela Gomez,
Amelia Gomez, Mario Bustillo, Alci Acosta, Catalina Briceno, Julio Cesar
Alzate, Lety Santamaria, Washington Freyle and Martin Madera.


*IBERO AMERICAN SINGERS JOIN IN MUSIC FOR SOLIDARITY

Havana, June 15 (RHC)-- Argentinean singer/song writer Fito Paez is in
Havana as part of a project that involves renowned musicians from Spain,
Argentina and Cuba, under the name of "Musica Solidaria," or Solidarity
Music.

The project includes the recording of an album, the profits of which -
expected to well surpass the 500 thousand dollars - will go to buy musical
instruments and materials for music schools in Cuba.

Participating on the album, which will be recorded in Spain and Cuba, will
be renowned singers and song writers from both countries, as well as
Argentinean Fito himself, Spaniards Joan Manuel Serrat, Victor Manuel, and
Ketama, and Cubans Pablo Milanes, Carlos Varela and Santiago Feliu, among
others.


*FIRST CARIBBEAN GASTRONOMY FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA

Santiago de Cuba, June 15(RHC)-- The eastern city of Santiago de Cuba will
host the 1st Caribbean Gastronomy Festival from July 5th through the 9th.

The event will be distinguished by its popular participation as it takes
activities into the streets of Santiago. Running parallel to the 20th
Caribbean Festival, the event will be divided into hot and cold foods,
puddings and pastries, bars offering a variety of cocktails, natural
beverages and both formal and informal catering.

The agenda includes discussions on themes like packaging and bottling, food
quality and consumption, culinary culture, gastronomy, sustainable
development, and the environment from both a social and ecological
standpoint.


*NEW BOOK ON GUANTANAMO SHEDS LIGHT ON THE HISTORIC US-CUBA DIFFERENCES

Havana, June 15(RHC)-The history behind the illegal US occupation of the
naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, in Eastern Cuba, is the subject of a book
recently released by the Havana-based Social Sciences Publishing House.
Undesirable Neighbors: The US Base in Guantanamo is authored by renown Cuban
legal expert, Olga Miranda.

The book examines the treaties related to the illegal occupation of the
Cuban territory, and the relentless opposition of the Cuban people to the
military enclave, since its establishment in 1903. It also discloses the
opposition of US lawmakers, at the time, who saw the action as a breach of
the US Congress' commitment to respect for Cuban sovereignty in the Joint
Resolution of 1898.

The some eight thousand provocations and aggressions, launched over the last
40 years from the base against the island, and the Cuban Revolutionary
government's refusal to cash the 4085 dollar checks for the annual lease of
the base, are also covered by the book.

Speaking at a ceremony to launch the book, at the Foreign Ministry on
Wednesday, Minister Felipe Perez Roque commended author Olga Miranda, for
her thorough research, and noted that people will find further historical
background on current differences between Cuba and the United States.


*US EXECUTIVES ONCE AGAIN LOBBY FOR FOOD & MEDICINE SALES TO CUBA

Havana, June 15 (RHC) -- U.S. business executives today returned to capital
hill to lobby in Congress for the lifting of restrictions on the sale of
food and medicine to Cuba. In a one-day conference at congressional
headquarters sponsored by the World Policy Institute, the president of the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- Thomas Donahue -- said the lifting of
restrictions should be a first step towards the total elimination of
unilateral sanctions as a foreign policy tool. Donahue, who visited Cuba
last year at the head of a large business delegation, said unilateral
sanctions don't work, and are purely and simply immoral. Business executive
Paula Stern, former president of the U.S.'s International Trade Commission,
said the total elimination of the blockade against Cuba would increase U.S.
medical and agricultural exports by 1 billion 600 million dollars, and would
create 20 thousand new jobs. John Block, former Secretary of Agriculture
under the Ronald Reagan administration, said that if Reagan could lift the
wheat embargo against the Soviet Union in the heat of the Cold War, why
can't the United States trade with Cuba. Republican Congressman George
Nethercutt, a major sponsor of the ammendment that would lift the
restrictions against Cuba, said the Lower House could vote on the measure as
early as next week.


*Viewpoint: FUTURE OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION GUARANTEED

The secret of the strength of the cuban Revolution, with the passing of
time, is the social and political work that it has been carrying out since
it became an independent and sovereign nation in 1959. Powerful enemies of
the Cuban Revolution are constantly attempting to threaten its achievements,
so far very unsuccessfully. The Cuban people have learned to love and defend
their new society that prioritizes education, public health care and ethical
and human values over global realities like stock markets, unbridled
comsumption and, of course, money.

Never before in the history of their nation, did Cubans have the opportunity
to control their own lives because they had always depended on foreign
governments that exploited them and submitted the island to their own
interests. After the Spanish first stepped on Cuban soil in 1492, Cuba
endured four centuries of colonial exploitation and slavery. And in 1998,
when the second Independent War was being won and the Spanish troops and
fleets on the island were retreating, the United States intervened and kept
the island as a U.S. neocolonial dependency of corrupt governments and
social inequality.

During all those years of imperialist pillage, poverty and repression, Cuban
youth was at the head of the revolutionary movements. The first reformation
programs, protests, strikes and pro-revolutionary organizations were born
inside the universities in the first decades of this century. And it was
precisely at the University of Havana where the most important revolutionary
organizations such as the Communist Party and the Revolutionary Directory
were founded. Today's revolutionary martyrs like Julio Antonio Mella, Ruben
Martinez Villena and Jose Antonio Echevarrķa led the struggle from the very
classrooms of the University of Havana. Fidel Castro and many of the leaders
and commanders of the Revolution consolidated their political views and
began their revolutionary activities there.

Since 1959, the younger generation of Cubans on the island have been
actively involved in the revolutionary process, participating in every
social and political event: the literacy campaign that took place throughout
the island in 1961, the continuos, massive mobilizations to work in
agriculture and construction, the solidarity aid missions to other
Third-World countries, ect.

Universities in Cuba continue at the vanguard of the Revolution. The country
has long since been forming and graduating professionals in all fields -
from cultural to scientific - that little by little, are taking over the
leadership in the political, economic and social life of the nation. The
younger generation of Cubans are also preparing at primary and secondary
schools throughout the island to be their substitues in a future time and to
preserve the most important social achievements of the Revolution.

Today, Cuban youth are also heading the demand of the Cuban people for the
return to the island of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez, who is retained in the
United States. The Cuban younger generation has filled the squares and
marched before the U.S. Interest Section during these last six months that
Elian has been kidnapped in the United States and have openly expressed
their opinions at the podium and at every open tribune. Last Monday, more
than two hundred thousand children marched for Elian. With such a unique
contribution and commitment by the youngest of this nation's inhabitants,
Cuba's social and political gains are guarranteed into many generations to
come.

(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
 
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2000-Jun-16 02:13:10