Radio Havana Cuba-27 April 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 27 April 2001 . *CONFEDERATION OF CUBAN WORKERS (CTC) GEARS UP FOR 18th CONGRESS *ARGENTINE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER ON CUBA'S SOLIDARITY WITH THIRD WORLD *COSTA RICAN PERSONALITIES LEND THEIR SUPPORT TO CUBA *PARAGUAYAN MINISTER SAYS CUBA IS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR THE WORLD *CUBAN DOCTORS AND MEDICAL PERSONNEL PERFORM "MIRACLES" IN AFRICA *AFRICAN NATIONS ADOPT CONCRETE MEASURES TO FIGHT AIDS PANEMIC *INTERNATIONAL COALITION CALLS FOR DEMOCRACY & OPENNESS IN IMF, WORLD BANK *Viewpoint: MASS MIGRATION - A MODERN DILEMMA . *CONFEDERATION OF CUBAN WORKERS (CTC) GEARS UP FOR 18th CONGRESS Havana, April 27 (RHC)--The 18th Congress of the Confederation of Cuban Workers, the CTC, gets underway tomorrow, Saturday, here in the Cuban capital. Delegates to the 18th Congress will meet over the weekend to discuss a wide range of topics of interest to the Cuban working class. As many as 53 issues are slated to be discussed, in addition to those that come up during plenary sessions and debates. According to observers, one topic of particular interest is the issue of social inequalities that have arisen since the island opened to joint ventures and tourism. The General Secretary of the Confederation of Cuban Workers, Pedro Ross Leal, told reporters on Friday that the inequalities caused by recent economic reforms are contrary to the socialist values of the Cuban Revolution. He said that while it is generally agreed that reforms are inevitable and even necessary, delegates to the CTC Congress will discuss ways to alleviate the social inequalities and contradictions produced by those reforms. The 18th Congress of the Confederation of Cuban Workers runs through Monday. On Tuesday, May 1st, hundreds of thousands of Cuban workers will take to the streets to celebrate International Worker's Day. *ARGENTINE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER ON CUBA'S SOLIDARITY WITH THIRD WORLD Havana, April 27 (RHC)--An editorial appearing in this morning's edition of the daily Granma is entitled "Cuba: The Revolutionary Island, Between Love and Hate." Written by the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, the editorial states that despite Washington's attempts to destroy the Cuban Revolution for more than 40 years, the island's socialist project is alive and well. The Nobel Peace Prize winner emphasizes that Cuba has always demonstrated its solidarity with the Third World, particularly noting its decision to offer free scholarships to medical students -- while, at the same time, other countries are actually closing schools and universities. Adolfo Perez Esquivel writes that while the United States and the enemies of the Cuban Revolution talk about democracy, they violate its essential principles -- using as an example the recent kidnapping in Miami of Elian Gonzalez and the attempt to extort his father. The Nobel Peace Prize winner points to the example of resistance shown by Elian's father, a humble man who turned down offers of millions by the Miami mafia. Esquivel notes that the enemies of Cuba put a price on everything -- except values. The Argentine human rights activist criticizes his own government for its position in favor of Washington's anti-Cuba resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission. He says that Buenos Aires was unable to resist the threats and pressures by Washington and finally bowed to promises of a huge economic package from the International Monetary Fund, which will only subject the Argentine people to more poverty. Finally, Adolfo Perez Esquivel says that Cuba has been able to overcome many difficulties despite the aggressions and economic blockade imposed on the island by its powerful neighbor to the North. The Nobel Peace Prize winner writes that Cuba has the right to defend the type of society it wishes to construct: a socialist society. *COSTA RICAN PERSONALITIES LEND THEIR SUPPORT TO CUBA San Jose, April 27 (RHC)--Outstanding personalities in Costa Rica have expressed their support for Cuba and condemned the recent vote of their country at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Daniel Camacho, former Coordinator and currently a leading member of the Costa Rican Human Rights Committee, has sent a letter of solidarity to Havana. Camacho strongly condemned his country's decision to vote in favor of Washington's anti-Cuba resolution. He added that he was a proponent of the Geneva-based Human Rights Commission, but that the UN organization was being manipulated by the United States for its own political interests. Freddy Pacheco, a professor at the Autonomous University of Costa Rica in San Jose, also sent a message to colleagues in Havana -- stating that it was necessary to create a more democratic and tolerant world, in which the existence of different political and economic models is respected -- whether or not the United States agrees with those models. Journalist Oscar Lepiz Villega strongly criticized his country's position, saying that Costa Rica was truly behaving like "a Yankee colony" and had bowed to the interests of the major powers -- when San Jose should have stood up and defended the interests of national sovereignty and self-determination. *PARAGUAYAN MINISTER SAYS CUBA IS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR THE WORLD Havana, April 27 (RHC)--Particularly during these times of neo-liberal globalization, Cuba is a source of inspiration for the rest of the world says Adrian Castillo, the Deputy Minister of Paraguayan Youth, adding that the Cuban people are providing an example of resistance and perseverance in the face of capitalist aggressions. The visiting Paraguayan leader said that Cuba's example is paramount, expressing his appreciation that nearly 400 Paraguayan young people are studying medicine at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana. Castillo said that while the students will be prepared for a professional medical career, the most important aspect of their training is in the formation of moral and ethical principles. He told reporters in Havana that following their experiences in socialist Cuba, the doctors will return to Paraguay to practice medicine with a solid sense of humanism. *CUBAN DOCTORS AND MEDICAL PERSONNEL PERFORM "MIRACLES: IN AFRICA Diffa, Niger, April 27 (RHC)--Cuban doctors and health experts are performing medical miracles in Niger and other countries of the African continent. According to a special feature published in Thursday morning's edition of the daily Granma, the Cuban medical brigade in Niger is made up of 64 doctors who provide their services free-of-charge to remote communities of the African country. Over the past two and a half years, Cuban doctors and medical personnel have treated more than 230,000 patients in Niger. Doctor Julio Castaņeda, head of the medical brigade, told reporters that Cuban doctors have performed 4000 surgeries and have delivered more than 3500 babies. Before they arrived in the sub-Saharan nation, there were only two doctors who served the region. And area residents said that those two primarily carried out administrative tasks. Doctor Castaņeda stated that one of the first things the Cuban doctors did was to suggest to local authorities that they establish clinics to treat women and children -- the most vulnerable sectors of the population. He explained that the region suffers from many rare diseases that have not been seen in Cuba for more than 40 years. Most of these diseases are curable with the application of simple vaccines. The feature article published in yesterday's Granma concludes by noting that the Cuban doctors serving in Niger are the most popular members of their communities. Townspeople greet them everywhere they go and the selfless doctors are considered to be nothing short of heroes. Perhaps they are. *AFRICAN NATIONS ADOPT CONCRETE MEASURES TO FIGHT AIDS PANEMIC Abuja, Nigeria, April 27 (RHC) -- African nations have declared a state of emergency due to the AIDS pandemic in the country. At a special gathering of close to 50 African heads of state in Abuja, Nigeria, participants agreed to support United Nations efforts to mobilize the international community against AIDS in Africa, reduce their tariffs and other economic barriers on all products dealing with AIDS treatment and earmark at least 15 percent of their national budgets in the struggle against AIDS. The African leaders also called on pharmaceutical transnationals to continue reducing their prices of AIDS medication, and came out in favor of efforts to produce low-cost, generic, copy-cat versions of that medication. Thus far some top-of-the-line pharmaceutical firms have agreed to sell six African nations anti-AIDS treatment at a reduced price of 300 dollars per year per patient, but this is still too high for the majority of Africans. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who participated in the gathering, said that during the special General Assembly session on AIDS in June he is going to demand that the international community make a firm commitment to the establishment of an international fund to fight the disease. *INTERNATIONAL COALITION CALLS FOR DEMOCRACY & OPENNESS IN IMF, WORLD BANK Washington, April 27 (RHC) -- An international coalition of grassroots and non-governmental organizations has called on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to be more transparent and democratic in their credit negotiations with Third World countries. The Bank Information Center has accused authorities of these financial institutions of negotiating deals behind the backs of the people that lead to sacrifices for millions of persons. In a letter to World Bank and IMF executives coinciding with this weekend's semestral gathering of the two institutions in Washington, the coalition demanded publication of the content of the commitments they negotiate. John Sweeney, president of the U.S. labor federation AFL-CIO, said the secrecy of the two financial entities prevents peoples from adequately defending their interests. Independent U.S. legislator Bernie Sanders observed that there is a sharp contradiction between the World Bank's insistence on the transparency of governments in the administration of their economies and the secrecy surrounding the documents that are signed. *Viewpoint: MASS MIGRATION - A MODERN DILEMMA Migration has become one of the underdeveloped world's most pressing problems. Because the countries of the South are unable to offer the opportunity of a better life to their citizens, a constant exodus of many thousands of men and women emigrate from these countries in search of work and better living conditions. Among those who leave their homes are many good citizens who could have lived honorable, useful lives in their nations of origin. For years mass migration has been growing, and many are coming to realize that immigrants are often shamefully mistreated and exploited. What awaits an immigrant in his new country? He can expect to be penned in and herded about like cattle, to be exploited by employers who know that he has no recourse to labor guarantees since he will always be afraid of being reported to immigration authorities who will jail and deport him. The thousands of Mexicans who daily attempt to enter the United States are treated as criminals and dangerous undesirables, and are the object of racism and other evils in a society that accumulates great wealth and then refuses to share it. The root of the problem lies in the policies of the most developed countries. The world is growing more and more dependent on those who have accumulated the most wealth -- those who have taken the most advantage of their luck and their resources by ruthlessly exploiting the poor obliging them to make social revolutions to free themselves as Cubans were forced to do. Cuba has become a sort of watchtower from which one can observe an ever-more chaotic world. That is perhaps why the United States has doggedly attacked the island in every way over the past 42 years. Because as long as Cuba's revolutionary system exists, it will stand as an example for the rest of the world's less fortunate, as proof that it is possible to shake off the yoke of domination and work together to make a better life for the disenfranchised majority. (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-5572 2001-Apr-28 04:57:16