Radio Havana Cuba-31 July 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 31 July 2001 . *MIAMI 5 DEMAND THE RIGHT TO RECEIVE VISITS FROM CUBAN DIPLOMATS *CUBAN ECONOMY CONTINUES SLOW RECOVERY, MINISTER REPORTS *HAVANA BAY TUNNEL REOPENS AFTER 14-MONTH RESTORATION PROJECT *CUBA, SPANISH BALEARIC ISLANDS FORM EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION PROJECT *GRANMA PLASTIC SURGERY AND BEAUTY CONTESTS *CHILE'S SUPREME COURT APPROVES RIGHTS INTERROGATORY FOR KISSINGER *ARGENTINES BLOCK ROADS NATIONWIDE IN PROTEST OF AUSTERITY PACKAGE *INDIGNATION IN VIEQUES OVER PLANS FOR LARGEST MILITARY EXERCISE EVER *Viewpoint: US NAVY, GO HOME! . *MIAMI 5 DEMAND THE RIGHT TO RECEIVE VISITS FROM CUBAN DIPLOMATS Miami, July 31 (RHC)--The five Cuban patriots wrongfully convicted of spying against the United States government have a legal right to receive visits from members of the Cuban government, one of their attorneys in Miami said today. Attorney Joaquin Mendez told "The Miami Herald" that Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez have the same rights as US citizens incarcerated in foreign jails who are allowed visits from members of Washington's diplomatic representation in those countries. Mendez recalled that this right is stipulated in the Geneva Convention on Consular relations, noting that the Cuban Interests Section in Washington DC has repeatedly petitioned the US State Department and the Florida Prisons Bureau to allow Cuban diplomats visit the five Cubans, but that they have not received permission. Havana has reminded Washington that all Americans confined in Cuban prisons are allowed regular visits by members of the US Interests Section in Havana. The defense attorneys and the Cuban government have also repeatedly demanded an explanation for the isolation imposed on the five Cubans, who for several weeks now have been incommunicado in what is known as the hole, or solitary confinement. *CUBAN ECONOMY CONTINUES SLOW RECOVERY, MINISTER REPORTS Havana, July 31 (RHC)--In brief comments to the press during a break on Tuesday in National Assembly commission meetings, Cuba's Minister for Economics and Planning reported an increase in the island's economic activity by a margin of 3.6% in the first quarter of this year. José Luis Rodriguez said this increase was mostly due to a parallel increase in worker productivity, which was up by 2.8%, along with a decrease in energy consumption of 2.9%. Exports, he added, had swollen by 10.7% while imports had remained stable at last year's 0.7%. Cuba has aimed for a 5% increase in GDP this year, said Rodriguez, who feels that in spite of the bad sugar harvest, the goal is realistic and will probably be achieved. Expectations for the just-completed second quarter of 2001 are even higher, he added. International sugar and nickel prices dropped this year, thereby negatively affecting the island's bottom line. The nickel industry is the third most important income earner for the nation. This process of economic recovery goes hand in hand with gains in education, culture, social assistance and changes in employment policies, said the Cuban Economics Minister, who pointed to improved confidence in the economy on the part of the population. Even conservative international publications like "The Economist" speak of optimized economic recovery in Cuba for this year. *HAVANA BAY TUNNEL REOPENS AFTER 14-MONTH RESTORATION PROJECT Havana, July 31 (RHC)--In an announcement that is very welcome to the people who commute from one side of the Havana to the other, the tunnel that crosses the city under Havana bay is to be reopened after 14 months of repairs. In a ceremony to celebrate the opening, Cuban vice-president Carlos Lage congratulated the project laborers for a job well done and a tunnel that is much improved in looks and safety. Some 32,000 vehicles pass through the tunnel every day, and the work has caused back-ups and serious detours for drivers. The worst affected have been the quarter of a million commuters who cross over from the residential towns of Cojímar, Bahía, Villa Pan Americana and Alamar every day. The majority of workers from these suburbs work in Havana, and what was a relatively short commute was lengthened by long lines and detours. Lage said that Alamar, for example, comprises 100,000 residents, many of whose lives will now be improved by the restored tunnel. Every aspect of the tunnel has been modernized, from lighting, to signals, to drainage, to ventilation, to emergency hermetically sealed doors and fire safety precautions. In spite of unforeseen complications, said Lage, the project was only two months over the initial deadline. More than 800 workers participated in the restoration and improvement of the tunnel, with 28 Cuban and 6 foreign companies involved. *CUBA, SPANISH BALEARIC ISLANDS FORM EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION PROJECT Madrid, July 31st (RHC)--The regional Spanish government of the Balearic Islands -- which comprises the islands of Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza among others -- has donated $150,000 to the University of Camagüey to fund eight cooperation projects in conjunction with its own university. The projects range from the tourist sector to agriculture, social and environmental areas. The initiative is part of an overall package, which also includes granting postgraduate courses to Balearic students to study socio-economic issues in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Peru. Students will be sent to Central and South America along with material aid. The project involves 30 students and is expected to last three years. *GRANMA PLASTIC SURGERY AND BEAUTY CONTESTS Havana, July 31 (RHC)--The Cuban news daily Granma published an editorial Tuesday attacking the Miss World competition as a "Scalpel Operation." The next Miss World event will be held in South Africa in November and is expected to draw what Granma alludes to as the most perfect specimens that the sharp knife of the plastic surgeon can create. As with many other sources from around the world, the Cuban daily condemns the competition which involves 40 contestants as "a territory of modern Dr. Frankensteins." It reported that in both the Miss World and the Miss Universe events a full three-quarters of contestants now undergo some type of plastic surgery before competing. Nose rebuilding, liposuction, and breast implants are the most common of the myriad aspects of reconstructive surgery that these young women and their promoters feel they have to go through in order to win. For this, participants and their sponsors must have money, and thus it follows that those with the most money have the best chance of success, added the newspaper. Of the recent 22 candidates seeking the Miss Colombia title, 19 had undergone reconstructive surgery of some kind. The winner of the Miss Venezuela event said that she would never have been victorious had she not had a little of what she called, "retouching." Women's rights groups around the world condemn these types of competitions as base, sexist shows where women are treated as cattle for sale. The financial outlay was very much like investing in a racehorse, said Granma, with results that could generate millions of dollars. Granma suggested the competition should be renamed "Miss Laboratory." *CHILE'S SUPREME COURT APPROVES RIGHTS INTERROGATORY FOR KISSINGER Santiago, July 31 (RHC)--The Supreme Court of Chile has approved a interrogatory to be sent to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger concerning human rights violations during the Pinochet dictatorship. The questionnaire was sent to Chile's highest court by Judge Juan Guzman, who has been investigating numerous criminal denunciations against Pinochet, and who has taken the case of the 1973 assassination of American journalist Charles Horman. Horman's widow filed the charges late last year through her Chilean attornies and human rights activists Fabiola Letelier and Sergio Corbalan. The interrogatory will now be sent to the Chilean foreign ministry and from there to US judicial authorities. Kissinger and some 20 other former U.S. government and CIA officials will be asked about their knowledge concerning Horman's arrest, confinement in a concentration camp and subsequent execution following the bloody overthrow of constitutionally elected Chilean President Salvador Allende. Recently declassified US State Department and CIA documents indicate that Kissinger and other American officials knew of Horman's arrest but did little to prevent his execution. The American journalist is believed to have gathered information concerning the US government's active role in Allende's overthrow. Declassified documents also indicate that the CIA maintained surveillance on Horman from the moment he travelled to Chile. This is the second time that Kissinger is mentioned in investigations into human rights abuse in Chile. Last May a French Judge unsuccessfully tried to question the former secretary of state concerning the forced disappearances of five French citizens during the Pinochet dictatorship. *ARGENTINES BLOCK ROADS NATIONWIDE IN PROTEST OF AUSTERITY PACKAGE Buenos Aires, July 31 (RHC)--Thousands of Argentines began nationwide road blockages on Tuesday to protest the government's most recent economic shock package. This is the country's first road blockage protest on a national level, following several years of similar sporadic actions in economically depressed regions. Though numerous riot police have been deployed, and blockages have been reported in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Tucuman, Salta, Jujuy, Catamarca, Chaco, Santa Fe, Cordoba and Tierra del Fuego, there have only been isolated incidents of violence and clashes. The protest action began at 10 am local time and will wind up at the same hour on Wednesday. At midday today public employees staged a work stoppage to support the protest. Organizations of the unemployed and opposition labor unions have vowed to resume the road blockages next week, but for 48 hours instead of 24, and then 76 hours the following week. Meanwhile, despite the economic shock package, Argentina's financial markets continue depressed amid doubts among foreign investors about the country's capacity to actually apply the drastic measures and reduce the fiscal deficit. *INDIGNATION IN VIEQUES OVER PLANS FOR LARGEST MILITARY EXERCISE EVER San Juan, July 31 (RHC)--Puerto Ricans are expressing indignation following the Pentagon's announcement of the largest military exercises ever in Vieques. The announcement came just hours results were in from the Sunday referendum in Vieques in which 68% of the population called for an immediate halt to the US Navy's target practice in the island, decontamination of the target range and the return of Vieques to its inhabitants. Numerous Puerto Rican and Hispanic activists in the Unites States have called the Pentagon's plan an intentional and arrogant slap in the face of Vieques residents and all those struggling for a Vieques free of the US military. Special Vieques Commissioner Juan Fernandez said Navy officials at Puerto Rico's Roosevelt Roads base told him that the military exercises will be intense and complex, with complete war scenario, including nighttime training, helicopters and target practice from land, air and sea. Fernandez said he was told that the nature of the exercises, to begin Thursday, will pose a danger to any civil disobedience activists who attempt to penetrate the restricted zone. But activists have vowed to massively protest once again. Meanwhile, the Puerto Rican government today began a media campaign on the results of the Vieques referendum, calling on the Bush administration to respect those results. "The Washington Post" and "The Washington Times" published ads stating that the Vieques people have paid more than fair price on behalf of the common defense, and that it's time to give them justice and peace. *Viewpoint: US NAVY, GO HOME! The inhabitants of Vieques have declared the United States Navy to be "persona non grata." On Sunday, Vieques residents told the US Government overwhelmingly that they are tired of the Pentagon using their island as a firing range. The vote in the historic referendum -- with a turnout of 80%-- was 68% in favor of ending 60 years of war games and military maneuvers and the immediate departure of the U.S. Fleet from the Puerto Rican municipality. These decisive results came despite attempts to buy off Vieques residents when the Navy handed out money to "indemnify" fishing people for damages. A hard-sell campaign mounted by pro-annexation forces also fell flat, with only 30% voting in favor of inviting the foreign forces to stay on. The mayor of so-called Isla Nena, Damaso Serrano, noted that "it is now up to the U.S. Navy, which claims to the be most democratic in the world, to obey the mandate: an immediate and permanent end to the bombings and the return and clean-up of our land." However, Washington has ignored the clear message of Vieques residents, which reflects the desires of the majority of Puerto Ricans as well. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer commented that though the issue may be of concern to Puerto Ricans, the training of U.S. forces must be guaranteed while another location is being sought. As a reflection of this colonial arrogance, on Wednesday the U.S. Navy announced that it will resume military exercises, which will involve 10,000 troops in 11 ships, including the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. Certainly the people of Vieques will respond by mounting more acts of civil disobedience, as they have been doing since April of 1999, when U.S. Navy bombs killed a young civilian employee, David Sanes. More than 150 people, representing a broad spectrum of Puerto Rican society, have been jailed over the past few months for entering restricted Naval areas in order to serve as human shields to stop the bombs from falling on Vieques. After the results of this Sunday's referendum many people living in the United States will certainly begin to question why the White House wants to delay pulling US their troops out of the small island municipality of Vieques. Haven't the people of Vieques voiced their opinion loud and clear? U.S. Navy, go home! (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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