RHC Weekend-30 June 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 30 June 2001 . *CONTINUITY OF REVOLUTION GUARANTEED BY CUBAN PEOPLE: FIDEL *ALARCON CALLS ON WASHINGTON TO STOP MANIPULATING MIGRATION ISSUE *HAVANA HOSTS PRE-MEETING FOR SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT *CUBA AND CHINA: TWO PEOPLES, ONE CAUSE *CUBA GRANTS NEW SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PARAGUAYAN STUDENTS *"FAIR" BLASTS MAINSTREAM PRESS FOR NON-COVERAGE OF KISSINGER *SLAVE TRADE ISSUE THREATENS SOUTH AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON RACISM *Viewpoint: BUSH UNDER FIRE FOR ELLIOT ABRAMS APPOINTMENT . *CONTINUITY OF REVOLUTION GUARANTEED BY CUBAN PEOPLE: FIDEL Havana, June 30 ((RHC)--The guarantee for the continuity of the Cuban Revolution is in the Cuban people, not in one person, said Fidel Castro Friday. President Castro's statements came as he spoke to the press in Havana, where the question of his slight fainting spell arose. The Cuban leader said he knows the Cuban people well, and expressed conviction that the continuity of the Revolution was secure in their hands. There are many well-educated, capable people in Cuba, he said, adding that over the last 19 months he has been daily working with a large group of people, many of them young and not so well-known, but who were capable and bright. Fidel Castro noted that after him, Raul Castro has the longest revolutionary experience and broadest knowledge of affairs in Cuba. He denied that Raul Castro could be considered as a possible future leader because of family reasons, describing the Cuban Armed Forces Minister as tireless, meticulous and honest. The Cuban president said that the Revolution has attained important achievements thus far, and that he clearly anticipated an even brighter future for Cuba. Fidel Castro expressed appreciation for the respectful way in which his slight fainting spell of last week had been portrayed by the press, promising never to faint again. *ALARCON CALLS ON WASHINGTON TO STOP MANIPULATING MIGRATION ISSUE Veracruz, June 30 (RHC)--The United States should stop manipulating the migration issue in its anti-Cuba policy, said Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon. Alarcon is currently in Mexico, heading the Cuban delegation to the 4th Mexico-Cuba Inter-Parliamentary Meeting that concluded on Friday in the eastern Mexican State of Veracruz. Prior to the inter-parliamentary meeting, the top Cuban legislator participated in the 16th round of U.S.-Cuba migratory talks in New York. The round of talks are the follow up of bilateral migratory agreements signed by Washington and Havana in 1994 and 1995. The president of the Cuban parliament said that although in general terms the bilateral accords are working, there could not be orderly and completely legal migration between the United States and Cuba as long as Washington has legislation in place promoting illegal departures from the island. Alarcon pointed to the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act -- also known as the wet feet-dry feet policy -- under which Washington grants automatic residence in the U.S. to any Cubans who, risking their own lives crossing the shark-infested Florida Straits, arrive on U.S. soil without being detected by the U.S. Coast Guard. Alarcon affirmed that the purpose of the legislation is to make these people appear as political exiles fleeing socialist Cuba, rather than the economic immigrants they really are. The president of the Cuban Parliament pointed to the double standard of the U.S. policy regarding migration. This was in reference to U.S. policy granting abundant and exclusive privileges to illegal Cuban immigrants, while at the same time establishing strong restrictions on the number of visits to the island of Cuban residents in the U.S., as well as the money remittances that they send to their relatives on the island. *HAVANA HOSTS PRE-MEETING FOR SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Havana, June 30 (RHC)--Representatives from 14 non-governmental organizations in the Caribbean gathered in Havana called for stronger efforts to eliminate obstacles in the way of sustainable development in the area and urged regional governments to take concrete, urgent action aimed at preserving the environment. The Havana meeting is in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, set for next year in South Africa. Caribbean delegates to the South Africa summit also agreed on the need to increase south-south cooperation. This is the second in a series of four sub-regional meetings in which representatives of Caribbean governments and NGOs are exchanging experiences and discussing strategies in light of the South Africa summit. *CUBA AND CHINA: TWO PEOPLES, ONE CAUSE Havana, June 30 (RHC)--Cuba and China are two peoples with one cause: the defense of socialism. The statement was made by Esteban Lazo, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party in Havana during an activity to mark the 80th anniversary of China's Communist Party. Lazo, a member of the Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party's Central Committee, said that the communist parties of Cuba and China are convinced of the need to redouble efforts in the ideological battle. He said that adapting socialism to today's world means both developing the national economy and building a strong ideological fortress. The Cuban Communist Party's first secretary in the Cuban capital said that looking back over the past 80 years, sufficient evidence can be found demonstrating that the Chinese Communist Party was the only political force capable of guiding the Chinese people in the battles to expel the Japanese and other foreign occupation forces and for total national independence and sovereignty. Lazo pointed to the national unification policy of the Chinese Communist Party to counteract the United States' policy of fomenting divisions that brought about the collapse of socialism in former socialist societies in Europe. Further evidence of the U.S.'s hostile policy toward our two nations, said the Cuban official, was the rumor spread by the White House that China was sending shipments of weapons and explosives to the Caribbean island. Lazo affirmed that the purpose of this latest slander campaign orchestrated against Beijing and Havana was to confuse international public opinion and damage the international image of the two socialist nations. On hand for the Friday activity marking the 80th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party were members of the Asian nation's diplomatic mission in Cuba and members of the Cuban Communist Party. *CUBA GRANTS NEW SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PARAGUAYAN STUDENTS Asuncion, June 30 (RHC)--Cuban authorities have granted another 13 scholarships for young Paraguayans who want to study university careers here on the island. A group headed by Paraguayan First Lady Susana Galli was in charge of selecting students with good academic results from low-income families in remote areas of the South American nation. The 13 youths will join the more than 300 Paraguayan students who are already studying here on the island on scholarships granted by the Cuban government. The scholarships are part of a cooperation health program put in place by Cuba to help create integral health care systems in other third world nations. Also under the program, there are currently 2,359 Cuban health professionals offering their services free-of-charge in 17 nations in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. While on the island, the foreign students enjoy all the benefits offered by Cuba's free educational and health care systems. *"FAIR" BLASTS MAINSTREAM PRESS FOR NON-COVERAGE OF KISSINGER Washington, June 30 (RHC)--The U.S. media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting has blasted the American press for its lack of coverage concerning charges of human rights abuse against former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was summoned last month to appear at the French Palace of Justice to answer questions about murders and disappearances in Chile in the 1970s. While the story was carried by major European news outlets, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, known by the acronym FAIR, charged Friday that it has received relatively little coverage in the U.S. media. French authorities wanted to ask Kissinger, who was visiting Paris, about Operation Condor, the terror network set up by the military dictatorships of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador and Bolivia. FAIR recalled that evidence that the U.S. government was aware of and lent support to Operation Condor has been available for years, pointing to an August, 1999 article in the weekly magazine "The Nation" and to a February 6, 2001 article in the "New York Times." The French magistrate who summoned Kissinger was particularly interested in what light he might shed on the disappearances of five French nationals kidnapped in Chile during or shortly after the U.S.-supported coup there in 1973. Kissinger left town the day after being summoned without answering any questions. After the episode in France, Kissinger did a lengthy, one-on-one interview with PBS's Charlie Rose on June 20th. Kissinger also appeared alone with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on June 21st and Fox News Channel's Paula Zahn on June 13th. FAIR noted that none of the interviews even mentioned the French attempt to question Kissinger about human rights abuses. Nor did any of the journalists bring up the question of whether Kissinger might be indictable on war crimes charges, as journalist Christopher Hitchens argued in a two-part Harper's magazine article published last February 1st and March 1st. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting has asked if there was an agreement that the interviews would avoid raising such uncomfortable issues for Kissinger, noting that Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes admitted in a June 24th New York Times interview that he had written assurance from Charlie Rose that Kissinger would not be asked about "politics" during his May 22nd interview. FAIR said Kissinger seemed to have this kind of agreement with the National Press Club in Washington DC, where he spoke on June 21st and where no journalist asked him about war crimes or human rights investigations. The media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting said this raises an important question: If a former Secretary of State receiving a summons about his knowledge of murder, torture and disappearances is not news, then what is? *SLAVE TRADE ISSUE THREATENS SOUTH AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON RACISM United Nations, June 30 (RHC)--The upcoming Durban, South Africa International Conference Against Racism is on the verge of aborting due primarily to differences between African and western nations on the issue of slavery. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has called for the intervention of internationally recognized personalities in the political and cultural arenas, headed by Nelson Mandela and including former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachov, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Nobel Peace laureates Elie Wiesel and Oscar Arias. The United States, Germany, Spain, France, Great Britain and Portugal are adamantly opposing the call of African nations for a formal apology and compensation for the slave trade. Many African countries believe that today slavery would be considered a crime against humanity that should receive the same compensation that Germany is paying to the victims of the Nazi regime. Last week, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher asserted that financial compensation and a formal apology will do nothing to revert the current tendencies of racism and discrimination, saying that the conference should deal with current problems. The statement sparked protests within the congressional Black Caucus, which is trying to persuade President George Bush to attend the gathering. Another element of discord is the demand of Arab nations that Zionism be defined as a form of racism. The special commission of 19 international personalities is scheduled to gather in Geneva next August 2nd and 3rd with negotiators attempting to hammer out the agenda of the Durban conference, which is to begin on August 31st. *Viewpoint: BUSH UNDER FIRE FOR ELLIOT ABRAMS APPOINTMENT Washington, June 30 ((RHC)--The White House has come under intense fire following the designation of Elliot Abrams as the coordinator of international and human rights organizations in the U.S.'s National Security Council. Abrams committed perjury in the infamous Iran-Contra scandal during the Ronald Reagan administration, lying to Congress concerning his role in illegally raising funds for Washington's anti-Sandinista contra forces. In 1987, 130 U.S. legislators demanded the resignation of Abrams, who in 1991 pleaded guilty to two minor charges of concealing information. He avoided, however, a prison sentence when he and other Iran-Contra figures received a presidential pardon from then-President George Herbert Walker Bush. The Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs called the designation a cruel joke on the country, stating that a perjurer should be in jail, and not a member of the National Security Council. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was on the defensive Friday in the face of news correspondents questioning Abrams past. But since the post he was assigned to does not require congressional confirmation, Fleischer limited himself to saying that George W. Bush believes that Abrams' lies are matters of the past, and that the president has faith in his new advisor. The Council on Hemispheric Affairs compared Abrams' designation to those of ultra-rightwinger Otto Reich as Undersecretary of State for Latin American Affairs -- also accused of using his post in the Reagan administration to illegally promote public support for the contras -- and ultra-rightwinger Roger Noriega as Washington's representative before the Organization of American States. These two posts do require congressional approval, and democratic legislators have announced strong opposition. (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-25604 2001-Jul-02 05:46:59