RHC Weekend-15 July 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 15 July 2001 . *GEORGE BUSH STEPS UP ANTI-CUBA POLICY TO PLACATE MIAMI *PROSECUTIONS ON THE RISE FOR US CITIZENS TRAVELING TO CUBA *HAITIAN PRESIDENT TO PAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA *HUGO CHAVEZ MEETS WITH RICARDO ALARCON *25,000 CUBANS RALLY IN CENTRAL CUBA TO PROTEST IMPRISONMENT OF MIAMI 5 *CUBA ACHIEVES OUTSTANDING RESULTS AT MATH OLYMPICS *CUBA FIGHTS ANEMIA WITH NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT "TROFIN" *CUBA APPLIES RESTORATIVE TONIC WITH GOOD RESULTS *FAMINE THREATENS 150,000 IN NICARAGUA *ITALY ATTEMPTS TO SEAL OFF GENOA FOR UPCOMING G-8 MEETING Viewpoint: *FAMINE SPREADS IN NICARAGUA; GOVERNMENT SEEMS TO SIT IDLY BY . *GEORGE BUSH STEPS UP ANTI-CUBA POLICY TO PLACATE MIAMI Washington, July 14 (RHC)--U.S. President George Bush has announced a stiffer anti-Cuba policy in a widely recognized effort to placate Miami's ultra-rightwing. Bush is expected to announce a waver of Title III of the anti-Cuba Helms-Burton Law, as did his predecessor Bill Clinton every six months since the legislation was approved in 1996. Title III would pave the way for lawsuits against any business enterprise in the world investing in property in Cuba that was nationalized by the Cuban Revolution. Canada and the European Union, whose firms would be at risk under Title III, strongly oppose application of the measure, and have threatened to again take Washington before the disputes panel of the World Trade Organization. The waver is expected to anger Bush's Cuban-American constituency in Florida, an anger that the U.S. president hopes to mitigate with his announcing Friday a stricter enforcement of Washington's blockade of Cuba. Bush said his administration would reject any attempt to weaken the blockade and will be more strict with those who travel to Cuba without due authorization or who send money remittances to the island. He also said that his administration will provide more funds for counterrevolutionary elements inside Cuba and will make efforts to prevent Cuba from blocking the transmissions of the anti-Cuba Radio and TV Marti. Cuban Parliament president Ricardo Alarcon said the newly announced measures will only adversely affect Cuban-Americans who want to visit and send financial aid to their families in Cuba, as well as Americans in general. In Caracas, Venezuela, where he participated in the Social Debt and Latin American Integration Summit, Alarcon said hundreds of U.S. citizens have already received warning letters from the Treasury Department -- the first step toward formal charges for having, in his words, committed the terrible crime of traveling to Cuba. *PROSECUTIONS ON THE RISE FOR US CITIZENS TRAVELING TO CUBA Havana, July 14 (RHC)--In related news, the number of U.S. citizens being prosecuted for having traveled to Cuba is on the rise, according to legal experts in the United States. Cuba's televised roundtable discussion Friday night quoted U.S. lawyer Nancy Chang, of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, who said that the center is presently working on 400 cases and has had to stop accepting others as they do not have the capacity to handle any more. Chang said they usually deal with about 12 cases a month related to Cuba travel, but that figure has increased to over 20 cases monthly since the beginning of 2001. The roundtable also quoted Milwaukee lawyer Arthur Helser, who heads the Cuba Subcommittee of the National Lawyers Guild. Helser said that his Subcommittee has been receiving more phone calls than ever from people who have run into trouble with U.S. authorities for having traveled to Cuba. Observers in Havana have noted that while more and more U.S. citizens are being prosecuted for traveling to Cuba, Washington continues to encourage Cubans to migrate to the U.S., where Cubans are now being welcomed even if they travel on false documents. *HAITIAN PRESIDENT TO PAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA Habana, July 14 (RHC)--Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide will arrive in Cuba on Monday for a four-day official visit at the invitation of Cuban President Fidel Castro. This will be President Aristide's first official visit to Cuba since his re-election last year. Aristide will be heading a large delegation of government officials, business executives, representatives from his country's cultural sector and the press. During his stay, the Haitian President will hold official talks with Cuban President Castro on issues related to the development of bilateral relations. Accompanied by his wife, Aristide will also tour different Cuban facilities of social and economic interest, such as a Medical Faculty in Eastern Santiago de Cuba city where a large group of Haitian students are studying medicine. The reestablishment of full diplomatic relations between Haiti and Cuba was one of the last actions taken by Aristide during his first Presidential mandate in 1996. Cuba-Haiti bilateral relations have significantly developed. At present a large number of Cuban professionals are working in Haiti in the areas of public health, education, fishing, agriculture, the sugar industry, sports and others. The Cuban medical contingent working in Haiti offers its services to 65% of the Haitian population. *HUGO CHAVEZ MEETS WITH RICARDO ALARCON Havana, July 14 (RHC)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met Friday evening with the head of Cuba's National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcon, who was in Caracas heading a delegation to the Summit on Social Debt and Latin American Integration which wound up Friday in the Venezuelan Capital. In statements to Prensa Latina News Agency, Alarcon called his meeting with Chavez a cordial encounter in which they discussed issues related to the summit as well as other subjects of bilateral and international interest. President Chavez, on his part, sent greetings to Cuban President Fidel Castro. *25,000 CUBANS RALLY IN CENTRAL CUBA TO PROTEST IMPRISONMENT OF MIAMI 5 Manicaragua, Villa Clara, July 14 (RHC)--More than 25,000 Cubans rallied Saturday in the municipality of Manicaragua, in central Villa Clara province, to once again condemn the unfair and cruel incarceration of five Cubans in Miami, Florida. The demonstration is part of a permanent ideological battle waged by the Cuban people against the Miami-based Cuban American right wing's actions against the island. Saturday's rally was attended by the Minister of Cuba's Armed Forces, General Raul Castro, other government officials and leaders of youth and student organizations. During the rally, participants read a letter sent by Adriana Perez to her husband Gerardo Hernandez, one of the five Cubans incarcerated, on the eve of their wedding anniversary. Speakers at the demonstration denounced the treatment given to their fellow patriots who are in solitary confinement. They once again raised their voices to condemn the U.S.'s 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act and the Torricelli and Helms-Burton Laws tightening the screws in Washington's over 40-year economic and financial blockade of Cuba. Participants recalled that the site of the rally was part of Cuba's independence wars, and of actions after 1959 against groups of counterrevolutionary terrorists encouraged and financed by Washington. They stressed the need for Cubans to keep our historical memory alive and asserted that the five compatriots imprisoned in Miami are authentic children of the Cuban revolution. *CUBA ACHIEVES OUTSTANDING RESULTS AT MATH OLYMPICS Havana, July 14 (RHC)--The Cuban delegation to the International Mathematics Olympiads, held in Washington, won five medals in what is being called an outstanding performance. The Cuban team was made up of six students and two professors who won gold for the first time in this type of event, as well as silver and bronze medals. The Olympiads saw the participation of delegations from 85 countries. Student Jorge Eric Lopez got the gold medal, followed by Raul Alderi with silver, while Tania Moreno and Reydel Perez got bronze. A Cuban student won a silver medal in a similar event held in Washington in 1981. Cuba has taken part in these competitions since 1971 and is looking forward to participating at the Iberoamerican Mathematics Olympiads to take place in Colombia soon. *CUBA FIGHTS ANEMIA WITH NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT "TROFIN" Havana, July 14 (RHC)--With more than 90% effectiveness, the Cuban nutrient Trofin is being administered to children and pregnant women. The product, in the form of a flavored powder, has the economic advantage that its cost is lower than a dollar per child, constituting only one-tenth of what is needed to purchase anti-anemia medications in the international market. Trofin provides better quality of life for people with iron-deficiency anemia. The nutrient is supplied to pregnant women and is effective in preventing anemia in both children and senior citizens. Dr. Elisa Aznar, member of the Cuban research team that produced the nutrient, said a recent experience with Trofin tablets administered to some 400 pregnant women reduced anemia in 87% of cases. The Cuban specialist said the product is 97% effective in preventing anemia. Dr. Aznar added that powdered Trofin has already been registered and is being produced, athough the amount available is still not enough to meet demand. By producing and administering Trofin, said Dr. Aznar, Cuba can avoid importing other expensive medications as well as blood transfusions. She added that the restorative product also avoids low weight at birth, according to recent studies in different municipalities of the capital, Havana. *FAMINE THREATENS 150,000 IN NICARAGUA Managua, July 14 (RHC)--Political leaders and non-governmental organizations in Nicaragua are accusing the government of down-playing the famine now affecting close to 150,000 people. Sandinista legislator Nelson Artola, president of the National Assembly's Human Rights Commission, said President Arnold Aleman hasn't lifted a finger to help the unemployed and bankrupt coffee-growers in five Nicaraguan provinces. TV news channels are broadcasting dramatic images of entire families begging for food as they head for the nearest cities in the provinces of Matagalpa, Jinotega, Esteli, Nueva Segovia and Boaco, in the north and center of the country. The fall of international coffee prices and the lack of government support for indebted coffee-growers has forced thousands to flee the countryside. In another three provinces, Leon, Chinandega and Madriz, in the west and north, a severe drought has damaged close to 400,000 acres of bean and corn crops. In Matagalpa, 356,000 rural residents have flocked to the city seeking food and medicine, while 60,000 have fled to El Tuma-La Dalia and another 30,000 to San Ramon. According to Artola, three people have starved to death thus far, though the Nicaraguan legislator said hospital authorities do not officially list starvation as the cause of death. He said technically they died from fever because they had no resistance to illnesses. Close to 350 Nicaraguan non-governmental organizations have called on the government to declare a special state of emergency. But Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman began a tour of Taiwan, Indonesia and India today, and his date of return has not been announced. *ITALY ATTEMPTS TO SEAL OFF GENOA FOR UPCOMING G-8 MEETING Rome, July 14 (RHC)--Authorities in Italy have announced the closure of the two train stations in Genova, site of next weekend's gathering of the G-8, the group of eight industrialized nations. The new measure is part of efforts to prevent the arrival of tens of thousands of anti-globalizations protesters, which include the closure of Genova's airport and seaport, and suspension of the European Union's Schengen Accord on free border crossings. As of today, Italian border police are demanding passports from all those wishing to enter the country. The measures have been strongly criticized by the Genova Social Forum, grouping close to 800 anti-globalization groups. Forum spokesman Vittorio Agnoletto said that Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero and Interior Minister Claudio Scajola are liars -- that in their last gathering, they had promised that protesters would be allowed to enter the city. He added that despite the restrictions, the protesters will arrive. Leftist political leaders in Italy have charged that the restrictions reveal how much Europe belongs to bankers and the wealthy. *Viewpoint: FAMINE SPREADS IN NICARAGUA; GOVERNMENT SEEMS TO SIT IDLY BY In Nicaragua, the Sandinista National Liberation Front is organizing observations for the anniversary of the revolution that 22 years ago did away with the Anastacio Somoza dictatorship. But the Sandinistas have an additional reason for celebration: opinion polls predict that the Sandinista Front will be the winner in November's presidential elections. At the same time, Nicaraguans are besieged by what is considered the worst crisis in that country's history, a dramatic situation that the government of Arnoldo Alemán is cynically attempting to downplay as he travels abroad. According to official statistics, 22% of the corn and bean crops will be lost this year due to a severe drought, while other sources indicate that tens of thousands of rural workers are on the verge of starvation as a result of not only this natural disaster, but also of the government's refusal to provide assistance to the coffee-growing sector. In recent days, hundreds of hungry farmers and poor people from coffee-growing areas arrived in Matagalpa and set up camp in the city's public park. They came desperately looking for food and medicine for their sick, famine-stricken children, several of whom have already died. The Nicaraguan government, however, seems not to be worried by the massive flow of rural residents to the cities, failing to recognize that rural unemployment and the lack of government credits for the coffee sector are behind this dramatic plight. A meeting of mayors from drought-affected areas confirmed that hundreds of large, medium-size, and small coffee-growers have laid off 80% of their employees, who can now be seen begging for food, work and medicines in cities. Poor rural families with their children, who for weeks have been feeding on wild fruits, are filling the cities and towns, virtually living on charity. But city residents also find money hard to come by, while others try to spend as little as possible, anticipating even harder times ahead. Several factors have come together in Nicaragua to make life miserable for most people. The bleak picture shows the lack of a national development strategy, rampant corruption, an incompetent government and financial institutions in bankruptcy. The combined impact of the coffee-crop crisis, the drought, the hard currency deficit, and a 60% unemployment rate can only result in social unrest in a country where citizens feel that the government is cheating them and is oblivious to the nation's reality. It is interesting to note that more and more Nicaraguans are looking forward to a Sandinista victory in November. However, the task ahead for the Sandinistas, if they win, will be difficult, considering that their traditional enemies to the North will be unleashing an all-out effort to make them fail. But then again, the Sandinistas and the Nicaraguan people may have already learned a few lessons since Washington and its contras destroyed the country´s promising revolution more than 10 years ago. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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