Radio Havana Cuba-05 March 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 05 March 2001 . *EUROPEAN UNION WANTS USA TO CONTINUE SUSPENDING PARTS OF HELMS-BURTON LAW *CUBA, JAPAN AGREE ON JOINT MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR HONDURAS *CUBA SUPPORTS BRAZIL IN HIV/AIDS DRUG DISPUTE *SECRETARY GENERAL OF DOMINICAN COMMUNIST PARTY VISITS CUBA *URBAN GARDENS PROJECT PROVIDES 60,000 JOBS IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2001 *MORE BOLIVIAN STUDENTS ARRIVES IN CUBA TO STUDY MEDICINE *SOUTH AFRICANS TAKE TO THE STREETS OVER PRICE-GOUGING DRUG COMPANIES *ZAPATISTA CARAVAN BACKED BY MEXICO'S MAJOR INDIGENOUS MOVEMENTS Viewpoint: *LATIN AMERICAN NATIONS IN DANGER OF SURRENDERING THEIR ECONOMIES *KNOWLEDGE IS NOT MERCHANDISE: FREE ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES . *EUROPEAN UNION WANTS USA TO CONTINUE SUSPENDING PARTS OF HELMS-BURTON LAW Brussels, March 5 (RHC)-- The European Union is planning this week to call on the U.S. government to continue refraining from applying the anti-Cuba Helms-Burton Law to European firms doing business in Cuba. According to press reports, a high-level EU delegation is expected to soon meet with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. A source from the European Commission told reporters that the EU delegation will remind Washington that it decided to deactivate a World Trade Organization panel against the extraterritorial nature of the Helms-Burton Law in 1998. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton maintained last January a ban on application of Titles 3 and 4 in the anti-Cuba legislation, which would also allow any U.S. citizen to file legal complaints against firms using property belonging to that citizen that was nationalized by the Cuban Revolution -- even Cuban-Americans who acquired their citizenship after the triumph of the Revolution. Next June, President George W. Bush will be faced with the decision of whether to continue maintaining a ban on the application of these articles every six months, as did Clinton. *CUBA, JAPAN AGREE ON JOINT MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR HONDURAS Tokyo, March 5 (RHC)-- Visiting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque has signed with Japan a joint medical assistance program for Honduras. In what the Japanese Foreign Ministry called the first Havana-Tokyo accord for cooperation in a third country, Japan will provide financial backing for the purchase of medical equipment in a Honduras hospital where Cuban doctors are offering their services. The San Francisco Hospital is located in northeastern Honduras. Perez Roque also expressed Cuba's hope to double the number of Japanese tourists traveling to the island, from the current 10,000 to 20,000 a year. *CUBA SUPPORTS BRAZIL IN HIV/AIDS DRUG DISPUTE Havana, March 5 (RHC)-- Cuba has taken a stand with Brazil against the world's multi-national pharmaceutical companies in relation to the generic manufacture of HIV/AIDS drugs. The international trade dispute is with the United States over the production of patented, life-saving medicines and is before the World Trade Organization for a ruling later this year. Thanks to its production of generic medicines, Brazil has one of the most effective distributions of HIV/AIDS combination drug therapy to its inhabitants. Almost all of those who need the therapy are currently receiving it. A Cuban foreign ministry statement said Sunday that the island supports Brazil's contention that producing generic drugs contributes to broader and sounder solutions in the fights against AIDS, especially in developing nations. Brazil argues that it has the right to manufacture the drugs because HIV/AIDS constitutes a public health crisis and First World pharmaceutical companies refuse to lower their prices for the drugs they patented. The Cuban Foreign Ministry states that "it is unacceptable that commercial interests, technicalities, or the desire for profit be pitted against the right of the people to find solutions to diseases that constitute a scourge to humanity." Cuba has long accused the multi-national drug companies of seeking huge profits when the lives and suffering of millions are at stake. Havana criticized Washington for "once more siding with those whose interest in excessive profits clashes with vital human interests, including the most basic right to life." Brazil has offered to share its anti-AIDS technology and experience with other developing countries. Cuba already has the technical ability to manufacture its own generic HIV medicines, lacking only the raw materials to begin extensive production. *SECRETARY GENERAL OF DOMINICAN COMMUNIST PARTY VISITS CUBA Havana, March 5 (RHC)-- The Secretary General of the Worker's Communist Party of the Dominican Republic, Manuel Salazar, arrived in Cuba on Sunday for an official visit. Salazar was invited to visit the island by the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party. In statements to reporters upon his arrival in Havana, he said that he was not concerned by threats against Cuba because the island has "the experience, strength and principles to confront imperialism, which is the enemy of us all." Salazar then acknowledged Cuba's contribution to the Dominican Republic in the field of medicine and other technologies. Many Dominicans have been trained in Cuba to enable them to return home and work in marginalized communities that lack effective health care. He cited as an example the construction of a school by Cuba in the Dominican town of Bani, where Maximo Gomez was born. Maximo Gomez fought in the 19th century wars of independence in Cuba and is one of the island's most recognized historical figures. The Secretary General of the Dominican Communist Party will remain in Cuba until March 8th. *URBAN GARDENS PROJECT PROVIDES 60,000 JOBS IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2001 Havana, March 5 (RHC)-- Some 60,000 people found work during the first quarter of the year with a new national agricultural program in Cuba. In an urban gardening project sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, some 3,000 hectares of unused land were converted into urban gardens in most of the nation's cities, thereby providing tens of thousands of jobs. In Granma province alone, which suffers from problems associated with depopulation, 12,000 jobs were guaranteed by the project. Cuba's urban garden program was begun in the early 1990's to combat the serious shortage of food in the cities due to the lack of petroleum products to transport food in from the countryside. The gardens sprouted up everywhere - from schools, to community centers, to factories to army posts. Such is the success of the program that more than 50 percent of Havana's fresh produce is grown within city limits. No chemical fertilizers or pesticides are allowed in the process. *MORE BOLIVIAN STUDENTS ARRIVES IN CUBA TO STUDY MEDICINE Havana, March 5 (RHC)-- Another 70 young Bolivians arrive in Havana today to join the thousands of other students who are studying medicine at the Latin American School of Medicine. The students were selected from poor communities across Bolivia in a process that guarantees that 40 percent of them are female. They are the third contingent to arrive from Bolivia. Countries across Latin America are sending young people to be trained as doctors free-of-charge. The Cuban government asks the students for only one thing: that they return to their countries to practice medicine in the poverty-stricken communities from which they themselves came. Some of the students had traveled 1500 kilometers by bus from Bolivia to Lima to be able to board the flight to Havana. They will join the more than 3,000 other students at the school, located on the edge of Havana. Food, clothing and lodging -- as well as a small, monthly stipend -- are all provided by the Cuban government, along with the six-year medical course. *SOUTH AFRICANS TAKE TO THE STREETS OVER PRICE-GOUGING DRUG COMPANIES Pretoria, March 5 (RHC)-- Thousands of South Africans took to the streets of Pretoria on Monday to support their government's efforts to produce low-cost AIDS medication. Labor activists, non-governmental organizations and church representatives protested in front of the Supreme Court and the United States embassy against the efforts of some 41 pharmaceutical transnationals attempting to block legislation that would allow the South African government to manufacture non-trade mark, or generic AIDS medication. The pharmaceutical transnationals are accusing authorities of ignoring patent rights, but Pretoria has accused the pharmaceuticals of charging exorbitant prices for medicines that could save tens of thousands of lives. Protesters carried signs stating that life is more important than profit. South Africa's Public Health Ministry said last week that it has received offers from India and Brazil to establish a parallel pharmaceutical industry that would allow for the free distribution of AIDS medication in state hospitals. Brazil would contribute with technology, while India would provide South Africa with the basic products needed to elaborate the medicines. The result of the pharmaceuticals' legal challenge in South Africa's Supreme Court will set an important precedent for other Third World countries. According to the latest World Health Organization report, South Africa is the country with the highest number HIV-infected persons, with some 2000 people daily contracting the disease. Due to the high cost of the medicine, numerous babies are born to HIV-infected mothers who were unable to acquire medication that significantly reduces the risk of mother-to-child transmission. In related news, the annual reports of the pharmaceutical giants battling the South African government have revealed that these firms rake in profits oftentimes larger than the incomes of many governments. One of them, the firm Merk Sharp and Dohme, reported six billion 900 million dollars in profits last year, equivalent to the gross domestic product of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The firm Pfizer's profits equal the gross domestic product of Ethiopia, while Bristol Myers is equivalent to that of Gabon. The French branch of the anti-AIDS activists of the international organization ACT UP, revealed that the pharmaceutical giant Glaxo's sale of just AIDS medications bring it profits three times the national income of Thailand and almost half the gross domestic product of Brazil. Nevertheless, Africa only constitutes 1.3 percent of these firms' sales, with North America and Europe buying the lion's share. *ZAPATISTA CARAVAN BACKED BY MEXICO'S MAJOR INDIGENOUS MOVEMENTS Michoacan, March 5 (RHC)-- All of Mexico's indigenous movements -- representing more than 10 million Mexican Indians -- have united around the Zapatista caravan. Thousands of delegates attending the Third National Indigenous Congress this past weekend in Michoacan called for a peaceful uprising to support the Zapatista march to the capital. At the conclusion of the Congress, indigenous leaders stated that the San Andres Accords signed in 1996 by the Zapatistas and the Congressional Chiapas Peace Commission are non-negotiable, and should be approved without changes. One of the Congress' resolutions stated that the war is not only in Chiapas, but in all of Mexico's indigenous communities, approving the creation of autonomous municipalities in their regions. Observers are noting that the Zapatista caravan has become a factor of unity of the until now dispersed indigenous movements in Mexico, and that for the first time since the uprising in Chiapas, the Zapatistas have achieved the explicit backing of those movements. Thousands of indigenous activists are expected to converge on Mexico City when the Zapatista caravan arrives there next March 11th, while thousands more are planning demonstrations at the doors of state legislatures throughoutthe country. The Zapatista caravan today left for Toluca, capital of the state of Mexico. From there they will travel to Morelos, to Guerrero, and then return to Morelos -- entering Mexico City by the route taken by legendary General Emiliano Zapata, leader of Mexico's 1910 revolution. . Viewpoint: *LATIN AMERICAN NATIONS IN DANGER OF SURRENDERING THEIR ECONOMIES Shortly before Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque met with Chinese President Jian Zemin in Beijing last week, he told reporters that Cuba is willing to renew normal relations with the United States as long as the blockade is lifted -- unilaterally and without conditions. Perez Roque said that the economic war waged on the island by nine successive U.S. administrations has been totally worthless to both countries. The Cuban foreign minister's statement echoes those made by President Fidel Castro, affirming that Cuba will never give up its principals of national sovereignty and independence. The aggressions have always been on the part of the United States and have been carried out with a persistent obsession against a small, underdeveloped country, which according to U.S. military leaders themselves, represents no danger to its huge northern neighbor. Nor can Cuba, or does it wish to inflict any type of economic damage on its powerful adversary. Now, Washington has proposed the creation of an economic strait jacket to control neighboring Latin America and the rest of the underdeveloped world in line with the globalization of neo-liberal, free market economic policies. The idea of a new Free Trade Association will be announced by U.S. President Bush at the next Summit of the Americas, which will be held soon in Quebec. Many regional nations, whose economies are floundering as a consequence of neo-liberal shock policies, are looking at the new economic free trade zone as a life raft in a sea of economic woes and growing social unrest. But in fact, the plan is nothing more than bait dangled in front of underdeveloped nations to tempt them into placing their economies in the care of the most powerful. In Beijing, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque spoke about the difficult economic situation of the Third World and he mentioned the region's soaring foreign debt. In l993, Latin America owed 450 billion dollars; today it owes a bit more than double that shocking figure. In the seven years from l993 to the year 2000, debtors paid their creditors 800 billion dollars in interest and today they still owe that same amount, as though no time had passed. But time, indeed, has passed. It was 16 years ago, in l985, that Cuban President Fidel Castro first began warning the continent and the world that the foreign debt was unpayable. He also warned of the dangers of total economic domination, which is rapidly becoming a tragic reality in today's world. *KNOWLEDGE IS NOT MERCHANDISE: FREE ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES One of the recent round table discussions transmitted daily on Cuban television analyzed the outstanding developments in the field of biotechnology and the recent discovery of the human genome, which has revolutionized medicine and will shortly be the fundamental basis of all the sciences. This process made the headlines with cloning, which is a very advanced method of reproducing an exact copy of a living entity - human or animal. Cloning produced the celebrated sheep, Dolly. Following on from this it was logical to look at the possibility of cloning a human being in a selected and planned manner which no doubt would bring about a physically and mentally "perfect" person. This is similar to the nazi theory of a superior race. But, predictably, the problem that has surfaced already with these scientific advances is privatization and commercialization. The big pharmaceutical corporations with their huge resources and money, are the only ones who can afford to access these scientific discoveries. These are the ones who already dominate the drug and science market. They have also been responsible for ruining the environment in pursuit of their goals where the only ethic is profit. Cuban specialists analyzed some of these problems during the round table discussion. The human genome was the main theme and a clear explanation was given of the significance of human genetic biotechnology. The consequences of an unethical approach to this new and exciting scientific discovery could be extremely harmful to the human race. The struggle will be against the greed and speculation of those who want to privatize and market the product for financial gain. The commercialization of scientific advances does not take into consideration the the 4.5 billion human beings who live in the so-called Third World that are trying to survive every day. The health benefits will be available only to the rich and not to most of humanity, the poor of which make up nearly two thirds of the world's population. Cuba opposes all privatization and commercialization of medicine. This stance is evident in the free access that all Cubans have not only to medicine, but also to education and other social services that Cuba also makes available to many other Third World countries. The AIDS crisis is a case in point. The world's multi-national pharmaceuticals control the patents on life-saving drugs that they refuse to sell at significantly reduced rates to Third World countries who's economies are drowned by the HIV/AIDS disaster. Brazil has been producing generic HIV drugs at a fraction of the cost for which they are sold on the international market. It has thus been able to provide combination drug therapy to the majority of those needing HIV medicines in the country. The greed and lack of an ethical stance on these issues by the pharmaceutical companies gives great cause for concern for the future of humanity and if it continues on the same road, will be calamitous for the planet and its people. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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