Radio Havana Cuba-17 January 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 17 January 2001 . *CUBA PROVIDES MORE EVIDENCE ON TERRORISTS BEING HELD IN PANAMA *INTERNATIONAL CIGAR FESTIVAL TO BE HELD NEXT MONTH IN HAVANA *JAPANESE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION VISITING CUBA *OSPAAAL's 35th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION EVENTS CONTINUE *GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE BEGINS JANUARY 29th *SYRIAN DELEGATION VISITS CUBA *LAURENT KABILA SUCCEEDED BY HIS SON IN CONGO; HOW HE DIED STILL UNCERTAIN *NEW FILM ON PATRICE LUMUMBA OPENS IN CUBA *US ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE JOHN ASHCROFT FACES CONFIRMATION HEARINGS Viewpoint: *POVERTY ROCKS CENTRAL AMERICA LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE *RAMSEY CLARK, IN BAGHDAD, SPEAKS OUT AGAINST US SANCTIONS ON IRAQ *US IGNORES EVIDENCE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN DEPLETED URANIUM . *CUBA PROVIDES MORE EVIDENCE ON TERRORISTS BEING HELD IN PANAMA Panama City, January 17 (RHC)--The Cuban government has provided additional evidence to Panamanian authorities regarding terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and three others being held for plotting an assassination attempt against Cuban President Fidel Castro. According to Prensa Latina News Agency, Havana's ambassador to Panama, Carlos Zamora, personally handed over more than ten volumes of information to authorities on Monday. Cuba has also requested the separate extradition of the three others -- members of a terrorist commando led by Posada Carriles and arrested two months ago, on November 17th. Along with Luis Posada Carriles -- the mastermind of the plot -- Guillermo Novo, Gaspar Jimenez and Pedro Remon are wanted in Havana for their terrorist activities. The Panamanian government is studying the Cuban request for extradition and is expected to make a decision soon on whether or not to send them to trial in Havana. Cuban President Fidel Castro has assured authorities that despite the gravity of their crimes, the terrorists will not be sentenced to death and will only receive the maximum of 20 years in prison, if convicted. The Cuban leader has also offered to have international observers present during trial proceedings. Among his many terrorist activities, Luis Posada Carriles has admitted responsibility in the sabotage bombing of a Cubana airliner in 1976, which killed all 73 persons on board. In related news, Panamanian students visiting Havana appeared on a roundtable discussion Tuesday evening, aired live on Cuban radio and television. The students condemned the terrorist actions of those being held in their country and called on the Panamanian government to extradite them to Cuba. Participants on the roundtable emphasized that the C-4 plastic explosives and detailed maps of the University of Panama, found in a car rented by the terrorists, proves that they were planning to blow up a university auditorium during a speech by the Cuban president. They said that if the explosives had been detonated, hundreds of students would have been killed. The visiting students expressed their solidarity with Cuba and said they would return to Panama to continue to work for the extradition of the terrorists. Tuesday night's roundtable discussion was aired on the international shortwave frequencies of Radio Havana Cuba. *INTERNATIONAL CIGAR FESTIVAL TO BE HELD NEXT MONTH IN HAVANA Havana, January 17 (RHC)--The 3rd International "Habano" Cigar Festival will be held from February 19th to the 23rd. Outstanding personalities linked to Cuban cigars will attend the gala event. Delegates will participate in seminars, video and photography contests and will visit tobacco factories and trade fairs among other activities. The International Festival is dedicated to the 35th anniversary of Cuban Habanos cigars and the 5th anniversary of the exclusive Cuaba and Vegueros brands. *JAPANESE LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION VISITING CUBA Habana, January 17 (RHC)--A Japanese legislative delegation headed by the President of Japan's Chamber of Deputies, Tamisuke Watanuki, is scheduled to meet with the President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon. The visiting Japanese parliamentarians will also meet with Vice President Carlos Lage. Watanuki told reporters in Havana that the objective of his visit is to strengthen relations between the two nations and he emphasized that there is great interest in Japan regarding the island's tourism sector. The Japanese lawmakers will also meet with other government leaders and tour places of economic, political and social interest. *OSPAAAL's 35th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION EVENTS CONTINUE Havana, January 17 (RHC)--During its second and final day of meetings in Havana, the Organization in Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, OSPAAAL, is organizing an international meeting of political parties, organizations and progressive movements in support of a just world. Delegates from 12 countries and three continents characterized as "positive" the work of the organization over the last five years and discussed projects and the main objectives for the future. Also during the national activity celebrating the 35th anniversary of OSPAAAL awards are being presented to important solidarity activists. *GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE BEGINS JANUARY 29th Havana, January 17 (RHC)--Some one thousand delegates will attend the 3rd International Economists Meeting on Globalization and Problems of Development, which begins on January 29th. The president of the conference's organizing committee, Ester Aguilera, said that the event will include conferences and round table discussions on papers presented by prestigious Cuban and foreign economic experts. *SYRIAN DELEGATION VISITS CUBA Havana, January 17 (RHC)-Cuban Communist Party official Jose Ramon Balaguer met on Tuesday in Havana with a delegation from the Syria's governing Baas de Syria Party, headed by party secretary Abdalahj al Armar. The Syrian politician told the press that he is satisfied with the exchanges between both countries. He explained that he was invited to attend the meeting of Arab Institutions on the American continent, which will be held January 19th at the 20th in Havana's International Convention Center. *LAURENT KABILA SUCCEEDED BY HIS SON IN CONGO; HOW HE DIED STILL UNCERTAIN Harare, January 17 (RHC)-The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laurent Desire Kabila, is dead. According to reports from Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, Kabila was killed by an army colonel who had just been demoted. Conflicting reports from the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at first had Kabila wounded but still alive - but all information points to the fact that the president died while he was being rushed by plane to Zimbabwe, where he was to receive medical treatment. In Angola, the Prensa Latina News Agency bureau reports that Kabila's son, General Joseph Kabila, is now servicing as the head of state, but it was noted that there are still confusing reports as to exactly how his father was killed. Laurent Kabila came to power in the former Zaire in 1997, after the overthrow of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Shortly after the dictator fled Kinshasa, the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. *NEW FILM ON PATRICE LUMUMBA OPENS IN CUBA Havana, January 17 (RHC)--A film depicting the life of murdered African statesman, Patrice Lumumba, opens in Cuba this week. The Belgian, Haitian and German co-production was directed by Haiti's Raul Peck. Actor Eriq Ebuan of Cameroon plays the leading role. Director Peck, was a member of the jury in the recently held 22nd International Festival of New Latin American Film in Havana in December. The movie, which was extensively researched, reveals new information on the life and the murder of the distinguished leader who was killed on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in l961 in what was then the Belgian Congo and today is known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. *US ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE JOHN ASHCROFT FACES CONFIRMATION HEARINGS Washington, January 17 (RHC)--During confirmation hearings this week U.S. Pesident-elect George Bush's nominee for Attorney General, John Ashcroft, has attempted to allay the onslaught of criticism against his ultra-conservative positions during Senate confirmation hearings. Promising that his religious-right ideas will not prevent him from enforcing the country's laws, Ashcroft told the Senate Tuesday that even though he opposes abortion he recognizes that this is the law of the land. But Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy stated that Ashcroft's past indicates that he will not be capable of enforcing the law above and beyond his personal ideas. Kennedy recalled that as a Senator, Ashcroft called James Brady -- press secretary of the Ronald Reagan administration wounded and confined to a wheelchair following an assassination attempt against Reagan -- the principle enemy of responsible owners of weapons. Since Brady was wounded he became an outspoken representative of the movement for strict gun-control legislation. Democrat Charles Schummer also asserted that Ashcroft has been an impassioned defender of his ideas, and that he wasn't sure that the Bush nominee could find a balance between his ideology and his duties as an attorney general. Also accused by civil rights organizations of racism and bigotry for interviews givento a notoriously white supremacist magazine, Ashcroft is nevertheless expected to be confirmed by the Senate. The hearings were expected to continue through the rest of the week, but the confirmation vote is not expected until after Bush takes possession of the White House -- which will allow Vice President-elect Richard Cheney to be present as head of the Senate to break a possible tie in the upper house. Viewpoint: *POVERTY ROCKS CENTRAL AMERICA LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE San Salvador, January 17 (RHC)-- Poverty was primarily responsible for the tragedy of last weekend's devastating earthquake in El Salvador. According to Catholic Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez, the Salvadoran government must take decisive action to make sure that such loss of life is not repeated in the future. The Catholic Church official told reporters in San Salvador that the country is now forced to seriously deal with the situation of poverty -- emphasizing that almost all of those who were killed or left homeless in Saturday's earthquake were poor. Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez recalled that when an earthquake nearly destroyed the Salvadoran capital in October 1986, authorities found that the violation of safe building codes was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. He noted that at that time, measures were taken to strengthen building codes but that serious violations have been committed. The Catholic Church official placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of poverty and the irresponsible administrations that have governed the country over the past 15 years. *RAMSEY CLARK, IN BAGHDAD, SPEAKS OUT AGAINST US SANCTIONS ON IRAQ Baghdad, January 17 (RHC)--[On Saturday, January 13th,] a U.S. delegation headed by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark arrived in Iraq, in defiance of U.S. sanctions against that Arab nation. The group of 50 people delivered medicine to several hospitals in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and held a news conference to denounce Washington's continued war of aggression. The group was one of the first U.S. delegations to fly into Iraq since the imposition of sanctions in 1990. They were greeted at the airport by an enthusiastic crowd and joined Iraqis in chanting: "End the sanctions now." At the news conference, held at Baghdad's international airport, Ramsey Clark told reporters that "the U.S. genocidal sanctions against Iraq must be lifted completely and immediately." He said that the delegation brings together people from 15 U.S. states and includes students, teachers, social workers, attorneys and long-time peace activists. The former attorney general, who served in the administration of former U.S. President Lyndon Johnson during the 1960s, noted that their visit to Iraq coincides with the tenth anniversary of the U.S.-led Gulf War against the Arab nation. The delegation stated that this is the fourth Iraq Sanctions Challenge to travel to Baghdad and the first to have done so by air. In the past, delegations have been required to travel overland by bus from Amman to Baghdad, a 20-hour trip. This was done because of the U.S. and British imposed "no-fly zone" which prohibits flights over two-thirds of Iraq. Ramsey Clark explained that the challenge is part of a growing international opposition to the sanctions, pointing out that more than 100 flights have entered Iraq over the past five months. The Fourth Iraq Sanctions Challenge is delivering over one million dollars worth of medicine and school supplies -- basic necessities that have been denied due to the U.S.-promoted embargo against Iraq by the UN Security Council. It was noted that before the embargo, Iraq was one of the most prosperous nations in the region -- but that with Washington's sanctions, Baghdad is prevented from meeting the basic needs of its people. *US IGNORES EVIDENCE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN DEPLETED URANIUM The splitting of the atom released a terrible energy that continues to threaten the very existence of the human race. There have been many treaties to attempt to control the development and expansion of this energy, which should only be used for the benefit of humankind, but the proliferation of nuclear warheads has already condemned a large majority of the human race to live under the threat of total destruction, and, as usual it is the poor and marginalized people of the world that suffer from the unjust distribution of the risks involved in nuclear warhead use and testing. Nowadays humanity has seen how the United States, the most powerful nation in the world, is looking for excuses to augment its already destructive conventional and nuclear arms by intervening in the movement to put a stop to their use for aggressive and warlike purposes. The most obvious case of the dangers of their use is the fact that the depleted uranium used in the most recent conflicts in which they have intervened, like the Gulf War and Yugoslavia has caused illness and death in the people of the regions and the soldiers who participated in the wars. They don't know exactly the number of civil victims in the Balkan region. This will probably remain a well-guarded secret in the face of public opinion which has turned against the use of these weapons that are used to kill and maim people. Despite the on-going revelations concerning the dangers of depleted uranium, the U.S. has continued defending the use of the substance, claiming that there is no scientific evidence linking depleted uranium to illnesses in soldiers exposed to the radioactive material. Even though there is evidence linking cancer and other illnesses to the use of depleted uranium, the U.S. administration seem bent on down-playing the seriousness of these effects in order to continue their aggressive war games in countries like Vieques. (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-16907 2001-Jan-18 01:29:23