Radio Havana Cuba Weekend-27/28 January 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba Weekend - News Update - 27/28 January 2001 . *UNDER BUSH, CUBA COULD BECOME TARGET OF MOST REACTIONARY US SECTORS *CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY DETAILS REASONS FOR ARREST OF TWO CZECHS *YOUTH MARCH ON 148TH ANNIVERSARY OF JOSE MARTI'S BIRTHDAY *DELEGATION FROM DJIBOUTI BEGINS FIVE-DAY OFFICIAL VISIT *SOUTH AMERICAN SOLIDARITY BRIGADE PAYS TRIBUTE TO ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA *UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD PROGRAM CONGRATULATES CUBAN GOVERNMENT *FOURTH ANNUAL TERRY FOX RACE TAKES PLACE ON SUNDAY *INDIGENOUS ECUADORANS MARCH ON QUITO, PROMISE NOT TO OVERTHROW GOVERNMENT *PROTESTERS MANAGE TO GET THROUGH STRICT DAVOS SECURITY *MIAMI MAFIA URGES BUSH TO REPEAL US-CUBA MIGRATORY ACCORDS . *UNDER BUSH, CUBA COULD BECOME TARGET OF MOST REACTIONARY US SECTORS Havana, January 27 (RHC) -- Cuban President Fidel Castro has asserted that with the advent of the U.S.'s George Bush administration, Cuba could become the target of the most extremist and reactionary sectors currently celebrating the arrival of a new government in Washington. Speaking before some 300 thousand people from Havana and Havana City Provinces, on the occasion of the 148th anniversary of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti's birth, Fidel Castro recalled that in Bush's questionable victory, the terrorist Cuban-American mafia in Miami played a decisive role. The Cuban leader said the past actions and current ideas of the principle members of the Bush administration have generated an atmosphere of doubt, suspicion and fear within international public opinion, almost without exception. He went on to say that, nevertheless, Cuba will not be caught by surprise or unprepared. President Castro said Cuba is not the inexperienced, unarmed and almost illiterate country that it was in 1959. He said Cuba can look to the future with serenity and confidence because the Cuban people have confronted with honor and heroically resisted 42 years of hostility, aggressions and an economic war. Fidel Castro said the Cuban people have learned to fight and win in the most inconceivable circumstances. No other people, said the Cuban leader, is better prepared and less dependent on trade and commerce with the planet's most powerful nation. He said humanity has entered one of the most complex periods of its history, with an unchallenged imperialist power, in which considerable resources have been squandered, the environment has been damaged, and in which there is an irrational pattern of consumption that is out of reach for the vast majority of the planet's inhabitants. Humanity's political achievements, said the Cuban leader -- its achievements in social justice and peaceful cohabitation -- have fallen far behind scientific achievements. He said the current world order will not be able to create a dignified life on this planet, but that Cuba -- free to expound its truths and defend the rights of Third World peoples in the international arena -- has been able to contribute its grain of sand to the struggle for a world that is more just, more rational and more imbued with the spirit of solidarity. *CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY DETAILS REASONS FOR ARREST OF TWO CZECHS Havana, January 27 (RHC) -- Cuba's Foreign Ministry has reiterated the reasons for the justifiable arrest of two Czech citizens involved in counterrevolutionary activities on the island. In an extensive note published in the Saturday edition of the official Cuban news daily Granma, the Cuban Foreign Ministry stated that in light of the Czech Republic's on-going campaign to denounce the arrests -- and in light of other nations that are echoing this campaign -- the government of Cuba finds it necessary to state the facts. Czech citizens Ivan Pilip and Jan Bubenik were arrested after holding conspiratorial meetings with small groups of counterrevolutionary elements in the central Ciego de Avila Province. Both were recruited and financed by the U.S.'s ultra-right wing Freedom House and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which in 1997 began to promote subversion in Cuba under section 109 of the anti-Cuba Helms-Burton Law. The USAID publicly admitted in June, 2000 that Freedom House organized a visit to Cuba of 4 anti-socialist journalists, 4 legislators, 2 economists and an academic from Eastern Europe financed by the U.S. government. The Cuban Foreign Ministry stated that these types of visits, to finance small groups in Cuba in favor of doing away with the Cuban Revolution, began more than 10 years ago -- and that the Czech Republic is the former socialist country that has played the most active role in Washington's anti-Cuba campaign. The Foreign Ministry note recalled that in 1990, the first post-socialist government in Prague went to the extreme of giving a warm welcome to the late Cuban-American Jorge Mas Canosa, then-leader of Miami's ultra-right wing and terrorist Cuban-American National Foundation. The extensive note named numerous Czech diplomats in Havana over the past 10 years who have had close ties to the U.S. Interests Section in the Cuban capital and to terrorist groups in Miami. One of the most infamous, Petr Mikyska, traveled to Miami on 20 occasions during his more than 4 year stay in Havana in the early to mid-1990s, and had close ties to Jose Francisco Hernandez Calvo, of the CANF's Board of Directors. Hernandez Calvo was implicated in the 1997 assassination plot against Cuban President Fidel Castro during the Iberoamerican Summit at Venezuela's Margarita Island. Despite the fact that one of the two 50 caliber rifles with infrared Telescopes confiscated from the hit-team was registered in his name, Hernandez Calvo wasn't even charged. The Cuban Foreign Ministry provided a long list of undiplomatic actions carried out by the Czech embassy in Havana, including its activities as liaison for Washington and Miami in the supply of money and equipment to small counterrevolutionary groups and outright espionage. Cuba's Foreign Ministry said that despite the condition of House Deputy of one of the Czech citizens arrested, both came on tourist visas and, therefore, under international law have no immunity. No country that respects itself, say's the Foreign Ministry note, can accept actions that tarnish its sovereignty, violate its laws, and threaten its security, integrity and independence. *YOUTH MARCH ON 148TH ANNIVERSARY OF JOSE MARTI'S BIRTHDAY Havana, January 27 (RHC) -- Millions of Cuban children and students will participate in the traditional annual marches on Saturday and Sunday, January 27th and 28th, to commemorate the 148th anniversary of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti's birth. In addition, a wide variety of sports and cultural activities will also take place on Sunday in all the provinces of the country. In Havana, some 22,000 thousand young students from the Centro Habana, Cerro and Plaza municipalities will march in the Jose Marti Revolution Square along with hundreds of teachers who participated in the national Literacy Campaign in the early '60s. *DELEGATION FROM DJIBOUTI BEGINS FIVE-DAY OFFICIAL VISIT Havana, January 27 (RHC) -- A delegation from the Republic of Djibouti, headed by Foreign Minister Ali Abdi Farah, arrived Thursday in the Cuban capital for a five-day official visit. On Thursday, during official talks held between Abdi Farah and his Cuban counterpart Felipe Perez Roque, the Cuban Foreign Minister thanked him for his country's support of Cuba's struggle against the US blockade. The African delegation, which includes high-ranking officials from the health, sports and tourism sectors, met Thursday with the Cuban Ministers of Public Health, Foreign Investments and Cooperation, Foreign Trade, Sports and Tourism. On Monday, the Foreign Minister of Djibouti and his Cuban counterpart will sign a document that will include the objectives achieved during the official talks between the two delegations. The agenda also includes visits to places of cultural and scientific interest. *SOUTH AMERICAN SOLIDARITY BRIGADE PAYS TRIBUTE TO ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA Havana, January 27 (RHC) -- More than 300 members of the 8th South American brigade in solidarity with Cuba visited Thursday the Ernesto Che Guevara Memorial in Villa Clara province and paid tribute to the revolutionary leader. The solidarity brigade, that arrived in Cuba on January 15th and departs on the 28th, includes activists from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia. During their stay on the island, the South American visitors have carried out agricultural voluntary work in Caimito, Havana province, and participated with the people of the Cuban capital in the January 19th march in front of the US Interests Section in Havana to protest the Cuban Adjustment Act and other anti-Cuba US legislation. *UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD PROGRAM CONGRATULATES CUBAN GOVERNMENT Havana, January 27 (RHC) --The representative of the UN World Food Program in Cuba, German Valdir, praised the cooperation of the island's government in the implementation of several projects in the eastern part of the country. During the year 2000, the UNWFP implemented a program in the eastern province of Granma with an investment of some six million dollars. According to Valdir, the Cuban government contributed to this project with more than 4 million dollars for the creation of the necessary economic and social infrastructure. The UNWFP representative said that some 3.600 tons of different products were delivered to the Cuban people last year with a value of 3.120.000 dollars. The donations came mainly from Finland, Norway, Japan and Switzerland. *FOURTH ANNUAL TERRY FOX RACE TAKES PLACE ON SUNDAY Havana, January 27 (RHC) -- The fourth Terry Fox-Struggle against Cancer Race will take place in Havana Sunday, January 28th. This event, organized every year by more than 50 countries, is part of a worldwide effort to create a consciousness in the people about cancer and the ways to prevent it and, at the same time, raise funds to help finance scientific research into this disease. This race is named after a young Canadian who began in 1980 the so-called Race of Hope running across the entire Canadian nation, covering 43 kilometers every day, even though he had lost a leg due to cancer. After 5.000 kilometers he had to stop since the cancer had spread to his lungs. *INDIGENOUS ECUADORANS MARCH ON QUITO, PROMISE NOT TO OVERTHROW GOVERNMENT Quito, Jan 27 (RHC)--Hundreds of indigenous activists in Ecuador are arriving in the capital, Quito, and hundreds more are expected this weekend -- but they've promised to refrain from overthrowing the government of President Gustavo Noboa. In January of last year, a similar protest movement that converged on the capital bringing thousands of indigenous activists led to the downfall of the Jamil Mahuad administration. The activists, primarily from the provinces of Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Tungurahua, Azuay, Carchi, Imbabura and Pichincha, have begun to install themselves in Quito's Arbolito Park -- just a few blocks away from congressional headquarters and the embassies of France and the United States -- where for the past week grassroots and labor activists have been holding a protest vigil. Antonio Vargas, head of the powerful Ecuadoran Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities, said they will remain in Quito until Noboa repeals the most recent price hikes in transportation, fuel and domestic gas. He said they do no seek Noboa's downfall, but just want the government to know that they exist. Campesino activists are also arriving in the capital from diverse regions that have seen numerous protests and some violent clashes with police and soldiers. The protests have included road blockages, which have tied up traffic on the highways leading into cities like Latacunga, Ambato, Riobamba, Cuenca, Otavalo, Ibarra and Tulcan. *PROTESTERS MANAGE TO GET THROUGH STRICT DAVOS SECURITY Geneva, Jan 27 (RHC)--Police in Switzerland prevented hundreds of anti-free market globalization activists from arriving at the convention center in Davos that is hosting the World Economic Forum. However, despite what is being called the largest security operation in Switzerland in recent decades, several hundred were able to break through the blockade -- but only arrived some 500 meters from the convention site. Swiss authorities declared illegal any protests at Davos, which activists have strongly criticized as a violation of their freedom to express themselves. Davos has been compared to a fortified citadel, with all accesses blocked and surrounded by police, soldiers and barbed wire. Meanwhile, prominent activists are commenting on the fear of institutions like the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, which in the face of growing international opposition to free market globalization have chose two small countries in the Arabian Peninsula to hold their next assemblies. The small nation of Qatar was the only country that offered to host the next WTO encounter late this year after the fiasco in Seattle. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund plan to hold their assembly in 2003 in Dubai after the protests in Prague. . Viewpoint: *MIAMI MAFIA URGES BUSH TO REPEAL US-CUBA MIGRATORY ACCORDS Repeal of the migratory accords between Cuba and the United States has become one of the principle banners of the ultra-right wing, terrorist mafia in Miami. President George Bush is going to be faced with the dilemma of either appeasing the Cuban-Americans who helped him to be selected, though not elected, or pay heed to numerous experts and analysts who say a rupture of the accords could spark a bilateral conflict that would lead to a massive exodus from Cuba and therefore pose a threat to U.S. national security. According to sources, right wing groups in Miami - which through anti-Cuba TV and radio transmissions encourage Cubans in the island to illegally travel to the U.S. by any means necessary - actually want to spark an incident between Havana and Washington and then pressure Bush to militarily intervene in Cuba. On at least one occasion during the Clinton administration the Miami mafia unsuccessfully pressured Washington to throw up a naval blockade around Cuba. In the face of this possibility, the Cuban government has clearly stated that Cuba would not give any motive for the outbreak of a crisis between the two countries. The Cuban government will comply with its commitments in the U.S.-Cuba migratory accords, which includes doing everything in its power to prevent illegal departures from the island. And Cuba will continue denouncing Washington's violations of those accords in eh 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act granting undocumented Cubans exclusive residency privileges despite whatever means were used to illegally arrive in the United States. Cuba will also continue denouncing the ever-increasing trafficking of undocumented Cubans in speedboats leaving Florida, entering Cuban territory and returning to Florida with their human cargo. The immigration issue is just one of the possible arenas of confrontation between Cuba and new U.S. administration whose advent is being celebrated by the extremist sector of the Cuban-American population. But as President Fidel Castro said today, on the occasion of the 148th anniversary of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti's birth, while intelligently avoiding any confrontation Cuba will neither be caught by surprise or unprepared for any eventuality. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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