Radio Havana Cuba-25 January 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 25 January 2001 . *HAVANA DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM PRAGUE AFTER ARRESTING TWO CZECH CITIZENS *CUBA EXPRESSES CONCERN AT REDUCTION OF FUNDS FOR UNICEF *CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER RETURNS HOME AFTER EXTENSIVE FOREIGN TRIP *US SENATORS PROPOSE CREDITS FOR CUBA, SEEK END TO TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS *WOLE SOYINKA OF NIGERIA MEETS WITH FIDEL CASTRO BEFORE LEAVING CUBA *WORLD SOCIAL FORUM OPENS IN BRAZIL *PINOCHET BLAMES HIS UNDERLINGS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS . *HAVANA DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM PRAGUE AFTER ARRESTING TWO CZECH CITIZENS Havana, January 25 (RHC) -- Following the arrest in Havana of two Czech citizens, the government of Cuba has demanded an apology from the government of the Czech Republic. In a communique distributed to diplomatic representations in Havana and posted on the Cuban Foreign Ministry's web page, Cuba stated that the actions of the two Czech citizens are merely another of a series of hostile and destabilizing activities against the island sponsored by the Czech government. The communique makes reference to anti-Cuba activities by Czech diplomats in Havana, and the Czech Republic's servile complicity with Washington's yearly efforts to condemn Cuba at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The Cuban government said there can be a decorous solution to the case if Czech authorities recognize the legitimacy of Cuba's position, warning that it would be an error to put to test Cuba's firmness in the matter. *CUBA EXPRESSES CONCERN AT REDUCTION OF FUNDS FOR UNICEF Havana, January 25 (RHC)-The Cuban government has expressed concern to the United Nations at the reduction of funds earmarked for the UN Children's Fund or UNICEF. Deputy Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Raul Taladrid, warned a meeting of the UNICEF executive on Wednesday that loss of money meant less ability to address the needs of children across the planet and would ultimately be against the interests of the very nations proposing the reduction. Acknowledging that major advances had been made in the past decade in the field of child health and safety, Taladrid said that nonetheless the international community was a long way off from providing children with a poverty free environment away from wars. And in comments made to UNICEF on the state of child health as 2001 begins, Guatemalan Juan Aguilar, who represents the UN body in Nicaragua, praised the record of Cuba in its care of children. He said the island's record in relation to the welfare of children was exceptional with Cuban children receiving very special medical attention even before they are born. He added that Cuba's record was all the more incredible given its poverty. *CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER RETURNS HOME AFTER EXTENSIVE FOREIGN TRIP Havana, January 25 (RHC)-The Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, has returned home after concluding what he described as a very successful trip to Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Perez Roque arrived in Havana late Wednesday after visiting Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Algeria, Senegal and Iran. The political importance of the journey is seen by observers as another example of Cuba's desire to advance on the world stage and increase its economic ties with the rest of the Third World. Cuba is seeking to host the Summit of Non-Aligned Nations in 2004. And in related news, the Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Relations, Heinz Moeller, Wednesday said that his country has excellent relations with Havana and sought to increase trade between the two. In welcoming Cuba's new ambassador to Quito, Ileana Diaz-Arguelles, Moeller said that he was looking forward to increased cooperation between both countries. The Ecuadorian President, Gustavo Noboa, earlier this month also praised the exceptional ties his country has with Cuba. *US SENATORS PROPOSE CREDITS FOR CUBA, SEEK END TO TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS Havana, January 25 (RHC)-Two United States senators, Republican Pat Robertson from the farming state of Kansas and Democrat Byron Dorgan from North Carolina, Wednesday proposed the authorization of bank credits to Cuba to enable the island to purchase food and medicine from the U.S. Last year the US Congress authorized the sale of food and medicines to Cuba but emasculated the program by restricting Havana's ability to seek credit from US banks to make any purchases and maintaining the 6 month US port ban on any ship that docks at a Cuban port. Both senators also seek to lift the restrictions on US tourists spending money in Cuba, which effectively bars them from visiting the island. This tactic was conceived by Washington as a way to skirt the US Constitution that guarantees free movement of its citizens to any part of the planet. The business and agricultural community has been lobbying hard for Washington to lift its economic blockade on Cuba which has seriously damaged US investor's returns as they are outflanked by European and Canadian competition in the island's rapidly growing tourist and agriculture industries. Other senators sponsoring the proposal are Chuck Hagel, a Republican from the farming state of Nebraska, and Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and longtime campaigner against the blockade. *WOLE SOYINKA OF NIGERIA MEETS WITH FIDEL CASTRO BEFORE LEAVING CUBA Havana, January 25 (RHC)-World-renowned Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka met with Cuban President Fidel Castro Wednesday night before returning to Africa. The Nobel Prize laureate had been invited to attend the Casa de las Americas Latin American literature competition. Soyinka expressed satisfaction at the Cuban leader's excellent knowledge of affairs in Nigeria and said that the meeting had been friendly and informal. He said that Fidel Castro's passion relating to Africa was sincere and informed. Having been granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Havana, the Nigerian writer later joined the jury to judge the Casa de las America's competition that included sections for the novel, play, poetry, short story, and the essay. Soyinka said that having been part of the process had enabled him to judge it to be one of the most important on the planet encompassing a very high level of creativity. Wole Soyinka was seen off at the airport by Cuba's Minister of Culture, Abel Prieto and the President of the Casa de las Americas, Roberto Fernandez Retamar. *WORLD SOCIAL FORUM OPENS IN BRAZIL Havana, January 25 (RHC)--The southern Brazilian city Porto Alegre is as of today home to the World Social Forum, organized to create humane and solidarity alternatives to the current world order. The first international response to the neoliberal free market is also being called the Anti-Davos Summit -- in reference to the Swiss city that is sponsoring the forum grouping the world's principle economic consortiums. It's being called "the south against the north, non- governmental organizations facing off with the transnationals, solidarity in the face of capitalism, Porto Alegre against Davos." One of the principle organizers, Bernard Cassen -- director of the French news daily Le Monde Diplomatique -- said that following protests such as those in Seattle against the World Trade Organization, Porto Alegre will not be a wailing wall, and will not consist of merely saying "no", but hopes to become an international resistance movement that elaborates concrete political initiatives. More than 3,000 delegates from 900 NGOs and 10,000 observers plan to debate Third World debt forgiveness, a reform of international financial institutions, the creation of a tax on the movement of finance capital, the prohibition of tax havens and a more equitable distribution of wealth, among many other themes. Renowned leader of the French Farmers' Confederation, Jose Bove, stated that following the protests in Seattle, Bangkok, Prague, Davos and now Porto Alegre have sent shock waves through international financial institutions that are now seeing the anti-globalisations movement as a real threat. In Europe, meanwhile, organizers of the conference Public Eye on Davos have pointed out that it's not the task of the major transnationals to hold private meetings on the future of the planet. They said the Davos rhetoric about poverty and environmental protection may sound good, but in the final analysis it is only about business. *PINOCHET BLAMES HIS UNDERLINGS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Havana, Janury 25 (RHC)--Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has blamed those under his command for the summary execution of political prisoners following his bloody 1973 military coup. Local media outlets are printing excerpts of Pinochet's interrogation Tuesday by Judge Juan Guzman. Known as the Caravan of Death, one of Pinochet's generals led a commando unit that visited a number of military garrisons in northern Chile, executing dissidents arrested during and following the coup. The former dictator said that his only order was to speed up the legal proceedings against those arrested. When Guzman asked him if he took any measures upon learning of the unit's excesses, Pinochet said that was the duty of the commanders of the military garrisons where the executions took place. Judge Guzman showed Pinochet an order signed by one of his generals with a handwritten note in Pinochet's writing stating that he had given the order to carry out the executions. The former dictator acknowledged his handwriting but denied the contents of the note, stating that he is not a criminal, and the entire time terming as terrorists the dissidents who were executed. (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-25333 2001-Jan-26 02:27:37