Radio Havana Cuba-10 December 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 10 December 2001 . *ACP GROUP CALLS ON EUROPEAN UNION TO ALLOW CUBA'S ENTRY INTO ALLIANCE *VENEZUELA SENDS 3rd HUMANITARIAN AID SHIPMENT TO VICTIMS OF MICHELLE *CUBA-SOUTH AFRICA MIXED COOPERATION COMMISSION MEETS IN PRETORIA *INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON GENETIC MUTATIONS BEGINS IN HAVANA *RIGHTS GROUPS AGAIN DEMAND INVESTIGATION INTO TALIBAN POW MASSACRE *JOURNALIST ROBERT FISK SAYS HE UNDERSTANDS AND FORGIVES AFGHAN ATTACKERS *HUGO CHAVEZ BLASTS 12-HOUR LOCKOUT CALLED BY BUSINESS LEADERS *RUSSIA'S RELATION TO NATO SPARKS DIFFERENCES IN WASHINGTON *MORE BAD NEWS FOR ARGENTINE ECONOMY *USA's 'FRIENDLY FIRE' KILLS THREE MORE AFGHAN OPPOSITION FIGHTERS Viewpoint: *FAST TRACK VOTE PROMISES FAST TRACK MISERY FOR LATIN AMERICA . *ACP GROUP CALLS ON EUROPEAN UNION TO ALLOW CUBA'S ENTRY INTO ALLIANCE Havana, December 10 (RHC)-- The African-Caribbean-Pacific Group (ACP) has called on the European Union (EU) to fully review its position on Cuba and to allow Havana to enter the alliance that already exists between the ACP and the EU. A resolution was passed during a meeting of the ACP Council of Ministers in Brussels earlier this month, calling on the EU to allow Cuba's unconditional membership. According to a report published in the Cuban daily Granma, Havana's entry into the ACP/EU alliance has gained support because of the disastrous impact of the U.S. blockade against the island, which has been condemned on numerous occasions by the European Union and the international community. The ACP resolution comes after the reopening of constructive and friendly talks in Havana last week between the Cuban government and representatives of the European Union. The resolution had been previously approved by the combined ACP/EU Parliamentary Assembly in Abuja in March 2000 and in Libreville on March 22nd, 2001, which called on the ACP/EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission to consider Cuba's application in a favorable manner. *VENEZUELA SENDS 3rd HUMANITARIAN AID SHIPMENT TO VICTIMS OF MICHELLE Havana, December 10 (RHC)-- A new humanitarian aid shipment, sent by the Bolivariana Republic of Venezuela to victims of Hurricane Michelle in Cuba, arrived in the port of Havana on Sunday on board the ship Goajira of the Venezuelan Navy. This new aid shipment, the third since the devastating storm hit Cuba in early November, includes primarily construction materials, as well as foodstuffs. Cuban Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Marta Lomas said that the aid will be distributed among residents of affected areas in the central province of Matanzas -- the hardest hit by the hurricane. Julio Montes, Ambassador of the Bolivariana Republic of Venezuela in Cuba told the press in Havana that this new aid shipment, which he called a "shipment of love," has been possible thanks to the contribution by state as well as private institutions and organizations. Montes praised the Cuban experience in facing natural disasters, particularly the discipline of the people and government efforts to facilitate recovery efforts. Although the hurricane caused severe devastation on the island, said the Venezuelan diplomat, in very little time life had returned to normal on the island, basic services such as water supply and electrical power were restored. The 80-member crew was received at Havana Bay by a group of Venezuelans living on the island, among them students at the Latin American School of Medical Sciences and patients at Havana's La Pradera International Health Care Center. *CUBA-SOUTH AFRICA MIXED COOPERATION COMMISSION MEETS IN PRETORIA Pretoria, December 10 (RHC)-- The first meeting of the Cuba-South Africa Mixed Cooperation Commission began sessions on Monday in Pretoria, the South African capital. The Cuban delegation to the meeting is headed by the President of the National Institute for Hydraulic Resources, Jorge Aspiolea, while the South African delegation is headed by the Minister of Hydraulic and Forest Resources, Ronnie Kasrils. During the three-day meeting, both countries' delegations will review the state of bilateral cooperation relations in the areas of trade, as well as analyze the extension of the bilateral cooperation to other areas, including hydraulic resources, agriculture and education. *INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON GENETIC MUTATIONS BEGINS IN HAVANA Havana, December 10 (RHC)-- The 4th National and 2nd International Workshop on Genetic Mutations began on Monday in the Cuban capital with the participation of some 70 experts. The event, which runs through Wednesday, December 12th, includes paper presentations and master lectures on issues related to applied research and the impact of environmental pollution. The organizing committee reported that alongside the Cuban experts, there are specialists from Italy, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, Chile and Ecuador. *RIGHTS GROUPS AGAIN DEMAND INVESTIGATION INTO TALIBAN POW MASSACRE London, December 10 (RHC)-- Amnesty International and other leading human rights organizations have launched a new call for an urgent investigation into the recent mass prison killings in the Afghan city of Mazar-I-Sharif following the release of new video footage showing CIA operatives threatening Taliban prisoners with death if they did not cooperate under interrogation. In an exchange captured on video by an Afghan cameraman, two CIA officers threatened the American Taliban fighter John Walker at a prison fortress two weeks ago. One of the officers is Mike Spann, a member of the agency's paramilitary secret espionage branch who was killed in an uprising at the prison only hours later. Nearly 400 Taliban prisoners were also killed as the uprising was put down. The video shows Spann cowering over Walker, as the other CIA agent is heard saying: "The problem is, he's got to decide if he wants to live or die." Within hours of the encounter, hundreds of prisoners launched an uprising in which they seized guns and other weapons from their Northern Alliance guards. The exchange between the CIA officers raises the prospect that the prisoners revolted because they feared they could be killed if they did not cooperate with the coalition forces. The uprising was put down by a combination of Northern Alliance fighters and American air strikes called in by US and British special forces soldiers who were at the prison acting as advisers and interrogating prisoners. Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Ross stated Sunday that international law is absolutely clear that any prisoner is entitled to humane treatment and cannot be summarily executed. An Amnesty International spokesperson said the video footage is alarming and strengthens the case for an urgent inquiry into what happened at the prison. The CIA said it was not ready to comment on the behavior of its operative on the video. *JOURNALIST ROBERT FISK SAYS HE UNDERSTANDS AND FORGIVES AFGHAN ATTACKERS London, December 10 (RHC)-- British journalist Robert Fisk was attacked and badly beaten over the weekend by Afghan refugees on the Pakistani border. The 55-year-old veteran reporter for the London based "Independent" newspaper said his car broke down as he was passing through a village full of refugees who had just escaped from Kandahar. Writing Monday in the newspapers editorial pages, Fisk said he completely understood and forgave those who beat him, calling the attack a symbol of the hatred and fury of "this filthy war." He affirmed that, in fact, if he were an Afghan refugee in Kila Abdullah, close to the Afghan-Pakistan border, he would have done the same to Robert Fisk or any other Westerner he could find. One of the journalists who has most harshly criticized Washington's war against Afghanistan asked why he should record his few minutes of terror under assault when thousands of innocent civilians are dying under American air strikes in Afghanistan, when the so-called "war of civilization" is burning and maiming Pashtuns of Kandahar and destroying their homes because "good" must triumph over "evil." He asserted that many of those Afghans were outraged by what they had seen on television of the Mazar-I-Sharif massacres, of the prisoners killed with their hands tied behind their backs. *HUGO CHAVEZ BLASTS 12-HOUR LOCKOUT CALLED BY BUSINESS LEADERS Caracas, December 10 (RHC)-- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez affirmed today that he is not worried about a 12-hour lockout staged Monday by the country's business community. He said his peaceful revolution will not take one step backwards, and that its aim is to make profound change in Venezuela's social and political structures. The Venezuelan president said that if the business community wants him to repeal the measures he has adopted, the more reason to adopt them, noting that the business community has never put up resistance to corrupt and dictatorial governments. Venezuelan business leaders are protesting measures they say are heightening government control of and intervention in the country's economy. They had announced that the lockout wouldn't be held if Chavez sat down with them and negotiated, but the Venezuelan president said he would never hold talks to betray a people who have been betrayed on a thousand occasions. In reference to the empty pot-banging protests that could be heard in some middle and upper class neighborhoods, Chavez said it's widely known that the right-wing opposition has distributed compact disks with pot-banging noise. He also said that business leaders threatened to fire workers who showed up at their jobs. Meanwhile, thousands of Venezuelan small farmers were gathering in the capital, Caracas, to demonstrate support for the Venezuelan president's agrarian reform laws. *RUSSIA'S RELATION TO NATO SPARKS DIFFERENCES IN WASHINGTON Washington, December 10 (RHC)-- Differences have reportedly surfaced within the White House over a plan to integrate Russia more closely into NATO. The British news daily "The Guardian" reported Monday that hawkish Pentagon boss Donald Rumsfeld has been lobbying hard against the new NATO-Russia council - agreed at a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels last week - believing the White House and State Department are going soft on Russia because of its support for the US's "war on terrorism." Rumsfeld is reportedly concerned that the move could result in Russia obtaining a veto over NATO decision-making, which Secretary of State Colin Powell has denied. As a result of the Pentagon's objections, NATO foreign ministers have agreed to delay launching the council for six months while its functions and role are further discussed - with the US's European allies confused about Washington's position. Over the weekend, the "New York Times" reported that the US ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns, said at one point that he was unable to proceed because he had received conflicting instructions from Washington. Meanwhile, in Moscow Washington's top diplomat and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov Monday admitted that differences persist between the two countries concerning the Antiballistic Missiles Treaty and deployment of a space-based missile defense system. In a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Powell was reportedly unable to convince the Kremlin to abandon its objections to Washington's Star Wars Program. *MORE BAD NEWS FOR ARGENTINE ECONOMY Washington, December 10 (RHC)-- Argentina's currency is reportedly on the verge of collapse after Finance Minister Domingo Cavallo emerged empty handed from weekend crisis talks with the International Monetary Fund. Argentineans were expected to flood banks once again in a desperate attempt to withdraw their savings. The IMF has reportedly demanded that Buenos Aires make a further 4 billion dollar cut in spending before it releases a frozen loan, but President Fernando de la Rua is facing stiff opposition to its attempts to ram through further austerity measures. With analysts predicting that the Argentinean peso's one-to-one peg with the US dollar is close to rupture, black market money changers on the streets of Buenos Aires are already selling the peso for as much as 20 percent below its official value. Devaluing the currency would bankrupt thousands of firms and households, as most loans have to be repaid in dollars. The government has been forced into increasingly drastic measures to prevent a complete financial crack. Earlier this month, Cavallo introduced strict controls on bank withdrawals. Last Thursday he took the drastic step of converting private pension funds into government bonds and using the proceeds to continue payments on Argentina's 132 billion dollar foreign debt. The cash crunch has reportedly devastated consumer spending, with retail sales down as much as 80 percent last week. *USA's 'FRIENDLY FIRE' KILLS THREE MORE AFGHAN OPPOSITION FIGHTERS Kabul, December 10 (RHC)-- American planes bombing Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaida fighters in eastern Afghanistan's White Mountains have accidentally killed three more soldiers of the Afghan opposition, the third "friendly fire" incident in eight days. The three were killed Saturday night as American B52 bombers and fighter jets continued their daily bombardment of the Tora Bora region where Bin Laden and his fighters are believed to be holed up. The previous weekend, 15 Afghan opposition soldiers, as well as hundreds of Afghan civilians, died in two days of bombing directed at villages in the region. The deaths came as disagreements between mujahedin commanders at the battle front boiled over in a tense confrontation in which soldiers from rival groups brandished their guns and took up firing position in front of one another's headquarters. An internal struggle is reportedly taking place within the ruling council of eastern Afghanistan between rival warlords Haji Zama Gamsharik and Hazrat Ali. Journalists and other mujahedin reportedly fled in panic when the two warlord's men loaded and raised their assault rifles towards one another. For close to half an hour the two sides took up firing positions with machine-guns trained on one another's headquarters, which stand 100 meters apart on the road leading to the battle front. The tension eased, but news correspondents reported that the incident is a further demonstration of the fragility of the mujahedin alliance. Viewpoint: *FAST TRACK VOTE PROMISES FAST TRACK MISERY FOR LATIN AMERICA Last Thursday's vote in the US House of Representatives, granting President George W Bush Fast Track trade negotiating powers by a one-vote margin, is likely to have very serious effects on the workers and the poor of Latin America. The 215-214 vote for the President's proposed policy of by-passing Congress on issues related to the Free Trade Area of the Americas was a hard-fought battle and a bitter defeat for labor, human rights and environmental groups across North and South America. If the legislation passes the Senate - as it may well do if some Democrats do what they did in the House and vote to give Fast Track powers to Bush - then the power given to the administration will be formidable indeed. The President will be able to negotiate sweeping new free-trade pacts - especially that of the Free Trade Area of the Americas which is viewed by critics - including Cuba - as a disaster for the faltering economies of the region. The free-trade neo-liberal economic policies that have made lots of money for the corporate fat-cats of the North have come at a terrible cost to the South. Millions have been driven into impoverishment in scenarios that are the worst since the 1970s. The US president has been given this power through what have become threats that if you're not with us you're against us routine that leaves Congress with only the power to approve or reject the administration's pacts that cannot be amended will create a situation in which, says House Minority Whip David Bonior, "Fast Track will be a bullet train to the unemployment line." To gain this power, Bush traded everything from concessions on citrus protections to support for new unemployment benefits within the US and effectively destroyed prospects for bipartisan consensus on trade issues. The US president also clearly intends to trade the lives of Latin America's poor for the pocketbooks of his corporate allies. (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-19229 2001-Dec-11 09:09:06