Radio Havana Cuba-16 October 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 16 October 2000 . *800,000 CUBANS TO MARCH ON US INTERESTS SECTION TO PROTEST ANTI-CUBA LEGISLATION *FIDEL TAKES PART IN NATIONAL WORKSHOP TO PROMOTE HISTORICAL STUDY *JURISTS FROM 50 NATIONS GATHER IN HAVANA *CUBA SUPPORTS TUESDAY'S WOMEN'S WORLD MARCH AGAINST POVERTY & VIOLENCE *BAYAMO HOSTS THIS YEAR'S FIESTA OF CUBAN CULTURE *JAPAN DONATES EQUIPMENT TO HELP CLEAN UP HAVANA BAY *Viewpoint: PROTESTING THE PHONEY "EASING" OF THE BLOCKADE . *800,000 CUBANS TO MARCH ON US INTERESTS SECTION TO PROTEST ANTI-CUBA LEGISLATION Havana, October 16 (RHC)-- 800,000 Cubans will march Wednesday before the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to protest anti-Cuba legislation passed by the House of Representatives. The announcement came in an extensive, front-page editorial in Monday's edition of Granma newspaper. Referring to the approval of amendments in U.S. legislation that favor the interests of Miami's Cuban-American mafia, the editorial rejects the anti-democratic procedures that grossly modified a measure originally aimed at easing restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba. Noting that the legislation has converted into law a ban on travel to Cuba, the editorial said the measure deprives the island of any moral or material possibility to acquire food and medicine from U.S. firms because private or public financing is prohibited. Chaos reigns in U.S. politics, states the editorial, when the government and Congress can be used as instruments of the Cuban- American mafia and the ultra-right wing at a moment when the majority of the American people and the majority of U.S. legislators have demonstrated that they are tired of a stupid and cruel policy that's been in place for more than four decades. Under these conditions, continues the editorial, Cuba will not purchase one cent of medicine or food in the United States, not only due to these unacceptable and humiliating conditions, but also because the anti-Cuba Torriceli Law and similar legislation remains in place. *FIDEL TAKES PART IN NATIONAL WORKSHOP TO PROMOTE HISTORICAL STUDY Havana, October 16 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro participated in a national workshop entitled "History, Historians and Current Cuban Society and the Challenges of the New Millenium." 250 delegates from across the island participated in the Havana event, which was sponsored by Cuba's National Historians' Association. Debates are focused on the need to promote an understanding of the history in Cuba, the preservation of documents and bibliographies and the role of historians and institutions in expanding cultural knowledge among the Cuban population. Cuban Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez told the gathering that 24,000 televisions have been distributed to schools islandwide, to be used as study materials for historians to promote the topic. The vice president of the Cuban Radio and Television Institute, Josefa Bracero, announced that between 1994 and 1999, 65 soap operas, 22 children's programs and 3600 other programs for adults, based on historical themes, have been aired on Cuban television. *JURISTS FROM 50 NATIONS GATHER IN HAVANA Havana, October 16 (RHC)-- Nearly 1000 legal experts are meeting in Havana as part of the 12th Conference of the American Association of Jurists and the 15th Congress of the International Association of Democratic Jurists. Representatives from 50 countries, including over 200 from the United States, will examine topics such as peace and international security, the democratization of international organizations and states and economic globalization. Delegates will also attempt to create the legal basis to establish a just and fair world order. The president of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, addessed the inauguration ceremony on Monday and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage presented an overview of the current economic situation and perspectives for the world economy. *CUBA SUPPORTS TUESDAY'S WOMEN'S WORLD MARCH AGAINST POVERTY & VIOLENCE Havana, October 16 (RHC)-- A document in support of the Women's World March Against Poverty and Violence, which will take place Tuesday in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York, is being read today in many of the island's work places. The statement, which was drafted during the last Congress of the Cuban Women's Federation, supports the demands of millions of women in the world who are attempting to play more important roles in their countries' economic, social and political life. The worldwide campaign in support of the march calls on international organizations to work more for development and to oppose cuts in social programs. The document also urges the global economic powers to lift unilateral sanctions and economic blockades against other nations and condemns the process of neo-liberal globalization. *BAYAMO HOSTS THIS YEAR'S FIESTA OF CUBAN CULTURE Havana, October 16 (RHC)-- The city of Bayamo, in eastern Granma province, will host this year's "Fiesta of Cuban Culture" -- slated from October 20th through the 25th. The event is dedicated to the province of Guantanamo, the birthplace of many important Cuban personalities and cultural traditions which have trascended local bounderies. One of the famous Cubans born there is poet, Regino Bot. And among the many musical rythms orginating in the eastern province are the Changui, the Nengon and the Tumba Frances. The Bayamo culture fiesta will also include theoretical events, a colloquium on literature, theater, dance, concerts and popular art and painting exhibitions. *JAPAN DONATES EQUIPMENT TO HELP CLEAN UP HAVANA BAY Havana, October 16 (RHC)-- Japan's international cooperation agency has donated equipment for use in cleaning up oil in Havana Bay as part of the decontamination of the important waterway. The president of the working group to clean up the Bay, General Armando Choy, said that the cleanup process will begin at the entrance of the Bay and work inward. Havana Bay covers an area of approximately 5.2 square kilometers and contains some 47 million cubic meters of water. As part of decontamination efforts, a special clean-up boat collects between two to four tons of toxic substances each day and between four to six cubic meters of floating solids. Viewpoint: *PROTESTING THE PHONEY "EASING" OF THE BLOCKADE A front-page editorial appearing in Monday's Granma newspaper condemns Washington's latest legislation tightening its blockade against Cuba. Chaos reigns in U.S. policy, begins the editorial, and Cubans have seen how the U.S. government has allowed itself to be used by the terrorist Cuban-American mafia in Miami and by extreme right-wing politicians in Congress. The two-page editorial gives as the first example -- the case of Elian Gonzalez, who was kidnapped in the United States in violation of U.S. and international law. Now, a small group of extremists in the U.S. Congress, backed by the Cuban-American Mafia, has twisted the desires of the American Congress and people, passing legislation that actually tightens rather than loosens the U.S. blockade against Cuba. The most recent amendments passed by the U.S. Congress, charges Granma, are anti-democratic measures hijacked by extreme right-wing forces, and were originally meant to allow for the sales of food and medicine to Cuba. However, by means of a despicable process of modifications, they have made such sales impossible with a new measure attached to the important Agriculture Appropriations Bill. Another such modification arbitrarily places prohibitions on travel by U.S. citizens to the island, in violation of one of Washington's most highly-touted constitutional rights: the right to travel. A third equally repugnant amendment places Cuban funds frozen in the United States at the disposal of the Miami mafia; payments for years of use of Cuban telephone services which are owed to the island. That outrageous amendment was attached to another important bill which had overwhelming support in Congress. Under the conditions contained in the legislation, notes the Granma editorial, Cuba will not acquire a single penny's worth of food or medicine in the United States. In the first place, because it is unable to accept such unjust and humiliating conditions, which keep in place all the measures of the blockade. Secondly, because the purchase is impossible under the rules and regulations of the Torricelli and other anti-Cuba U.S. laws, making shipping and financing essentially impossible. At the same time, it is unacceptable that the United States hand over funds to terrorist groups, which have committed countless violent acts of sabotage against Cuba. That money is what is owed to Cuba for 28 years of telecommunications services rendered and other monies owed to the island's National Bank, adding up to more than 161 million dollars. For those reasons, explains Monday's Granma editorial, 800,000 Cubans will march Wednesday morning in front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. The huge march is also meant as a signal to the people of the United States, expressing Cuba's denunciation and protest against this gross violation of the constitutional right of U.S. citizens to visit Cuba, where they have always been received with hospitality and respect. (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-23616 2000-Oct-16 20:05:11