Radio Havana Cuba-06 April 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 06 April 2001 . *INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION DELEGATES PRAISE SPEECH BY FIDEL CASTRO *CHARGES PENDING IN EL SALVADOR AGAINST TERRORIST LUIS POSADA CARRILES *CENTRAL AMERICAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS WASHINGTON BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA *PANAMANIAN SAYS CUBA HAS THE MORAL AUTHORITY TO CONDEM TERRORISM *MYANMAR CONDEMNS U.S. MANUEVERS AGAINST CUBA IN GENEVA *ARGENTINES MOUNT CUBA SOLIDARITY E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO THEIR GOVERNMENT *IPU HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION SUPPORTS A CUBAN TRIAL FOR POSADA CARRILES *GREENPEACE ISSUES WARNING TO US FIRMS WHO OPPOSE GLOBAL WARMING PROTOCOL *THIRD WORLD'S POPULATION CONTINUES TO GROW, UN COMMISSION REPORTS *PROBLEMS OF GUATEMALAN YOUTH ROOTED IN UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH Viewpoint: *CUBA URGES WORLD'S LAWMAKERS TO FIGHT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM . *INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION DELEGATES PRAISE SPEECH BY FIDEL CASTRO Havana, April 6 (RHC)--Representatives from parliaments around the world gathered in Havana for the 105th Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference had words of praise for Thursday evening's speech by Cuban President Fidel Castro. A number of delegates spoke with reporters following the Cuban leader's two-hour speech, characterizing his words as "brilliant." Addressing more than 1400 delegates from 123 nations, Fidel Castro blasted the current world economic and political order -- calling it more unjust than ever and totally devoid of democracy. The leader of the Cuban Revolution said that Cuba has become the first country in Latin America and indeed the Third World to lower the infant mortality rate to less than ten for every 1000 live births. And Fidel Castro emphasized that Cuba has sent doctors and health specialists to other countries around world, providing medical care free-of-charge. During his speech to the 105th Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference last night, the Cuban president pointed to the island's commitment in Angola and the hundreds of thousands of Cuban soldiers who fought against the racist South African regime. He asked if this is why the United States wants to destroy the Cuban Revolution -- because of its social achievements at home and its example of international solidarity over the past 42 years. The Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference, which opened on Sunday, wraps up Friday evening here in the Cuban capital. *CHARGES PENDING IN EL SALVADOR AGAINST TERRORIST LUIS POSADA CARRILES San Salvador, April 6 (RHC)--Charges will soon be filed in El Salvador against the notorious international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. According to the San Salvador daily "La Prensa Grafica," the Attorney General's office will formally charge Posada Carriles with using a false identity to obtain fake documents, thus breaking Salvadoran laws. Posada Carriles, who had been residing in El Salvador and was traveling on a false passport from that country, was arrested along with three other terrorists in Panama last November. The four are being charged with planning the assassination of Cuban President Fidel Castro, among other criminal activities. An investigative journalist with "La Prensa Grafica" revealed that Luis Posada Carriles arrived in El Salvador in the early 1980's and served as an advisor for then-President Napoleon Duarte. The article emphasized that during the Duarte administration, tens of thousands of innocent civilians were killed by the Salvadoran army and paramilitary death squads. It was also pointed out that Posada Carriles ran guns for the Nicaraguan contras, in an effort to destroy the Sandinista Revolution. He is also accused of involvement in an arms deal through the offices of a San Salvador automobile garage -- where he had planned to obtain guns and ammunition, illegally sent to the garage from Spain. Luis Posada Carriles is also wanted on charges of involvement in the sabotage bombing of a Cuban airliner in October 1976 -- in which all 73 persons on board were killed. *CENTRAL AMERICAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS WASHINGTON BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA Havana, April 6 (RHC)--The Central American Parliament has condemned Washington's blockade against Cuba. Representatives from the Central American Parliament, who are in Havana participating in the 105th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, reiterated their group's position against the U.S.'s aggressive policy toward Cuba and in favor of the Cuban people. A member of the Salvadorian delegation thanked Cuba for its cooperation with Central America, particularly in the field of health. Costa Rican legislator Jose Meriño condemned the U.S. blockade, which has cost the island over 70 billion dollars. Meriño also took the opportunity to praise what he called "the excellent work" being carried out by Cuban health professionals in Central America. The Costa Rican lawmaker strongly criticized the exclusion of regional legislators from current negotiations leading to the creation of the U.S.-proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas. *PANAMANIAN SAYS CUBA HAS THE MORAL AUTHORITY TO CONDEM TERRORISM Havana, April 6 (RHC)--When a nation has been the victim of constant terrorist attacks, as Cuba has, it has the moral authority to condemn such violence in the strongest terms. The statement was made in Havana by Panamanian legislator Hector Aleman. Aleman is in Cuba as part of his country's delegation to the 105th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The event includes more than 1400 delegates from 120 nations. In an exclusive interview with Prensa Latina news agency, the Panamanian lawmaker pointed to what he called "the strength of Cuba's political integrity," which has never been damaged in the face of the numerous terrorist actions carried out against the island. Referring to international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, jailed in Panama for his part in connection with a plot to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro, Hector Aleman, who is also First Secretary of Panama's Democratic Revolution Party, expressed satisfaction that Panamanian authorities have thus far adhered to Panamanian law in dealing with the case. He also said that it is good that Cuba's denunciation was properly responded to by Panama. Posada Carriles has been under arrest in a Panama since last November, when Cuban President Fidel Castro revealed that there was a plot underway to kill him in Panama City during the 10th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government. *MYANMAR CONDEMNS U.S. MANUEVERS AGAINST CUBA IN GENEVA Havana, April 6 (RHC)--The Deputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar, Ukin Maung Win, has condemned Washington's maneuvers to push through a resolution of condemnation against Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The Asian leader arrived in Havana on Thursday for an official visit, aimed at strengthening bilateral relations with Cuba. While on the island, he will meet with Cuban authorities to discuss issues of common interest. In reference to an anti-Cuba resolution presented by Poland and the Czech Republic in the human rights commission, the deputy foreign minister noted that no country has the right to manipulate the Geneva commission to the detriment of another member nation. *ARGENTINES MOUNT CUBA SOLIDARITY E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO THEIR GOVERNMENT Buenos Aires, April 6 (RHC)--Friends of Cuba in Argentina have launched a campaign to prevent a vote against Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. In a communiqué sent to the "friends of the world," organizers of the campaign are seeking support for their demand that the Argentine government refrain from voting in favor of an anti-Cuba resolution for presumed human rights violations on the island. The campaign consists of using electronic mail to send hundreds of messages daily to Argentine President Fernando de la Rua, the country's Foreign Ministry and national deputies, demanding that Argentina stand with Cuba in the human rights commission. The aim, says the communiqué, is that when they turn on their computers every day they read hundreds of messages that reflect the opinion of the Argentine people on the issue. The document, made public by friends of Cuba in Argentina, concludes by saying that Cuba has always been in solidarity with Argentina, and it is now time for Argentina to show its solidarity with the Caribbean island. *IPU HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION SUPPORTS A CUBAN TRIAL FOR POSADA CARRILES Havana, April 6 (RHC)--Juan Pablo Letelier, President of the Human Rights Commission in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) reiterated his organization's support of the Cuban request that international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles face trial in Cuba. Addressing the more than 1400 delegates from 120 nations who are participating in the 105th IPU Conference in Havana, Letelier said that Chile supported a Cuban initiative to include the issue of terrorism in the agenda of the conference because Chile was also the victim of state terrorism during Pinochet's dictatorship from 1973 to 1989. The head of the Parliamentary human rights commission condemned the fact the Pinochet dictatorship was not only involved in numerous crimes against humanity, but also promoted international terrorism in countries like Italy, Argentina and the United States. He added that the DINA, Pinochet's secret police, made an alliance with terrorist groups in those countries to assassinate political figures, including the murder of dissident Chilean General Carlos Prat in Argentina and former Chilean Vice President Bernando Leighton in Italy. He also added that in the United States, the DINA Cuban-American terrorists cooperated to assassinate his father, former Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier. The IPU official recalled that some of those same anti-Cuba terrorists who operated at that time are now under arrest in Panama for plotting an attempt against the life of Cuban President Fidel Castro. *GREENPEACE ISSUES WARNING TO US FIRMS WHO OPPOSE GLOBAL WARMING PROTOCOL Brussels, April 6 (RHC)--Greenpeace has given major U.S. firms one week to announce whether they support President George Bush's decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. The international ecology organization stated Thursday that the top 100 U.S. corporations in the oil and coal industry on the latest Fortune 500 list, will have to suffer the consequences if they don't express opposition to Washington's refusal to reduce contaminating gas emissions. At press conferences in Paris and Amsterdam, Greenpeace pointed out that the American people can express their opinions at the ballot boxes, but the rest of the world -- shocked over the refusal of the world's largest contaminator to accept its responsibility to help preserve the global environment -- can only express their opinion in the marketplace. The environmental activists warned that the U.S. firms, with Exxon at the top of the list, will have to face the risk of an adverse publicity campaign among their consumers if they choose to support Washington's position on global warming. Meanwhile, European Union Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom, who formed part of an EU delegation that traveled to Washington this week to discuss the global warming issue, stated Thursday in Brussels that the U.S. government is surprised and on the defensive. Wallstrom said that in her discussions with U.S. officials such as Environmental Protection Agency director Christie Todd-Whitman, she sensed that Washington did not expect that its decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol would be so widely condemned or create headline news for the past three weeks. And the condemnations continue, with the European Parliament Thursday adopting a resolution terming Washington's decision demented and a provocation, and saying that this opinion is shared by numerous governments and non-governmental organizations. *THIRD WORLD'S POPULATION CONTINUES TO GROW, UN COMMISSION REPORTS New York, April 6 (RHC)--While more developed industrialized countries have achieved lower birth rates and, in some cases, nearly zero population growth, the number of inhabitants in underdeveloped nations continues on the rise. With a study of current demographic tendencies, the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Development and Population is underway at UN headquarters in New York. Statistics show that the contrasts between countries in the North and those in the South are more pronounced than ever. Nations in the so-called First World -- notably Russia, Italy, Germany and Japan -- have registered a zero population growth or less. On the other hand, Third World countries account for most of the earth's population -- with a total of four billion, 900 million people. The United Nations reveals that the world's inhabitants -- currently standing at six billion, 100 million -- is growing at the rate of 1.2 percent annually. This translates into a yearly increase of 77 million people. More than half of this number is divided among only six countries: India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The United Nations Commission on Development and Population predicts that the world's population will be more than eight billion, 200 million by the year 2050, if current trends continue unchanged. *PROBLEMS OF GUATEMALAN YOUTH ROOTED IN UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH Guatemala City, April 6 (RHC)--The serious problems of youth in Guatemala have their roots in the unequal distribution of wealth. According to Guatemalan human rights attorney Marco Antonio Aguilar, one of the major obstacles to social and economic justice in that Central American country is the government's unwillingness or inability to comply with the 1996 Peace Accords. Aquilar told reporters in Guatemala City that as a result, the vast majority of Guatemalans are socially and economically abandoned. And the human rights activist pointed out that social and economic inequalities fall most heavily on children and adolescents. Short of changing the basic economic structure of Guatemalan society -- not likely to take place in the next few months or years -- Marco Antonio Aquilar suggested the immediate establishment of municipal councils, with the aim of reducing the violation of children's rights. The human rights attorney stated that he would continue monitoring the situation and encouraging the administration of President Alfonso Portillo to comply with the government/rebel peace accords, signed in December 1996. *Viewpoint: CUBA URGES WORLD'S LAWMAKERS TO FIGHT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM Cuban parliamentarian Reverend Raul Suarez will present a resolution to the 105th Inter-Parliamentary Conference which prohibits and condemns the practice of terrorism and the preparation of terrorist actions in any country against any government leaders or officials. Suarez's petition was stimulated by a plot against the life of Cuban President Fidel Castro that was uncovered recently in Panama for which international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and his accomplices were arrested. The four notorious terrorists had entered Panama with falsified passports intending to set off an explosive device in the University of Panama where the Cuban president was to address hundreds of students, officials and guests. Luis Posada Carriles and his thugs were arrested by Panamanian authorities after Fidel Castro himself revealed the plot on his life. They will be tried for having violated Panamanian laws and the president of Panama has already said that she will not allow the men to be extradited to Cuba because the island maintains the practice of capital punishment. Cuba had already officially announced that in this case it would not apply the death penalty. It is well known that the United States wants Posada Carriles and his gang to be freed, and U.S. officials are exerting all types of pressures on Panama to achieve that end. Cuba, on the other hand, has great interest in punishing these professional terrorists who have caused so many deaths, like the 73 people who died in l976 when a well-placed bomb blew a Cubana Airlines flight out of the sky after it took off from Barbados. Among the dead were Cuba's junior fencing team. That horrific action was just one of many committed by these international killers, all well known to Panamanian officials, It is time that authorities from different nations take a role in these matters and resolve the question. Though this type of crime appears in the debates of numerous national parliaments, in reality justice is applied only in exceptional cases when the governments themselves want to save face or placate an ally. In 42 years of Revolution in Cuba, no one has ever been able to accuse the island of such activities, since it has never had any place in Cuban foreign policy or philosophy. Rule of law has always been a non-negotiable principle of the Revolution. That is why the Cuban government and the people want criminals such as Luis Posada Carriles and others who have committed heinous crimes against the island to be tried in Cuban courts. That is a basic principal of international law which should be respected by all nations. (c) 2001 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-15340 2001-Apr-07 02:54:46