Radio Havana Cuba-30 November 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 30 November 2000 . *TV ROUNDTABLE: CUBA WILL NOT BOW TO FOREIGN INTIMIDATION *HAVANA FORMALLY REQUESTS EXTRADITION OF TERRORISTS IN PANAMA *COFFEE PLANTATIONS IN SANTIAGO NAMED UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE *VILMA ESPIN RECEIVES HONORARY DOCTORATE IN SOCIAL SCIENCES *FIRST VENEZUELAN PATIENTS ARRIVE *CUBA AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF EQUAL RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION: LULA *VIETNAM AND CUBA CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS *IBERO-AMERICAN CULTURAL & SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION CREATED IN MADRID *Viewpoint: GROWING SPANISH INFLUENCE IN THE AMERICAS . *TV ROUNDTABLE: CUBA WILL NOT BOW TO FOREIGN INTIMIDATION Havana, November 30 (RHC)-- Cuba will never bow to threats and intimidations from other countries or governments. During a special roundtable discussion Wednesday evening, broadcast live on Cuban radio and television, journalists and experts in international affairs examined the anti-terrorist resolution presented at the recent Ibero-American Summit in Panama. Panelists noted that Salvadoran President Francisco Flores had visited Spain just before the regional meeting was held in Panama. Spanish authorities apparently asked Flores to present the resolution condemning ETA terrorism, offering several million dollars in exchange for his cooperation. It was pointed out during the roundtable discussion that Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar is no friend of the Cuban Revolution -- with a long history of ties to extremist, right-wing terrorists. Even before Aznar became president, he regularly met with members of the Cuban-American National Foundation -- or, as one member of the panel called the Miami-based organization: The Gusano-American National Foundation. Cuban journalists roundly condemned terrorist actions in which innocent civilians are killed -- including actions carried out by the Basque-separatist group ETA. But Madrid's sponsorship of the anti- terrorist resolution only condemned ETA and made no mention of State- sponsored terrorism -- such as those activities organized against the Cuban Revolution. As Cuban television commentator Eduardo Dimas emphasized, the resolution presented by San Salvador at the Ibero-American Summit, with Spain's blessing, was designed to purposefully isolate Cuba at the regional meeting. Participants during the roundtable discussion noted that the Spanish media are spreading lies about Cuba's position. Journalists stated that radio and television reports from Madrid have not carried Havana's response and the media continues to wage a dirty campaign against Cuba and its leader, President Fidel Castro. The special roundtable discussion was broadcast live on Cuban radio and television, as well as the international short wave frequencies of Radio Havana Cuba. *HAVANA FORMALLY REQUESTS EXTRADITION OF TERRORISTS IN PANAMA Havana, November 30 (RHC)-- Cuba has formally requested the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles and three other terrorists, currently being held in Panama. Thursday's edition of the Cuban news daily Granma reports that Havana presented all of the necessary documents, according to Panamanian law. At the time of their arrest on November 18th -- charged with planning to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro during the 10th Ibero-American Summit -- Cuban authorities asked that Panama hold the terrorists until a formal extradition request could be filed. In addition to the mastermind of the terrorist plan -- Luis Posada Carriles -- Cuba has requested the extradition of the other members of the commando: Pedro Remon Rodriguez, Guillermo Novo Sompoll and Gaspar Jimenez Escobedo. Also on Wednesday, Panamanian authorities officially charged the four-member terrorist commando with illegal possession of explosives, criminal association and plotting against the internal security of Panama. They are currently being held without bail in Panama City. *COFFEE PLANTATIONS IN SANTIAGO NAMED UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE Havana, November 30 (RHC)-The United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, has declared the first French coffee plantations in eastern Santiago de Cuba a World Heritage Site, because of their historic value. The President of the National Council of Cuba's Cultural Heritage, Martha Arjona, said that the French immigrants in eastern Santiago de Cuba left behind this legacy in the late 18th century. These coffee plantations are the sixth World Heritage Site on the island. Among them are Old Havana and its colonial fortresses, the historic city of Trinidad and its Ingenios Valle, the San Pedro de la Roca Castile and the Vinales Valley in Pinar del Rio. *VILMA ESPIN RECEIVES HONORARY DOCTORATE IN SOCIAL SCIENCES Havana, November 30 (RHC)-Vilma Espin, president of the Federation of Cuban Women, the FMC, Thursday received in Santiago de Cuba an Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences for her contribution to the rights of women and children. During a ceremony at the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, the Dean of the University of Oriente, Maria Julia Jimenez, outlined the role played by Vilma Espin in the fight for women's rights. Jimenez pointed out that this recognition strengthens the women's federation in their on-going battle for social equality between men and women. *FIRST VENEZUELAN PATIENTS ARRIVE Havana, November 30 (RHC)-The first group of 30 Venezuelans to receive medical treatment in Cuba free of charge will arrive on the island Thursday. The Venezuelan patients, all from poor families with scant economic resources, will travel to Havana on Venezuela's Presidential airplane. The medical treatment is part of the recently signed Cuba-Venezuela Integral Cooperation Project, penned by Cuban President Fidel Castro and President Hugo Chavez during the Cuban leader's recent official visit to that country. *CUBA AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF EQUAL RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION: LULA Havana, November 30 (RHC)-The leader of Brazil's Workers Party, Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, Thursday asserted in Havana that Cuba is an excellent example of the equal distribution of its resources, in contrast with other countries in Latin America where there is merely a distribution of poverty. He reiterated these views in a statement to the Brazilian daily "O Estado de Sao Paulo." The Brazilian leader stated that the moral force of Cuban President Fidel Castro and the Cuban people has permitted the Revolution to survive, despite the island's economic crisis following the collapse of the Eastern European socialist camp and the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. Following these events, Washington also tightened its blockade of Cuba. *VIETNAM AND CUBA CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS Hanoi, November 30 (RHC)-Vietnam's Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien, said on Thursday in Hanoi that despite the changes in the international scenario, the Cuban and Vietnamese Revolutions are strengthening bilateral cooperation. During an activity commemorating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Hanoi and Havana, the Vietnamese official said that this has been an era of marvelous transformations. He added that both countries have shared difficult moments, but also solidarity and mutual support in the cause to preserve liberty, independence and socialism. *IBERO-AMERICAN CULTURAL & SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION CREATED IN MADRID Havana, November 30 (RHC)- The Jose Marti Ibero American Cultural and Scientific Foundation has been created in Madrid, Spain, with the objective of contributing to the improvement of relations between countries of the region and to a greater integration and preservation of their cultures. The Former Dean of Madrid's Polytechnic University, Dr. Rafael Portaenca, was elected president of the institution, while Armando Hart, Director of the National Office of Jose Marti Studies in Havana, was elected vice president. Among some of the honorary figures of the Foundation is Nobel Literature Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Jose Saramago. *Viewpoint: GROWING SPANISH INFLUENCE IN THE AMERICAS In the last ten years Spain has been gaining economic influence in Latin America. Not only has this penetration converted Spain into the number one investor in the region, but it has also significantly increased Madrid's political influence in the area. The increase in economic ties between Spain and Latin America could be seen as a positive side of globalization, because it eases, to a certain extent, dependence on the North. It is undeniable that the United States, in its privileged condition as the only remaining superpower, has made no bones about its obsession with keeping the Americas for itself in a world that is dividing up into powerful economic blocks. Nervous about the growing influence of the European Union, with Spain as its leader in Latin American economies, Washington has designed an opportunistic strategy to guarantee a secure, advantageous market for American products. Key in the U.S.'s plan is to create, by the year 2005, a free trade area of the Americas, though in reality not so free, since the United States will be the all-powerful leader thanks to the strength of its economy. However the growth of Spain's political clout in our region is beginning to spawn signs of arrogance in the current right-wing government in Madrid. We only have to turn to the recently concluded 10th Ibero-American Summit in Panama. In the drafting of the Special Resolution on the Panama Canal, Spanish representatives opposed the explicit mention of the United States in a Venezuelan proposal supporting Panama's demand that the Pentagon clean up the toxic and dangerous waste U.S. armed forces left behind in the bases they occupied there for nearly a century. Many experts believe that Spain's refusal to back the proposal came as a result of its membership in NATO, which appears to be more important to Madrid than demonstrating solidarity with a just cause of an Ibero American people. The Spanish government also opposed the suggestion that the Summit ask for 3% of Latin America's foreign debt to be forgiven, so that the money could be used to help the region's children escape malnutrition, ignorance and illness. Could it have been thinking like a creditor nation when it decided to turn down the proposal? Fortunately for all of us, we are no longer living in colonial times. (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-31207 2000-Dec-01 04:08:37