Radio Havana Cuba-31 January 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 31 January 2001 . *REPORT FROM ECONOMISTS' MEETING ON GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS *SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTER ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA *CUBAN VICE PRESIDENT ON WORKING TOUR TO CAMAGUEY *ADVISOR TO VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT EXPRESSES APPRECIATION FOR CUBAN MEDICAL AID *CUBA-JAPAN ECONOMIC CONFERENCES CONTINUE IN TOKYO *INDIGENOUS IN ECUADOR RADICALIZE PROTEST FOLLOWING ARREST OF LEADER *COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT GIVES LEFTIST REBELS FOUR DAYS TO RENEW PEACE TALKS *LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE BEGINS NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN ON CONGRESS *Viewpoint: THE PLAN TO GLOBALIZE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH . *REPORT FROM ECONOMISTS' MEETING ON GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS Havana, January 31 (RHC)-- The Third International Meeting of Economists on Globalization and Development Problems continued Wednesday at Havana's International Convention Center with work commissions. On Tuesday, a hardy debate was generated during the presentation of a book entitled "Towards Economic Security in the Era of Globalization," written by executives of the World Bank participating at the event. The book, which tries to present social policies able to generate economic surplus to be used in times of crisis, was strongly criticized by participants at the meeting. One delegate pointed out that the authors of the book ignore the decline of worker's real salaries and the absence of credit for fiscal policies, as evidence of economic deterioration and the increase of poverty, especially in Latin America. The Third International Meeting of Economists on Globalization and Development Problems runs through Friday, February 2nd. *SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTER ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA Havana, January 31 (RHC)-- South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zume has begun a six-day official visit to Cuba at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque. The visit is aimed at broadening bilateral ties. The South African official will meet with Cuban government officials and is scheduled to sign an agreement for the creation of a joint governmental commission that will lead to the official visit of South African President Thabo Mbeki to the island. The official visit of the South African foreign minister is an expression of that country's commitment to continue strengthening the already friendly relations between both countries. *CUBAN VICE PRESIDENT ON WORKING TOUR TO CAMAGUEY Havana, January 31 (RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage inaugurated the Center for Cardiovascular Medical Service in Camaguey on Wednesday. He also opened reconstruction work on a 37-kilometer road, including a 48-meter bridge which links the town to the municipality of Najasa. The Cuban vice president began his working tour with a visit to a construction firm that was forced to stop production during the special period due to a lack of resources. Through investments, the company has been recovering its important position in the territory. He also learned of the efforts being made by the people of Camaguey in recovering the tradition of raising cattle in that area. However, Lage pointed out that the island couldn't talk about a recovery in the cattle industry, a sector that was seriously affected by a lack of resources after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. *ADVISOR TO VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT EXPRESSES APPRECIATION FOR CUBAN MEDICAL AID Havana, January 31 (RHC)-- Marta Bolivar, advisor to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for the Cuba-Venezuela Cooperation Agreement, stated that the island's medical assistance gives hope to people with health problems in her country. The Venezuelan official, who is also an advisor to the Health Ministry, arrived in Havana on Tuesday with the fourth group of Venezuelan patients that are receiving specialized medical attention free-of-charge. Speaking to journalists, the Venezuelan official thanked the Cuban people for their medical aid and pointed out that there are some 700 patients waiting to receive treatment in Cuban hospitals. The fourth group of 53 Venezuelan patients has different illnesses, including heart problems, retinitis pigmentosa, orthopedic ailments and organ transplants. *CUBA-JAPAN ECONOMIC CONFERENCES CONTINUE IN TOKYO Tokyo, January 31 (RHC)-- Some 100 business executives and representatives from Japanese and Cuban institutions and banks analyzed the current and future bilateral ties between the two countries. The 11th Joint Meeting of the Economic Conference got underway on Tuesday and is being headed by Cuba's Minister without Portfolio, Ricardo Cabrisas, and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Takeo Hiranuma. One of the main issues discussed by both sides was the importance of political ties for the reactivation of economic and commercial relations. *INDIGENOUS IN ECUADOR RADICALIZE PROTEST FOLLOWING ARREST OF LEADER Quito, January 31 (RHC)-- Indigenous activists in Ecuador have radicalized their nationwide protest following the arrest of their leader Antonio Vargas. Authorities have also intensified repression. Violent clashes between police and another wave of indigenous protesters who arrived in Quito on Tuesday left 24 people injured, one seriously. Several thousand indigenous activists have set up camp at Quito's Polytechnic Salesian University, which has taken them in for humanitarian reasons after the government evicted them from the downtown Arbolito Park -- where the protesters have traditionally converged during anti-government demonstrations. But the several thousand activists inside the institution have been surrounded by hundreds of police who don't allow them to leave and who also take food away from the hundreds of Quito inhabitants expressing their solidarity with the activists. Helicopters have been lobbing tear gas into the university's patios, while authorities have turned off the water and electricity. With tens of thousands of indigenous activists rising up, highways blocked, and an increasing shortage of basic products in the cities, Ecuadorian media outlets, members of Congress, the Catholic Church and even some military chiefs are calling on the government to negotiate. But thus far, both sides refuse. In recent days more than 300 protesters have been arrested and 15 wounded by gunfire -- four seriously. *COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT GIVES LEFTIST REBELS FOUR DAYS TO RENEW PEACE TALKS Bogota, January 31 (RHC)-- Colombian President Andres Pastrana has ordered a last-minute, four-day extension of the demilitarized zone created to establish a peace process with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces. Upon extending the zone, which was to be declared null and void on January 31st, Pastrana called on rebel leader Manuel Marulanda to meet with him face to face and -- in his words -- decide once and for all if the peace process will continue. The guerrilla organization unilaterally suspended peace talks last November, accusing the government of not doing enough to fight right-wing paramilitary death squads. Pastrana claimed Wednesday that his government has done more than any other in the struggle against the death squads. Just hours before the Colombian President's announcement, hundreds of guerrillas began evacuating the urban regions of the five southern municipalities that have been demilitarized since November 1998. This is the Colombian government's seventh extension of the demilitarization order, though the briefest yet. Thus far, rebel leaders have not responded to Pastrana's announcement. *LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE BEGINS NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN ON CONGRESS Lawrence, January 31 (RHC)-- The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee is urging Americans to write to their Senators and Representatives to express shock and outrage over the recent denial of clemency for the Indian activist. Peltier has been incarcerated for more than 25 years following his highly controversial conviction of the 1975 murders of two FBI agents. He has never received the benefit of a fair trial despite worldwide outcry of human rights and religious leaders. Despite disturbing evidence that vengeful FBI officials coerced witnesses, used false testimonies and withheld a key ballistics test reflecting his innocence, Peltier was denied a new trial on technical grounds. The Defense Committee pointed out that judicial authorities now admit that no one knows who fired the fatal shots, while the judge who denied the new trial has written to firmly support Peltier's release. His highly controversial conviction is also deeply rooted in what's called the Pine Ridge reign of terror, when FBI-backed vigilantes killed 64 members and supporters of the American Indian Movement, and terrorized, assaulted and battered scores of others. The Committee said that there has never been any adequate investigation or redress into what it called this grim chapter of civil rights history. The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee called the case an embarrassment to the nation, urging people of conscience to press for a thorough and bi-partisan investigation of the case and of the FBI abuses during the 1973 to 1976 reign of terror at Pine Ridge. The activists also urge people to press for a Congressional Act declassifying all of the FBI and related files in the case. Some 6000 documents remain in secret files 25 years later. Given that some of the files released earlier contained the critical and exculpatory ballistics test, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee said that it's convinced that the secret files contain critical information. *Viewpoint: THE PLAN TO GLOBALIZE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH As the world enters the 21st century, those of us in the Third World look on in horror as social and economic injustice seem to predominate the global scenario. The challenge for humanity is to avoid the catastrophe that is looming on the horizon. The environment is being eaten away by irresponsible corporations as they devour everything in sight at the expense of human needs. Their slogan -- "Profits before People" -- should actually be just the opposite: "People before Profits." The planet's plenty is irresponsibly consumed by a smaller and smaller number of over-stuffed, wealthy elite, whose repulsive appetite is ever satisfied. During the month of January, many important debates and forums have been held throughout the world to discuss the issue of globalization -- the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil; the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland; and now the Third International Meeting of Economists on Globalization and the Problems of Development, which got underway in the Cuban capital this week. These international forums have all demonstrated that there is increasing concern regarding the current direction of the world's economy. Third World countries are searching for alternative models of development, acknowledging that neo-liberal globalization only brings greater poverty and inequalities. They realize that if the economic direction is not radically changed -- and soon -- the future of the planet is at stake. There are presently more than 820 million malnourished people in the world; the vast majority -- 790 million -- in Third World countries. Millions of school-aged children throughout the world have no classes to attend; millions more are illiterate and will likely remain so until the die at an early age, perhaps from a curable disease. Health care is a joke in many countries of the world, and even in the United States -- the wealthiest country on earth -- more than 40 million do not have access to health care. At the same time, the rich industrialized nations claim that the world's economy has improved in recent years. Tell that to someone starving to death in Asia, Africa or Latin America... and try to keep a straight face. In the so-called "developing countries" (a misnomer if there ever was one... these countries are not developing at all!), 30,000 children could be saved each day if they had access to simple medicines. And to top it off, more than 800 billion dollars are wasted every year on arms and weapons systems to maintain an unjust economic system and protect the rich from the poor. Neo-liberal economic theories are placing the world on a collision course to disaster. And those same economic theories will help to drive a growing, rebellious movement of the poor against the excess opulence of the rich. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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