RHC Weekend Update-28/29 July 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend Update - 28-29 July 2001 . *PEREZ ROQUE ATTENDS TOLEDO'S INAUGURATION IN PERU *KHOMEINI'S GRANDSON CONCLUDES VISIT TO CUBA *GAMBIA´S PRESIDENT RECEIVES CUBAN DOCTORS *CUBAN DEBORAH ANDOLLO BREAKS WOMEN'S AND MEN'S DEEP-SEA DIVING RECORD *Viewpoint: POSADA'S DESPERATE PLOY . *PEREZ ROQUE ATTENDS TOLEDO'S INAUGURATION IN PERU Lima, July 28 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, arrived in Peru today to attend the inauguration of the new President of Peru, Alejandro Toledo. In an interview with the news agency Prensa Latina, Perez Roque said that his presence marked the respect and friendship that the Cuban government has for the new Peruvian administration. Remembering the strong traditional and historical links between Cuba and Peru, he noted that Peru was the first country in the world, at the end of the 19th century, that recognized and supported Cuba's struggle for independence. The Foreign Minister also spoke about the more than 200 hundred young Peruvians studying in Cuba, mostly in the field of medicine. He stated that Peru has always shown solidarity with Cuba through its support in the United Nations, voting with Cuba against the blockade by the U.S. Perez Roque noted that the two countries will be part of a forum for the next Ibero American Summit, to be held next November in Lima. *KHOMEINI'S GRANDSON CONCLUDES VISIT TO CUBA Havana, July 28 (RHC)--Sayed Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Iran's islamic revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, concluded a five-day official visit to Cuba on Friday. Invited by Cuban President Fidel Castro, Khomeini and his delegation participated on Thursday in the largest march ever held in front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, where more than 1.2 million Cubans residents protested Washington's anti-Cuba policies and demanded the release of five Cuban political prisoners held in Miami. In remarks after the march, Khomeini said that the Cuban Revolution is valuable not just for the Cuban people, but also for all revolutionaries around the world. Before departing on Friday evening, he thanked the Cuban authorities and people for their hospitality and said his visit served to further strengthen friendship ties between Teheran and Havana. *GAMBIA´S PRESIDENT RECEIVES CUBAN DOCTORS Banjul, July 28 (RHC)--The President of Gambia, Yanya Jammeh, received 148 Cuban doctors on Friday. The doctors will replace some of those who have returned to Cuba after completing a medical tour in that African country. The recent arrivals complement another 100 Cubans who will continue to practice in Gambia. Among the health professionals who arrived this Friday are cardiologists, pediatricians, pharmacists, opticians and researchers specializing in malaria. During the welcome ceremony, President Jammeh thanked the Cuban people for their assistance in augmenting and improving the Gambian health services. He also condemned the criminal blockade by the U.S. against Cuba. *CUBAN DEBORAH ANDOLLO BREAKS WOMEN'S AND MEN'S DEEP-SEA DIVING RECORD Isle of Youth, July 28 (RHC)--Cuban Deborah Andollo broke the world free-style deep-sea diving record yesterday. It is the first time that both the men's and women's record have been broken in the same dive. Andollo went down to a depth of 74 meters, breaking the previous women's record at 70 meters set by Tanya Streeter from the U.S. and the men's record set by French man Pierre Frolla at 73 meters. Her unprecedented record-breaking dive occurred at 12:21 pm local time, after 2.36 minutes in the waters off the Isle of Youth. The result was verified by judges Beatrice Lecroq, of Switzerland, and Frederic Buyle from Belgium, both from the International Deep Sea Diving Association. Andollo broke the record using the freestyle method of immersion, which is lowering the body into the water using its own force and rising from the water with the aid of a rope. No other method of propulsion can be used. She did not use any breathing apparatus. "Everything was fine and I feel very well, but this does not mean that I am going to stop," Andollo said afterward. "I have only four days holiday now, because I must start training again. I want to break my own record, which will be going down more than 95 meters. I am very happy, because it has been a life dream of mine to defeat the men's record." Andollo's attempt to break her own record will take place next September in the waters off Pasteria Island, close to Sicily. *Viewpoint: POSADA'S DESPERATE PLOY On July 24th, the Miami Herald said it had received a 17-page letter from Luis Posada Carriles, denying involvement in the 1976 bombing of a passenger plane belonging to Cubana, Cuba's national airline, which claimed the lives of all 73 passengers on board. According to the newspaper, Posada Carriles, who currently resides in a Panamanian jail for plotting the assassination of President Fidel Castro last year, now claims that being accused of the 1976 terrorist attack is the most abominable accusation brought against him, that he condemns all forms of terrorism and that he does not consider terrorism a valid strategy of war. Just a few hours after the Cubana airliner was blown up in mid-air, two mercenaries with close ties to Posada Carriles, Venezuelans Hernán Ricardo Losano and Freddy Lugo, were arrested in Trinidad and Tobago and charged with the bombing attack. Both terrorists confessed to having planted the explosives on the plane and said they were following orders given by the CIA and Posada Carriles. A communiqué issued by Venezuelan police on October 15th, 1976 indicated that during a search of Posada Carriles' office in Caracas sufficient evidence was found to link Carriles with the two terrorists arrested in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as documents and equipment related to the attack on the Cubana airliner. In the light of such irrefutable evidence, Venezuelan Judge Delia Estava Moreno issued arrest warrants against both Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch Avila -- the Cuban-born masterminds of the terrorist attack -- who plotted and directed the bombing from Caracas. The Venezuelan judge then charged Carriles and Bosch with homicide, use of war weapons and fraud. However, the judge was forced to step down under intense pressure and death threats. The CIA and the Cuban American National Foundation later helped Posada escape from his Venezuelan prison and flee to El Salvador. Bosch's application for residency in the US was approved, and he now resides in Miami. Posada's sudden self-proclaimed "innocence" in the 1976 terrorist bombing is as credible as his claim that he did not travel to Panama in November of last year to carry out a new attempt against the life of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, or that he lied to the New York Times when he bragged about his role in the airline bombing during an interview. Posada's letter to the Miami Herald only serves to demonstrate that the enemies of Cuba resort to pathetic, outrageous lies as their only remaining recourse. It has become a daily practice for them, the latest example being the fictitious case made against five Cuban nationals in Miami for crimes they did not commit. The five Cubans, convicted in June on charges of endangering U.S. national security, were actually monitoring the terrorist activities of anti-Cuba groups in Miami -- groups responsible for financing the likes of Posada Carriles and Bosch Avila, which operate with the tolerance and even the complicity of U.S. authorities. Posada's letter rings throughout with the desperate tone of a drowning man. (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-16165 2001-Jul-29 09:12:59