Radio Havana Cuba-13 August 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 13 August 2001 . *FIDEL CASTRO RECEIVES ONE OF VENEZUELA'S HIGHEST DISTINCTIONS *VENEZUELA PAYS TRIBUTE TO VISITING CUBAN PRESIDENT ON HIS 75TH BIRTHDAY *ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY EXECS IN TROUBLE OVER TRIP TO CUBA *FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER MALMIERCA DIES AT AGE 70 *VENEZUELAN MOTHER GRATEFUL FOR CUBAN HEALTH CARE OF HER SON *POPULAR ENGLISH MUSIC GROUP DONATES GUITARS TO CUBAN MUSICIANS *JAPAN'S NEIGHBORS CONDEMN PRIME MINISTER'S TRIBUTE TO WAR CRIMINALS *GLOBAL SUMMITS REMAIN A HOT TOPIC IN ITALY *PRIOR TO CHILE SUMMIT, CHAVEZ WARNS AGAINST "ILL-CONCEIVED" GLOBALIZATION *Viewpoint: SOME GOOD NEWS TO BEGIN THE WEEK . *FIDEL CASTRO RECEIVES ONE OF VENEZUELA'S HIGHEST DISTINCTIONS Caracas, August 12 (RHC)--On Saturday, Cuban President Fidel Castro received one of Venezuela's highest distinctions: the Angostura Order, an award intimately tied to Latin America's 19th century struggle for independence and unity. In his words of appreciation, the Cuban leader stressed that he did not merit such a high distinction, saying that he accepted it only in the name of the Cuban people, a heroic people, he added, who have demonstrated that the dreams of Latin American independence leaders Simon Bolivar and Jose Marti are possible. In reference to the 1819 Angostura Constituent Assembly organized by Simon Bolivar to relaunch the continent's independence struggle, Fidel Castro said that in the two centuries since, no one could have foreseen the region's dismal future which, he added, would not have been necessary had Bolivar's dreams of unity become reality. The Cuban leader noted that in 1829, one year before his death, Bolivar warned that the United States seemed destined to plague the continent with misery. At the time, said President Castro, no world power had absolute control over international financial institutions, nor possessed such gigantic transnational firms that, like octopuses, have sucked up Latin America's natural resources and cheap labor. He said no one imagined that the US dollar would start to become the national currency of a number of Latin American countries, that the region would have such a colossal foreign debt, or that there would be a hemispheric Free Trade Area of the Americas proposal aimed at consummating the annexation of Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States. In reference to Fidel Castro's modesty upon receiving the Angostura Order, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez disagreed. Chavez said the Cuban leader came to honor Venezuela and that he was deserving of much more than the distinction with which he was awarded. The Venezuelan president said that in 1958, one year before the Cuban Revolution, so-called "democracy" was installed in Venezuela following the demise of the Marcos Pirez Jimenez dictatorship. Chavez said that while Venezuela was plundered and destroyed in the name of that democracy, Fidel Castro can still proudly look into the faces of his people. President Chavez and Cuban President Castro were to revise today the extensive bilateral cooperation agreement signed by the two countries last year. *VENEZUELA PAYS TRIBUTE TO VISITING CUBAN PRESIDENT ON HIS 75TH BIRTHDAY Caracas, August 13 (RHC)--Venezuela paid tribute on Sunday to visiting Cuban President Fidel Castro on the Cuban leader's 75th birthday today. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez organized a dinner in his honor Sunday evening at the Macagua Club on the shores of the Caroni River in the southern state of Bolivar. Chavez said it occurred to him that President Castro should be home on this day, but said he was certain the Cuban people understand that their leader also belongs to all of Latin America. Earlier, the two heads of state signed a supplementary bilateral accord on tourism, adding to the extensive cooperation agreement between the two nations that went into effect last October. The Venezuelan president said he spoke with the Cuban leader about Cuba's social use of the media, pointing to the island's goal to have a TV and video in every classroom. President Chavez termed as invaluable Cuba's experience in more than 40 years of struggle against free market neoliberalism. On Sunday the Cuban leader also travelled by canoe through the Canaima National Park in Bolivar, famous for its Salto Angel waterfall -- the highest in the world -- and for the diversity of its flora and fauna. Today, President Castro participated along with Chavez and Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in the inauguration of an electricity project that will provide energy to Bolivar and to the northern Brazilian state of Roraima. *ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY EXECS IN TROUBLE OVER TRIP TO CUBA Havana, August 13 (RHC)--The United States Treasury department is investigating the visit of a group of prominent Hollywood producers and executives who travelled to Cuba last February. Although the group -- which included the heads of CBS and MTV television networks -- obtained the necessary Treasury Department permission to travel to the island before leaving the US, they have been accused of having too much fun on their visit. They flew to Cuba on a private jet just after U.S. President George W Bush was elected to office. Most political observers recognize that the new president had a debt to pay to the Cuban-American community that was responsible for electing him in Florida, urging him to strengthen the four-decade-long blockade against Havana. According to Tasia Scolinos from the Treasury Department, U.S. authorities want to know if the parties and outings the group attended were covered by the license they were granted. They are the most well-known of any visitors the U.S. government has openly investigated for violating the 1963 Trading with the Enemy Act and the subsequent Helms-Burton Law that strengthened the Act. Group participants said that they were confused as to why they were being investigated for a trip that was pre-approved by the very people doing the investigating. The Treasury Department has begun to regularly threaten fines against those U.S. residents returning from Cuba without having obtained a license to travel there in the first place. They are routinely issuing letters assessing fines of $7,000, according to those who have been prosecuted. According to the Treasury Department the questioning of the entertainment executives could not be construed as "an investigation" but rather a "clarification of their activities." *FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER MALMIERCA DIES AT AGE 70 Havana, August 13 (RHC)--One of Cuba's most respected elders in the diplomatic world has died at the age of 70. Isidoro Malmierca Peoli was one of the founders of the Cuban daily "Granma" and was the island's Foreign Minister for more than 15 years. When very young he joined the Popular Socialist Youth movement and after the triumph of the Revolution helped to build the new Communist Party, becoming a member of its Central Committee. *VENEZUELAN MOTHER GRATEFUL FOR CUBAN HEALTH CARE OF HER SON Havana, August 13 (RHC)--As Cuban President Fidel Castro enjoyed his 75th birthday in Caracas as the guest of the President and People of Venezuela, a Venezuelan woman was thanking Cuba for what it has done for her child's health. María Alvarez is in Cuba for the second time for treatment that the island is giving her two-and-a-half-year-old son who suffers from Wess Syndrome, which manifests itself in multiple convulsions. Alvarez said that she had returned to Cuba because the island's medical system was very good and its doctors excellent. She said that Cubans everywhere were willing to give her a hand and to help in her struggle against the child's affliction. Her son has some 15 convulsions a day and is under the watchful gaze of the island's CIREN or National Center for Neurological Restoration. the child is one of a total of 856 Venezuelans who have been receiving medical care from Cuba's public health system under an agreement signed last year in which Cuba receives preferential oil tariffs from Venezuela in exchange for providing Cuban health and sports know-how.Some 27 Cuban health institutions are involved in the program so far, which has received a great deal of support from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. *POPULAR ENGLISH MUSIC GROUP DONATES GUITARS TO CUBAN MUSICIANS Havana, August 13 (RHC)--The popular English music group Manic Street Preachers is once again in the news here in Cuba. In February of this year the group made a splash with its new album "Know Your Enemy" which it performed before President Fidel Castro. Over the weekend, the group donated three guitars to Cuban musicians who received them from British Council director Michael White. They then gave a short concert using the instruments. *JAPAN'S NEIGHBORS CONDEMN PRIME MINISTER'S TRIBUTE TO WAR CRIMINALS Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Pyongyang, August 13 (RHC)--China, North Korea and South Korea have deplored and condemned Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to a monument that pays tribute to Japanese war criminals. Koizumi moved forward his visit, originally planned for the 56th anniversary of Japan's surrender on August 15th, in an effort, he said to avoid a confrontation. This is the second official visit of a Japanese prime minister to the Yasukuni Temple since the names of 1,068 war criminals were inscribed in the monument in 1978, including 14 high-ranking Japanese military officers who were condemned to death. Among them was the Japanese Prime Minister during World War Two, General Hideki Tojo, who was sentenced to hang by allied forces. Even members of Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party attempted to persuade the prime minister to not visit the monument. The controversial visit comes amid an on-going dispute in the Asia concerning Japan's textbooks on World War Two, which neighboring nations say glorify Japan's imperial past and downplay the crimes committed in occupied countries. *GLOBAL SUMMITS REMAIN A HOT TOPIC IN ITALY Rome, August 13 (RHC)--Controversy continues in Italy over the hosting of international gatherings that could generate protests similar to those that occurred during the G-8 Summit in Genoa. The Deputy Mayor of Naples, Rocco Papa, has suggested that an upcoming gathering of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, scheduled for next month in that Italian city, be held on Capri Island in the Bay of Naples. In recent days, Mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino rejected holding the NATO meeting in Naples, stating that she will not militarize or seal off her city. Deputy Mayor Papa said the concerns of his city are justified, especially since Canada has decided to host next year's G-8 Summit in a remote town in the mountains. *SENEGAL SCORNS THE IDEA OF REPARATIONS FOR SLAVE TRADE Conakry, August 13 (RHC)--At least one African nation has come out against reparations for slavery leading up to the Durban, South Africa International Conference Against Racism. The President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, has asserted that no amount of money could compensate the horrors of three centuries of the slave trade. Wade termed as absurd and insulting the demand for reparations, stating that there aren't enough millions of dollars to calculate the financial cost of three centuries of subjection of an entire people. The Senegalese head of state nevertheless expressed his support for defining the slave trade and colonialism as crimes against humanity, and said that he will participate in the Durban conference. Last Friday negotiators in Geneva failed to reach a consensus on the issues of the slave trade, colonialism and the Palestinian question, with Europeans and the United States threatening to boycott the conference, partly because of fears that a strong statement against slavery and colonialism could lead to demands for reparations. *PRIOR TO CHILE SUMMIT, CHAVEZ WARNS AGAINST "ILL-CONCEIVED" GLOBALIZATION Santiago de Chile, August 13 (RHC)--Leading up to the Rio Group gathering this week in Chile, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reiterated his warning against what he called an ill-conceived globalization process. The Rio Group, to gather next Thursday in Santiago de Chile, was established in 1986 and comprises 19 nations in South and Central America and the Caribbean. In an interview broadcast Sunday on Chilean TV, Chavez said that if the concept of Latin American integration was possible during the epoch of 19th century independence leader Simon Bolivar, today it is imperative for the region. He said today's globalization process does not integrate, but rather, depredates, pointing to high rates of poverty, exclusion and corruption. Rio Group heads of state reportedly plan to discuss a number of issues, including globalization, education and popular participation in the decision-making process in light of the growing lack of credibility of political leaders and the region's so-called democratic governments. But observers believe that most of the gathering's attention is going to be focused on the acute crisis affecting Argentina. *Viewpoint: SOME GOOD NEWS TO BEGIN THE WEEK The week has begun with good news for Cuba. First, the nation's president, Fidel Castro, is enjoying himself immensely on a trip to Venezuela that is further cementing relations between the two nations. On his 75th birthday Monday, the Cuban leader has found himself surrounded by well-wishers of all levels of Venezuelan society. As a birthday present, his host President Hugo Chavez offered him the rifle he has kept with him since he was 17 years old. It was given to Fidel Castro with the promise to build a just, united and internationalist Venezuela. The two countries have never been so close in their struggle for regional integration, reflecting the hopes and aspirations of Simon Bolívar and José Martí. Second, the tremendous support given to Cuba by the delegates of the 15th Youth and Student Festival currently taking place in Algiers, Algeria, to which the island sent a multinational delegation of 750 participants. The messages of solidarity have come in thick and fast as young peoples' global representatives work to provide a better world. They powerfully condemn the US blockade on Cuba and the impact it has had on the island's economy and the health of its inhabitants. Third, the successes of Cuba's athletes in the Edmonton World Athletics Championship which have brought great excitement to those of us watching the event on television here in Cuba. This is a small but proud nation, and the advances in sports it has been able to achieve have an uplifting effect on a people who are still undergoing economic hardships. Although the plight of the five political prisoners held in a Florida prison is never out of the mind of Cubans, the week has begun well -- something we can be thankful for given the events of previous weeks. We can afford to be optimistic on this day, the birthday of Cuba's president, but by the same token we never let down our guard. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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