Radio Havana Cuba-26 January 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 26 January 2001 . *CUBA TO DECLASSSIFY BAY OF PIGS DOCUMENTS *ALARCON STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF BRAZILIAN FORUM *SALVADORAN GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS DOCTORS, BUT SNUBS THEM *US STATE OF OHIO SUED FOR INHUMANE PRISON CONDITIONS *NBC APOLOGIZES TO PUERTO RICAN COMMUNITY FOR RACIST DISTORTIONS *FIRST MILITARY OFFICER TESTIFIES AGAINST PINOCHET IN CHILE *MILITARY LEADER CALLS ON ECUADOR TO OPEN DIALOGUE WITH PROTESTERS Viewpoint: *ROQUE RETURNS HOME FROM TOUR OF AFRICA, EUROPE AND MIDDLE EAST *CUBA'S ENEMIES WILL FIND IT DIFFICULT TO UNDERMINE REVOLUTION'S SUPPORT . *CUBA TO DECLASSSIFY BAY OF PIGS DOCUMENTS Havana, January 26 (RHC)-Cuba will declassify documents from the Bay of Pigs era in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the defeat of the invasion. Cuba's vice-president of the Council of State, Jose Ramon Fernandez, who was also the commander of the troops who fought off the invasion on April 17 and 18, 1961 and captured most of the invaders in the aftermath, stated that this will be the first time an important group of documents relating to the Bay of Pigs will be declassified in Cuba. He added they will cover events leading up to the two-day invasion as well as its consequences. The prisoners captured were later exchanged for food with the United States government. Fernandez is also organizing an academic conference about the invasion, which will be held in Havana from March 22 to 24. Those invited to participate include both Cuban and US citizens as well as some members of the 2506 Brigade, which was the Cuban American exile group that launched the invasion from Nicaragua. *ALARCON STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF BRAZILIAN FORUM Havana, January 26 (RHC)-The president of the Cuban parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, has stressed the importance of the World Social Forum that is taking place in Puerto Alegre, Brazil. He said it was an excellent forum in which to articulate a coherent response to the negative effects of free market globalization. He added that Latin America's external debt was of special importance to the event. In statements to the press during a layover in Buenos Aires en route to the Forum, Alarcon said that in the last decade the region had paid in interest a full five times the amount of debt it incurred 15 years ago. Latin America now owes twice as much as it did in 1985. The leader of the Cuban parliament said that this is in effect a new form of slavery and indicated there would be extensive discussions on the subject at the Forum. Alarcon will be presiding over a round table on the future of the United Nations in a Globalized World -- a theme he called "fascinating." He said that the Forum was especially valuable in the hope it gave to poorer, indebted countries of the Third World that are offered solidarity by other nations in similar circumstances. Participants at the alternative World Social Forum have launched scathing criticisms of the current world order and the traditional economic forum underway in Davos, Switzerland. One of the prominent organizers of the Brazil event, Egyptian-Senegalese economist Samir Amin, denounce what he called the lies of the Davos millionaires and their political servants. The big lie, said Amir, is that the market is self-regulating and leads to an optimum distribution of wealth -- calling this assertion "imaginary capitalism," a utopia in the negative sense of the word. He said that free market globalization is a sacrosanct principle at Davos, and that it can only generate more waste and a greater inequality in income. He called on those present to build a southern front to fight this new imperialism. Brazilian Workers Party leader and former presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pointed to the strict and unprecedented security measures at Davos, saying that the gathering looks more like a concentration camp surrounded by soldiers and barbed wire. This, said Lula, is because those at Davos are evidently not thinking about anything good for humanity. *SALVADORAN GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS DOCTORS, BUT SNUBS THEM Havana, January 26 (RHC)-The executive director of ARPAS, the Salvadorean Association of Community Radio Stations, said in an interview with Radio Havana Cuba this week that his government had not officially recognized the prompt arrival and assistance of a Cuban medical team in the wake of the earthquake that badly hit the Central American nation two weeks ago. Jose Aleman said that. although he is personally aware of the fact that a group of Cuban doctors and nurses almost immediately crossed over from where they were working in Guatemala to help with the worst hit areas. such as the town of Santa Tecla on the outskirts of the capital San Salvador, no one in El Salvador knows how many they are nor what they are doing. He added that ignoring the valuable help of such a humanitarian mission from Cuba was purely political and morally deplorable. Although he runs a network of some 30 community radio stations across the nation that generally broadcast what the state radio stations don't broadcast, the director of ARPAS said that none of his colleagues at any of the stations had been given any kind of information on the existence of Cuban medical personnel in the country, much less an official press release. Aleman also criticized the small amount of money that had been designated by the government for earthquake relief, saying it was far too little. The disaster has more than doubled the number of Salvadoreans who were homeless before the earthquake hit on January 13. *US STATE OF OHIO SUED FOR INHUMANE PRISON CONDITIONS Havana, January 26 (RHC)--In the U.S. state of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal civil rights action demanding significant and far-reaching changes at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, citing brutal conditions that have led to inmate suicides. Ohio ACLU legal director Ray Vasvari noted that the inmates at the maximum security facility -- known as "Supermax" -- are not seeking financial reparation, but rather a court order reuqiring state officials to remedy a wide range of inhumane conditions, inculding the lack of recreation, mental health and medical care, and the use of excessive restraints. Vasvari said that the inhumane conditions at the Supermax are not something that just happened becuase of bad management or neglect, insisting that they were part of the state's plan from the outset. At the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, inmates are held 23 hours a day in solitary, confined to 7 by 14-foot concrete cells with built-in furniture. Flourescent lights in the steel-doored cells remain on 24 hours a day, and prisoners who attempt to shade their eyes are punished. Inmates are shackled and strip-searched each time they leave their cells. The American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit charges that these and many other inhumane conditions violate the Eighth Amendment to the Unites States Constitution, which forbids the government from subjecting prisoners to cruel and unusual punishment, and also violates similar provisions of international human rights laws. *NBC APOLOGIZES TO PUERTO RICAN COMMUNITY FOR RACIST DISTORTIONS Havana, January 26 (RHC)--The US NBC TV network has agreed to publically apologize to the Puerto Rican community for the transmission of a program presenting a negative image of the community's members. Following a meeting Thursday in New York of NBC executives and Puerto Rican community leaders, Manuel Mirabal -- of the National Puerto Rican Coalition -- said the firm also promised to adopt measures against those responsible for the transmission of an episode in the series "Law and Order." The episode focused on the incidents last year in Central Park during the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in Manhattan, where young women were molested by youths who tore off their clothes and sexually assaulted them. The NBC, however, distorted the incident by portraying all the youths involved as Puerto Ricans, when in fact white and black men were charged, along with Hispanics, among whom the majority were not Puerto Rican. Mirabal said that NBC broke its promise of two years ago not to repeat programs of this nature after Puerto Ricans were portrayed in a similarly negative manner in one of the episodes of the series "Seinfeld" -- with the largest viewing audience at that time. NBC executives are going to meet again Monday with Puerto Rican community leaders who stated that the network now has to decide what it's going to do to repair the damage. *FIRST MILITARY OFFICER TESTIFIES AGAINST PINOCHET IN CHILE Havana, January 26 (RHC)--A retired Chilean army general has become the first military officer to provide public testimony against former dictator Augusto Pinochet regarding the crimes about which he was interrogated earlier this week. Retired General Joaquin Lagos, in statements to National Chilean TV, said that Pinochet and General Sergio Arellano are responsible for the summary executions of more than 70 political prisoners in a death squad tour of prisons known as the Caravan of Death. During Judge Juan Guzman's interrogation on Tuesday, Pinochet blamed the military commanders of the region where the assassinations took place. Lagos was one of them, and Pinochet's defense attorneys have blamed him for the crimes. But Lagos testified that he found out after the fact and called on General Arellano for an explanation. General Arellano told him that they were orders from the commander-in-chief. Lagos is the retired official who gave Judge Guzman the list of executed political prisoners that he had saved for 27 years, along with Pinochet's handwritten orders. The former dictator recognized his handwriting during the interrogation but denied the veracity of the document's content. Lago was also the only military commander in the region to turn over the bodies of those murdered to their families. But, in a chilling account, he said the 14 bodies that were in his prison were totally mangled, and that he had to return them to their families in sealed caskets. The retired general said that before the prisoners were executed, soldiers gouged out their eyes and broke their jaws and legs. *MILITARY LEADER CALLS ON ECUADOR TO OPEN DIALOGUE WITH PROTESTERS Havana, January 26 (RHC)--A member of the top military brass in Ecuador has called on his government to open a social dialogue to avoid a further extension of protests. In reference to massive and violent protests this week in the southern Cotopaxi Province and other regions, air force commander Osvaldo Dominguez said the confrontations must come to an end. In Cotopaxi, some 85 kilometers south of the capital, Quito, thousands of student, grassroots, campesino and indigenous activists stormed the provincial capital, Latacunga, engaging in pitched battles with police and soldiers. Some ten protesters were wounded by gunfire, dozens of others were wounded by other means and some 100 arrested in what observers, including news correspondents present at the scene, called brutal repression. One army sargeant was captured by protesters and is reportedly being held as hostage. Similar clashes occurred Friday in Tungurahua Province, while indigenous activists in Cotopaxi and in Chimborazo announced the beginning of a march on Quito. In January of last year some 15,000 indigenous activists converged on the capital in a protest that led to the downfall of former President Jamil Mahuad. The blocking of roads and highways in that province, and other Ecuadoran regions, is beginning to spark shortages of basic products in some cities. Though others have called on President Gustavo Noboa to negotiate, those spearheading the protests that began last January 2 say they will not hold talks with authorities until the government repeals severe price hikes in transportation, fuel and household gas decreed as the new year approached. . Viewpoint: *PEREZ ROQUE RETURNS HOME FROM TOUR OF AFRICA, EUROPE AND MIDDLE EAST Cuba's Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Rocque, has just returned from his recent tour of Africa, Europe and the Middle East, which proved to be very successful. Perez Roque visited Senegal, Greece, Turkey, Algeria, Cyprus and Iran where he witnessed the support that Cuba has among those people and governments. He also had the opportunity to express his thanks, in the name of Cuba's revolutionary government, for the continuous endorsement given to Cuba in the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. This young and talented Minister has gained an increased awareness of the worldwide importance of Cuba's struggle. He also received reconfirmation of the admiration and respect for this country in its defense, not only its own independence and sovereignty, but also for the support given by Cuba to other Third World countries. Radio Havana Cuba's listeners all over the world will agree that Cuba is one of the most unified countries in history. This can be seen in the support given by the people to the revolutionary government. Cuba has also collaborated directly and effectively over many years with other peoples and governments of the Third World. Although Cuba does not have money or natural wealth, it does have the capacity to share with other people whatever human resources it has, without any economic benefit to anybody, only with the sincere will to help and the desire for consistency with our ideas. From the time they enter school, young Cubans learn about the high moral principles that must rule human society, with encouraging results. The vast majority of them are aware and proud of the prestige that their country enjoys, both nationally and internationally. In the forty-two years of its revolutionary and international existence, Cuba has not aligned itself with an unjust cause and has been much more disposed to offer support wherever there is a struggle against injustice, oppression and misery. In this sense Cuba has a clean record that is respected worldwide. Cuba's socialist struggle is fought with a respect for human rights, which does not include impunity for political crimes, assassinations, tortures, disappearances or other human rights violations. The Revolution in Cuba has the support of the vast majority of the people, as witnessed in the mass demonstrations in support of the its ideas and practices. Cubans will continue to fight in an ethical and moral manner, with a clean conscience and the traditional courage that has been part of its history. *CUBA'S ENEMIES WILL FIND IT DIFFICULT TO UNDERMINE REVOLUTION'S SUPPORT Cuba's enemies will have a difficult time manufacturing internal opposition on the island. Those who promote such an absurd idea appear not to have noticed the mass mobilizations of hundreds of thousands and even as many as a million Cubans, since the kidnapping and rescue of the Cuban child, Elian Gonzalez. The victory won by the Cuban people with the return of Elian in the arms of his father was achieved with the support of the people of the United States who began to see through the lies spread by anti-Cuba propaganda. Since the return of Elian Gonzalez, the island has mounted an ideological battle against the Cuban Adjustment Act -- a U.S. law that extends exclusive privileges to Cubans who illegally emigrate to the United States and who manage, one or way another, to touch U.S. soil. The law has caused many deaths of Cubans who seek to leave the island mostly for economic reasons, paying large amounts of money to human traffickers who attempt to cross the treacherous Florida Straits in rickety, overloaded boats. In large part due to the economic blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States more than 40 years ago, the island is facing many shortages and difficulties, especially during the last ten years, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and socialism in Europe with which Cuba maintained practically all its economic relations. But the great majority of Cubans have remained firm in their support for national unity. It is well known that Washington has launched another anti-Cuba offensive aimed at creating, from abroad, opposition on the island. However, they will once again be disappointed. There is an old saying, which has been misinterpreted in the case of Cuba: "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again." But the saying only applies if you are sincere and have the highest moral ground, and in this case the motive is immoral and unjust. To deprive a people of its independence and sovereignty through the application of criminal, genocidal methods will never be a just cause destined for victory. In the case of Washington's forty years of attempting to topple Cuba's government of choice, such acts are condemned to failure. (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-13433 2001-Jan-26 23:52:09