Radio Havana Cuba-20 November 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 20 November 2000 . *CUBA REQUESTS EXTRADITION OF LUIS POSADA CARRILES *PARAGUAYAN FOREIGN MINISTER CONDEMNS PLOT AGAINST FIDEL CASTRO *PARAGUAYAN FIRST LADY BEGINS OFFICIAL VISIT *FAO DEMANDS IMMEDIATE END TO WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF CUBA *PARTICIPANTS IN CONGRESS ON ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE TAKE COURSES IN HAVANA *VENEZUELAN CULTURE MINISTER BEGINS WORKING VISIT TO CUBA *CUBAN MUSICIAN COMPAY SEGUNDO TURNS 93 *OCEAN PRESS LAUNCHES NEW TITLES IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH *Viewpoint: CUBA'S POSITION ON TERRORISM IS NOT NEGOTIABLE . *CUBA REQUESTS EXTRADITION OF LUIS POSADA CARRILES Havana, November 20 (RHC)-- In the wake of his arrest in Panama during the recent Ibero-American Summit, Cuba has requested the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, the man Havana holds responsible for the bombing of a Cubana airliner in 1976 as well as masterminding numerous other terrorist attacks against the island, including the bombing of Havana hotels in 1997. Posada Carriles was arrested along with four others by Panamanian authorities following a news conference given by President Fidel Castro upon his arrival to attend the Summit in which the Cuban leader exposed yet another attempt on his life. Posada Carriles was traveling under a Salvadorian passport and is known to receive protection from San Salvador. The affair led to a sharp exchange of words between Fidel Castro and Salvadoran President Francisco Flores during a debate on a resolution condemning terrorism. Flores accused Cuba of sponsoring terrorism in El Salvador during a civil war in which the rest of the world -- including the U.S. government -- now recognizes that Salvadoran government soldiers were the principal violators of human rights. In El Salvador today, the opposition party FMLN announced it would carry out its own investigation into the case of Posada Carriles and why he was traveling with a Salvadoran passport. It appears that Posada Carriles has used the passport under an assumed name 59 times in trips to and from the United States from El Salvador, which gave weight to Cuba's accusation that the Miami-based Cuban-American National Foundation was funding his activities. Although Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso was upset for not being informed of the Posada Carriles plot by Cuban authorities prior to the news conference, observers defended Havana, saying that the information may have leaked. Panamanian authorities were forced to immediately arrest the terrorist team once it had been exposed. The Ibero-American debate on terrorism also found Cuba debating why Basque separatist attacks within Spain were the subject of a specific mention and condemnation in a draft document on terrorism when outside attacks against Cuba were not mentioned at all. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque called the resolution "selective" and said it should condemn all forms of terrorism across the board, without specifically focusing on any one nation. *PARAGUAYAN FOREIGN MINISTER CONDEMNS PLOT AGAINST FIDEL CASTRO Havana, November 20 (RHC)-- Visiting Paraguayan Foreign Minister Juan Esteban Aguirre condemned a terrorist plot to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro during the recently concluded 10th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in Panama. Aguirre arrived in Havana on Sunday evening for an official visit at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque. The top Paraguayan diplomat thanked the Cuban people and government for the solidarity work being carried out by teams of Cuban health specialists in his country. The Paraguayan foreign minister is scheduled to sign four cooperation agreements with Cuba, including one promoting greater exchange between both nations' foreign ministries. During his stay, which runs through Wednesday, the Paraguayan official will meet with his Cuban counterpart and will also tour places of social and economic interest. *PARAGUAYAN FIRST LADY BEGINS OFFICIAL VISIT Havana, November 20 (RHC)-- Paraguay's First Lady, Susana Galli, began a four-day visit to Cuba. Galli will seek broader cooperation between her country and Cuba in areas such as health, education and attention to the disabled. Upon her arrival in Havana, the wife of Paraguayan President Luis Gonzalez Maqui stated that there are thousands of young Paraguayans who are looking forward to studying medicine here in Cuba. She added that the aim of her visit is to review with Cuban authorities the possibility for increasing the number of Paraguayan students at the Havana-based Latin American School of Medicine, now approaching 100. Cuba and Paraguay reestablished consular relations in August of 1996 and full diplomatic relations in November of last year after a nearly 40-year break. *FAO DEMANDS IMMEDIATE END TO WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF CUBA Rome, November 20 (RHC)-- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has once again demanded the lifting of Washington's 40-year blockade against Cuba. For the ninth consecutive year, the FAO Council has passed a resolution condemning U.S. policy towards Cuba and calling on Washington to end its punitive, genocidal policy. Cuba's Ambassador to that UN body, Juan Niury, noted similarities between the resolutions passed by the United Nations General Assembly and this one adopted by the FAO. Both reaffirm the countries' respect for national sovereignty and the non-interference in the internal affairs of nations, as well as their support for principles such as freedom of trade and international navigation. These are also included in the Final Declaration and the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit, approved by 185 heads of state and government in November of 1996. The FAO Council met Monday in Rome with the participation of some 50-member nations and an equal number of observers. The meetings' agenda includes the world agricultural sector, its prospects and food shortages. The FAO report notes that world agricultural production increased by 1.6 percent in 1999, while Africa continues to have the greatest food shortages on Earth. *PARTICIPANTS IN CONGRESS ON ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE TAKE COURSES IN HAVANA Havana, November 20 (RHC)-- Pre-congress courses for participants in the First Congress on Alternative Medicine and Bioenergetics began on Monday at Havana's Ortop. Convention Center. Two days of pre-congress courses have been scheduled for participants at the Congress, which will run from November 22nd through the 24th. Over 360 delegates from 10 nations are expected to participate in the event. Monday's pre-congress courses dealt with issues such as chiropractic, with presentations by specialists from various U.S. universities and institutions. Other pre-congress courses involved debates on acupuncture, micro-systems, primary health care, cranial-sacral respiration, traditional medicine and the treatment of pain. *VENEZUELAN CULTURE MINISTER BEGINS WORKING VISIT TO CUBA Havana, November 20 (RHC)-- Venezuelan Culture Minister Manuel Espinosa has begun a four-day working visit to Cuba. Espinosa arrived in Havana on Sunday at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart, Abel Prieto. During his visit, the Venezuelan culture minister will discuss with his Cuban counterpart a project for the exchange of expertise, as well as to promote direct cooperation between the two ministries. On Monday, the Venezuelan official inaugurated an exhibition by Venezuelan painter Maria Elena Alvarez at Casa de las Americas - a Havana-based institution for the promotion of Latin American culture. The distinguished visitor's agenda in Cuba also includes meetings with other Cuban government officials and visits to centers of social and cultural interest. *CUBAN MUSICIAN COMPAY SEGUNDO TURNS 93 Havana, November 20 (RHC)-- Renowned Cuban musician Francisco Repilado, better known as Compay Segundo, turned 93 this past Saturday, November 18th. To celebrate the occasion, a huge party was organized in his honor on Sunday at the Havana Hotel Nacional. Family members and friends of Compay Segundo -- one of the leading figures of the Buena Vista Social Club project -- participated in the event. Author of memorable musical pieces such as Sarandonga, La Calabaza and Chan Chan, Compay Segundo is the oldest musician still performing in the world. He won a diamond record recently for sales of his latest album, Las Flores de la Vida in Spain and performed at the Vatican at the request of Pope John Paul II. *OCEAN PRESS LAUNCHES NEW TITLES IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH Havana, November 20 (RHC)-- The Australian Publishing House Ocean Press has launched eight new Cuba-related titles. The new books, edited in Spanish and English, include titles such as "Capitalism in Crisis," a compilation of speeches by Cuban President Fidel Castro on globalization and world politics. "The Bay of Pigs," examining the U.S.-orchestrated mercenary invasion of Cuba in 1961 and "Che in Africa," by Cuban Brigadier General William Galvez. Ocean Press President David Deutchmann stated that the publishing house is an independent Australian company. He said that for the past twelve years, Ocean Press has dedicated itself to publishing books about Cuban reality in English, but also some titles in Spanish. Deutchmann said it is very important to be able to present Cuban reality outside of Cuba to an audience that normally does not have access to books on Cuba, to the ideas and experiences of Cuba and of the Cuban Revolution. Ocean Press has published more than 50 titles on Cuba and is now the main publisher in English of books on Cuba. Ocean Press books are distributed in the United States, England, Canada, South Africa, the Philippines, India, Australia and also here in Cuba. The company has also published several books by and about Che Guevara. Over the next 12 months, Ocean Press will publish new titles in English on Cuba. The president of Ocean Press stated that his company's books have received a lot of support. In the United States, for example, lots of books are published about Cuba, but most of them with distortions of Cuban reality. Ocean Press publishes books that present a different version of Cuba and of the Cuban Revolution. David Deutchmann said that Ocean Press finds a very large audience for their books in the universities, in bookstores, among the general public and of course, among solidarity activists and progressive sectors in the United States and other countries. Viewpoint: *CUBA'S POSITION ON TERRORISM IS NOT NEGOTIABLE The immediate arrest by Panamanian authorities of a group of terrorists, who planned to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro during the 10th Ibero-American Summit, added to an intense debate about terrorism during the forum. The leader of the Cuban Revolution publicly denounced the presence of a group of killers in the pay of the Cuban-American National Foundation in Miami who planned an attempt on his life. The debate revolved around Cuba's decision not to support the text of a resolution to the Final Declaration of the Summit, condemning the terrorist violence of the separatist Basque organization ETA, which has committed innumerable acts of violence in Spanish territory. The Cuban delegation recognized the problems that Spain has with terrorism and reiterated that terrorist violence has never had the support of Cuba. Cuba then proposed a text that condemns all terrorism against any Ibero-American country, including Cuba -- the country in the region most affected by external, political aggression. There was a heated debate with interventions from Spain, El Salvador and Cuba. Finally, Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso put an end to the debate with a proposal to discuss it on another occasion. Cuba has every reason to adopt this position in the face of all the terrorist acts that have been perpetrated against it. It is also an Ibero-American country and has been the victim of state terrorism, innumerable acts of aggression and other crimes which have left thousands of Cubans dead and injured over forty years -- a period in which the majority of countries present at the Summit had governments which were unconditional allies of the United States. Washington has been the principal promoter and executor of aggressive and subversive politics against Cuba. President Fidel Castro reaffirmed, with total conviction and firmness, Cuba's commitment to integrate with Latin America and to work with other regional countries for the common good, but he was very clear about Cuba's right to defend its work and policies whatever the circumstances. Cuba has always espoused peace and never acted as the aggressor. It has philanthropically defended other nation's struggles for national liberation and sovereignty in the face of right-wing exterior forces, sending medical personnel to Third World nations around the world. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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