RHC Weekend-29/30 December 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 29/30 December 2001 . *CUBAN PARLIAMENT MEETS IN SPECIAL SESSION *FOREIGN STUDENTS MARK ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERNATIONAL WORK BRIGADES *CUBAN JAZZ INVADES CALIFORNIA *ARGENTINES BACK ON THE STREETS TO CONDEMN GOVERNMENT AUSTERITY MEASURES *PAKISTAN MAKES FURTHER GESTURES TO AVOID WAR WITH INDIA *ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS COME TOGETHER IN UNUSUAL PLEA FOR PEACE *COLOMBIA: FARC ISSUES YEAR-END MESSAGE ON GOVT FAILURE TO ACHIEVE PEACE *FRANCE APPLAUDS ARREST IN ARGENTINA OF ALFREDO ASTIZ *PERU: VLADIMIRO MONTESINOS BOASTS OF HOW EASILY HE BRIBED POLITICIANS . *CUBAN PARLIAMENT MEETS IN SPECIAL SESSION Havana, December 29 (RHC)--The Cuban Parliament, also known as General Assembly of People's Power, met Saturday afternoon in its third special session this year to discuss various proposals of agreements at the request of the President of Cuba's Council of Ministers, President Fidel Castro. Given its importance, the session was broadcast live on Cuban radio and television, as well as the international frequencies of Radio Havana Cuba. Invited as special guests at the extraordinary parliamentary session were family members of the five Cubans wrongly convicted and imprisoned in Miami, victims of a judicial farce orchestrated by the anti-Cuba terrorist Mafia there. Also on hand at the Havana International Convention Center were Juan Miguel Gonzalez, father of Elian Gonzalez and other members of the Gonzalez family here in Cuba. As their first agreement, the 522 Cuban deputies present at the plenary session unanimously adopted a resolution to grant the title of "Heroes of the Republic of Cuba" to the five Cuban patriots being held in the United States: Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert, Ramon Labanino Salazar, Fernando Gonzalez Llort, Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez and Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo. Upon making the announcement, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon explained that the decision is in response to the fact that the five men have fulfilled with exemplary dedication, dignity and strength the sacred duty of defending their country and people from terrorism, risking their own lives and enduring tremendous sacrifices in the most hostile, aggressive environment. The Cuban parliament held its last ordinary session on December 20th and 21st, approving the island's "Law against Terrorist Acts." *FOREIGN STUDENTS MARK ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERNATIONAL WORK BRIGADES Camagüey, December 29 (RHC)--Foreign students in the eastern province of Camagüey have accumulated 75,000 hours of volunteer work, marking the 11th anniversary of the Friends of Cuba International Work Brigades. Created in November 1990, the international work brigades are made up of 865 foreign students from 50 nations, who devote some of their free time to support agricultural activities in urban as well as rural areas. In addition to their support for agricultural development on the island, the Friends of Cuba International Work Brigades have also made important donations of medicine to health care centers on the island. *CUBAN JAZZ INVADES CALIFORNIA San Francisco, December 29 (RHC)--The Afro-Cuban Jazz Masters have taken California by storm -- with a series of special performances at Yoshi's Club in San Francisco. The Latin jazz club in the Bay Area has been compared to "New Morning" in Paris and "Ronnie's" in London. According to the Cuban daily Granma, the musicians were first contracted to play a single concert, but by popular demand their stay was extended to a series of six performances. The Afro-Cuban Jazz Masters are so popular that National Public Radio will carry a live broadcast of their New Year's Eve show. Orlando Valle (Maraca), leader of the group of talented musicians, already has a big following in the United States. Maraca has appeared in the Bay Area on a number of occasions -- first with his group "Otra Vision" and then to promote his popular hit called "Descarga Total." Among the other musicians making up the Afro-Cuban Jazz Masters: Tata Guines, Changuito Quintana and Enrique Lazaga. *ARGENTINES BACK ON THE STREETS TO CONDEMN GOVERNMENT AUSTERITY MEASURES Buenos Aires, December 29 (RHC) -- Angry Argentines went back to the streets late Friday and early Saturday in renewed protests against government austerity measures. The protest, which became extremely violent, began after Argentines flooded banks, forming long lines and shouting for their money. The new government has maintained emergency restrictions on withdrawing money from banks. Police in Buenos Aires used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of protesters as demonstrators broke into the Congress building in the early hours of Saturday setting fire to curtains and breaking furniture. Several banks and a McDonalds and Burger King fast food restaurants were sacked as angry Argentines shouted that all the country's politicians are corrupt and that they're tired of being ripped off by thieves. The protest triggered the first resignation from the new government. The newly appointed chief adviser to the cabinet, Carlos Grosso, stepped down amid accusations of corruption when he was mayor of Buenos Aires ten years ago during the Carlos Menem administration. Demonstrators also called for the resignation of all members of the country's Supreme Court, which Friday evening ruled that Argentines don't have the right to free access to their bank accounts and savings. Senator Eduardo Duhalde warned of the risks of civil war in Argentina. Some 12 police officers were injured during clashes, though the number of protesters injured has not been reported. During the social uprising just ten days ago, 30 people were killed. *PAKISTAN MAKES FURTHER GESTURES TO AVOID WAR WITH INDIA Islamabad, December 29 (RHC)--In an effort to defuse the threat of war with India, Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf has reportedly ordered the arrest of some 50 leading members of two Islamic militant groups accused by India of mounting an attack on New Delhi's Parliament two weeks ago. The move came after industrialized nations Friday told Pakistan to crack down on home-grown terrorists contesting Indian control of Kashmir. Though western leaders, including US President George W. Bush, expressed their hope that the arrests would be enough to cause India to pull back from the brink of conflict, authorities in New Delhi have yet to comment. Observers have noted that Pakistan made no announcement of its crackdown on the two groups, perhaps because it was unwilling to be seen as bowing to Indian pressure. Pakistan has also refused to say which leaders had been arrested, or even to confirm the arrests officially. Earlier this week, in its initial response to India's demands for a crackdown, Pakistan froze the bank accounts of one of the groups and arrested its leader - but India called the move largely cosmetic. Observers are noting, however, that Pakistan's agreement to support the US's bombardment of Afghanistan would require a crackdown on the two groups in a country long known to be a haven for Islamic militancy. But the struggle for Kashmir has strong support among the Pakistani population and within the country's army. *ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS COME TOGETHER IN UNUSUAL PLEA FOR PEACE Jerusalem, December 29 (RHC)--Hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians gathered Friday in Jerusalem to make an unusual and impassioned plea for peace. Israeli and Palestinian activists, politicians and academics crowded into a Jerusalem hotel to sign a "declaration for peace," in a type of gathering that hasn't occurred during the last 15 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The Israeli left that had long supported peace efforts all but collapsed amid the Intifada, while Palestinians became more radicalized as the death toll among them mounted. While it is unclear whether there is much public support for this effort amid the hatred and thirst for revenge on both sides, observers are asserting that the fact that several hundred Israelis and Palestinians came together reflected desperation and despair from which participants said hope might spring. Galia Golan, founder of the Israeli anti-war organization Peace Now, called the gathering "extraordinary," insisting that it shows there are still people who believe peace is possible. Her sentiments were echoed by Sari Nusseibeh, top Palestinian official in Jerusalem and president of Al Quds University in East Jerusalem. He said the gathering gives them hope to take more important steps. Among leading Israel politicians were several members of the Labor Party, which sits in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government, while Palestinian politicians represented an array of factions - including Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. Participants launched the Israeli-Palestinian Coalition for Peace, insisting that the solution to the Middle East conflict is the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel, the removal of Jewish settlements from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and a sharing of Jerusalem. *COLOMBIA: FARC ISSUES YEAR-END MESSAGE ON GOVT FAILURE TO ACHIEVE PEACE Bogotá, December 29 (RHC) -- In an end-of-the-year message on its website, Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces insurgency has charged that three years of peace efforts have mounted to little due to the government's lack of a political commitment. The guerilla organization said the government is unwilling to implement the structural changes necessary for a political solution to what it says is not only an armed conflict, but also a social conflict. The communiqué also lashed out at the growing strength of right-wing paramilitaries -- which they called an expression of state-sponsored terrorism due to military ties to the death squads -- at Washington's military anti-drug strategy in the Andean nation, and at the country's on-going cooperation with the International Monetary Fund. The leftist rebels affirmed that the IMF is maintaining the country in poverty, just as it's doing in countries like Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Bolivia and Brazil where, they added, there are no guerrillas to blame for social and economic woes generated by an unjust economic system. They pointed to Argentina as the most recent manifestation of free market reform. After 3 years of an on-again, off-again peace process, Colombian President Andres Pastrana will have to decide in January whether he will once again prolong approval of a demilitarized zone used for contacts between rebel and government negotiators. Due to a lack of advances in the peace process, Pastrana has been coming under increasing pressure to suspend rebel-use of the demilitarized zone, which the rebels say would automatically suspend the peace process. *FRANCE APPLAUDS ARREST IN ARGENTINA OF ALFREDO ASTIZ Paris, December 29 (RHC)--The government of France has applauded the arrest in Argentina of former dictatorship official Alfredo Astiz, confirming that Paris is still seeking his extradition. Astiz was arrested at the request of judicial authorities in Sweden for the forced disappearance of a young Swedish girl, but in 1990 a criminal court in France convicted and sentenced him, in absentia, to life in prison for the murder of two nuns during Argentina's bloody 1976 to 1983 military regime. Last August, Argentina rejected another of many French extradition requests against Astiz, but France's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that judicial authorities there still hope to see him behind bars. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said France is delighted that the new Argentine government has shown itself eager to come up to expectations in matters of international judicial cooperation. But discrepancies have surfaced in the new Argentine government over the extradition of human rights violators. While President Adolfo Rodriguez and Justice Minister Alberto Zuppi have come out in support of the move, Foreign Minister Jose Maria Vernet has expressed reserve, cautioning leaders to take heed of the opinion of the Argentine military. That opinion, say observers, is not hard to predict. *PERU: VLADIMIRO MONTESINOS BOASTS OF HOW EASILY HE BRIBED POLITICIANS Lima, December 29 (RHC)--Peru's disgraced former intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, has shocked the nation with a videotape in which he boasts of how easily he bribed some of the country's politicians. Montesinos sent a videotape from prison to a Congressional panel in which he spoke of how he persuaded politicians to switch sides and guarantee a majority for former President Alberto Fujimori following elections in the year 2000. He says on the tape how much each of the politicians was paid for their changed allegiance. Montesinos also repeated his accusation that he was acting under the orders of Fujimori, who fled to Japan last year after corruption charges engulfed his government. The former intelligence chief is being held in a naval base prison he himself designed to lock up top-security prisoners. He faces charges ranging from money-laundering to organizing death squads, and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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