Radio Havana Cuba-10 July 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 10 July 2001 . *FORMER ARGENTINE DICTATOR FORMALLY CHARGED IN OPERATION CONDOR *ANOTHER RIGHTWING PARAMILITARY MASSACRE IN COLOMBIA *JAMAICA: THE POLITICS BEHIND THE STREET VIOLENCE *EURO-CUBA COOPERATION ACCORD REQUIRES MUTUAL RESPECT: PEREZ ROQUE *CUBA RANKED 4 IN UNDP'S LIST OF 90 DEVELOPING NATIONS *FIDEL ATTENDS CONGRESS OF JOSE MARTI YOUNG PIONEERS ORGANIZATION *MEXICO'S SECRETARY OF HEALTH ON "EXCELLENT" RELATIONS WITH CUBA *US UNIONS SEND MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY FOR 5 JAILED CUBANS *PASTORS FOR PEACE CARAVAN MEMBERS VISIT LATIN AMERICAN MEDICAL SCHOOL *HAVANA WELCOMES DIRECTOR OF THE FILM "TRAFFIC" . *FORMER ARGENTINE DICTATOR FORMALLY CHARGED IN OPERATION CONDOR Buenos Aires, July 10 (RHC)--In Argentina, Jorge Rafael Videla has become the first former dictator to be formally charged with participating in Operation Condor, the repressive network set up by South America's military regimes in the 1970s and 80s. For the past 3 years Videla, who was amnestied by former President Carlos Menem in 1990 after having been sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity, has been under house arrest charged with stealing and changing the identities of babies born to women in secret detention and torture centers. In the Operation Condor case, Argentinean Federal Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral is also investigating former Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner -- exiled in Brazil -- and former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He also called on the government of Uruguay to arrest four military officers believed to have participated in the repressive network which either assassinated foreign nationals on orders by their countries' dictatorships, or kidnapped them and secretly sent them home to their deaths. Uruguay has refused to carry out the arrests, but says the officers won't be allowed to leave the country. Last week Chile's Supreme Court issued an arrest order against former Chilean secret police chief Manuel Contreras at the petition of Argentine judicial authorities. Contreras is believed to have been the principal promoter of Operation Condor. He is currently serving a prison sentence for the 1976 assassination in Washington DC of exiled Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier, one of several Condor operations carried out beyond the borders of South America. *ANOTHER RIGHTWING PARAMILITARY MASSACRE IN COLOMBIA Medellin, July 10 (RHC)--Details are only now emerging of what could be one of the worst right-wing paramilitary massacres in Colombia in recent months. Last Wednesday, some 300 paramilitaries stormed the northern township of Peque, a remote area of northwest Antioquia Department about 200 miles northwest of the capital, Bogota. The town is located in a mountain corridor disputed by the rightwing paramilitaries and leftist guerrillas of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). At least ten villagers were killed and as many as 6,000 were forced to flee from their homes; fifteen others are reported missing. Peque mayor Jose Luis Usaga told the Associated Press by telephone from Medellin, the nearest major city, where the refugees fled, that the six tons of aid already flown in by helicopter would not be enough. In another case, Colombia's Attorney General's office opened another official inquiry over the weekend into whether Rear Admiral Rodrigo Quinones and several lower-ranking officials were derelict in their duties for failing to prevent a death-squad massacre of 27 people in the northern town of Chengue last January. The rapid rise of the right wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia has escalated the bloodshed in Colombia's 37-year conflict, leading to serious concern about U.S. aid to the country's military. *JAMAICA: THE POLITICS BEHIND THE STREET VIOLENCE Kingston, July 10 (RHC)--Street violence with political overtones in Jamaica has left at least 23 people dead and more than 30 wounded by gunfire since last Saturday. In several neighborhoods of the capital city of Kingston, Jamaican police and soldiers have been clashing with street gangs who are believed to be be armed supporters of the opposition Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) led by Edward Seaga. The Jamaican government has called up the reservists of the country's Defense Force. Some observers are pointing to the similarity of this violence to the CIA-sponsored destabilization campaign against the progressive government of late Prime Minister Michael Manley in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At that time, the CIA and the JLP financed and heavily armed street gangs to promote disorder against Manley's government, which was engaged in a struggle against the transnational firms that controlled one-third of the country. Manley raised taxes on the exportation of bauxite in the mid-1970s and demanded state participation in the industry. He also suspended negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, affirming that their economic adjustment measures would mean a drastic reduction in the peoples' living standards. *EURO-CUBA COOPERATION ACCORD REQUIRES MUTUAL RESPECT: PEREZ ROQUE Brussels, July 10 (RHC)--On an official visit to Belgium, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has asserted that a cooperation accord between Havana and the European Union requires mutual respect. Following a gathering with his Belgian counterpart Louis Michel, also current president of the EU's Council of Foreign Ministers, Perez Roque said some clarifications are also needed concerning the concepts of democracy and human rights. The Cuban foreign minister said Cuba's participation in the Cotonou Accord, which guides cooperation relations between the EU and the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific nations -- the ACP -- was frustrated last year due to certain public statements by EU members and the opposition of a small group. Perez Roque affirmed, nevertheless, that at this moment Cuba -- a full-fledged member of the ACP -- is not requesting membership in the Cotonou Accord. He said his trip to Brussels is of a purely bilateral nature, and that he does not have gatherings with EU officials on his agenda. Cuba is the only Latin American nation with which the European Union does not have an official cooperation accord. Havana, however, has often pointed out that despite the lack of such an accord, Cuba has growing trade and cooperation agreements with individual EU member-nations. *CUBA RANKED 4th IN UNDP'S LIST OF 90 DEVELOPING NATIONS United Nations, July 10 (RHC)--The United Nations Development Program has today published its 2001 report on human development. The UNDP ranked Cuba 4th in its "Human Poverty Index" list of 90 developing countries, behind Uruguay, Costa Rica and Chile. Although Cuba wasn't included in the UNDP's Human Development Index due to the UN agency's lack of data, certain basic data on Cuba was published. The island's life expectancy of 75.7 years is likened to that of industrialized countries like Portugal and Denmark, and is only surpassed in Latin America by Costa Rica's 76.2 years. Cuba's infant mortality rate was placed on the same level as those of Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Israel and Greece. Its literacy rate of 97% was also higher than many industrialized nations, according to the UNDP. The UN agency noted, however, that malnutrition affects 19% of the Cuban population. The report also notes Cuba's "excellence in scientific research," and singles out the island's vaccine against meningitis B, which every year kills 50 thousand children worldwide. The disease has been eradicated in Cuba. In addition, the UNDP highlights Cuba's production of generic AIDS medication, along with that of Brazil, India and Thailand, at prices much less than the world norm. The UNDP reports that Cuba has a lower HIV-infection rate (.03%) than many industrialized countries such as Canada (.30%), the United States (.61%) and France (.44%). *FIDEL ATTENDS CONGRESS OF JOSE MARTI YOUNG PIONEERS ORGANIZATION Havana, July 10 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro Tuesday attended a rally at Havana's Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Tribune as part of the closing of the 3rd Congress of the Jose Marti Pioneer Children's Organization. Representing the delegates to the congress, a schoolgirl read a document containing the Cuban children's commitment for the new millennium. The statement expresses patriotism and admiration for the island's heroes and martyrs, including Cuba's national hero Jose Marti, independence leader Antonio Maceo, legendary guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara and revolutionary leader Camilo Cienfuegos. The document also points out that Cuban children are concerned about the millions of children in the world who are forced to work to conserve the riches of the most powerful and the many children born without the hope of becoming the men and women of tomorrow. The statement, drafted by Cuban schoolchildren, expresses the desire for a world of peace, without war and poverty. *MEXICO'S SECRETARY OF HEALTH ON "EXCELLENT" RELATIONS WITH CUBA Havana, July 10 (RHC)--Mexico's Health Secretary, Julio Frank, has characterized relations with Cuba as "excellent," especially in the health sector where the island has the best indexes in Latin America. In an exclusive interview with Havana's Prensa Latina news agency, the Mexican official said that he is interested in the island's public health experience, adding that Cuba has shown Mexico and other countries that much can be achieved when there is a political commitment. According to official statistics, Cuba has the largest number of doctors per inhabitant in the world and is among the lowest in the world in infant mortality. The Mexican Health Secretary also praised the island's treatment of its senior citizens and its work in environmental health and biological safety, reiterating Mexico's interest in health exchanges aimed at taking advantage of Cuba's experience in health and biotechnology. *US UNIONS SEND MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY FOR 5 JAILED CUBANS Havana, July 10 (RHC)--Workers and union leaders from the United States sent a message on Tuesday expressing their opposition to the trial that wrongly convicted five Cuban patriots in Miami on charges of endangering U.S. national security. The message to the five Cuban nationals says that the actions and attitudes of the five Cubans against what they called the "monster" are in the best interests of the working people of Cuba and the United States. As workers, the e-mail message continued, both US and Cuban citizens share the same interests in the struggle against the rich and powerful, and the in the defence of Cuba's independence and socialism. *PASTORS FOR PEACE CARAVAN MEMBERS VISIT LATIN AMERICAN MEDICAL SCHOOL Havana, July 10 (RHC)--Participants in the 12th Cuba-U.S. Friendshipment Caravan Monday visited the Ernesto "Che" Guevara Memorial located in the central city of Santa Clara. The remains of the legendary guerilla fighter are buried there along with his comrades-in-arms who died with him in Bolivia. The 87 caravanistas also visited important historical local sites and the spectacular Escambray mountains, where they got a first-hand look at the island's achievements in health and education. They met with students from the local Art Training School. The President of the Inter-Religious Foundation for Community Organization, IFCO, and founder of Pastors for Peace, Reverend Lucius Walker, said that Ernesto Che Guevara is a symbol of struggle, not only in Cuba, but for all the revolutionaries in today's world because of his clear understanding of justice and socialism. The 12th Cuba-U.S. Friendshipment Caravan is made up of volunteers from the United States, Mexico, Canada, Britain, Germany, Holland, Iran and Sweden. *HAVANA WELCOMES DIRECTOR OF THE FILM "TRAFFIC" Havana, July 10 (RHC)--U.S. film director Steven Soderbergh and Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro participated Monday in the Havana in the premiere of their film "Traffic." Soderbergh's film won several Oscar awards. The two and a half hour movie focuses on drug trafficking between Mexico and the United States. Cuban audiences will have the chance to see "Traffic" this week in the Cuban capital where it will be shown three times daily at the Charlie Chaplin Theater. (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-22048 2001-Jul-11 06:24:41