Radio Havana Cuba-07 May 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 07 May 2001 . *FIDEL CASTRO WRAPS UP VISIT TO ALGERIA, TRAVELS TO IRAN *UNESCO COORDINATOR PRAISES HIGH QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN CUBA *REGIONAL WORKERS FORM COMMISSION TO COMBAT FTAA *CUBAN TV's "UNIVERSITY FOR ALL" TO EXPAND PROGRAMMING *LARGEST-EVER TOURISM CONVENTION OPENS IN CUBA *MEXICO AND CUBA TO SIGN ACCORD TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE INVESTMENT *COLOMBIAN PEACE PROCESS IN CRISIS *LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR JULY REFERENDUM ON NAVY BOMBING IN VIEQUES Viewpoint: *CUBA WARNS THE SOUTH NOT SURRENDER THEIR ECONOMIES TO US CONTROL . *FIDEL CASTRO WRAPS UP VISIT TO ALGERIA, TRAVELS TO IRAN Algiers, May 7 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro has wrapped up an official visit to Algeria. In his final activity Sunday evening, at an official dinner offered by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflica, the Cuban leader said that something special unites Cuba and Algeria. He recalled that both countries's liberation struggles coincided in time, and that after the Cuban Revolution's 1959 triumph the island was able to send to Algeria -- which wouldn't obtain its independence until 1962 -- some of the few weapons it had. President Castro said Algeria was the country that first put to the test Cuba's internationalist conscience. He said that after the triumph of Algeria's independence struggle, when the north African country faced a possible external aggression, the thousands of miles that separate the two countries didn't prevent well-armed Cuban combatants from urgently crossing the Atlantic. Fidel recalled that Algeria was also the first country to receive a Cuban internationalist medical brigade, even when Cuba was left with only 3,000 doctors. He said Algeria is where he first attended a Non-Aligned Summit in 1973, and that Algeria was the country that most supported Cuba's hosting of a Non-Aligned Summit six years later. Pointing to the devastating deterioration of social and economic conditions in Africa during the past 3 decades, the Cuban leader called on all of Cuba's African brothers to carry out a supreme effort in favor of peace and unity on the African continent, warning that entire African nations are in danger of extinction. President Castro arrived Monday afternoon in Iran for his first official visit to that nation. In recent years Cuba and Iran have stepped up their bilateral cooperation. *UNESCO COORDINATOR PRAISES HIGH QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN CUBA Sancti Spiritus, May 7 (RHC)--A UNESCO international school coordinator has praised the high quality of education in Cuba during a national seminar currently taking place in Sancti Spiritus province. Elizabeth Kazajkie, who works for UNESCO's School Network Plan, said that an excellent example of Cuba's advances in education is indicated by the innovative TV program "University for All" which teaches foreign languages as well as other subjects to the population in general via normal television programming. Representatives from the island's 69 schools associated with UNESCO were in attendance at the seminar. UNESCO sponsors some 6,700 schools worldwide in 168 countries. The program is designed to support cultural values, promote environmental awareness and teach knowledge and respect for flora and fauna. Other subjects include an understanding of the United Nations and its functions; economic, social and political systems across the globe; the rights of children and the struggle to maintain world peace. Cuba's educational system has long been extolled as the best in the Third World. The island has practically zero illiteracy, provides free schooling through university and guarantees employment in their field to students who graduate from degree programs. *REGIONAL WORKERS FORM COMMISSION TO COMBAT FTAA Havana, May 7 (RHC)--Representatives from workers' organizations across Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States and Canada who recently gathered for the 8th Congress of the Federation of Cuban Workers, agreed to create a commission to coordinate a future battle against the Free Trade Area of the Americas or FTAA. The FTAA, sponsored by the United States, is commonly seen by social organizations across the hemisphere as a huge threat to the working conditions of labor across the board. Washington is seen as a pariah that seeks to turn Latin America into a massive sweatshop to cheaply feed its enormous consumer society. Trade unions, students, intellectuals, economists, women's organizations and artists will be organized into committees at local levels across the region to fight against the FTAA. The commission has decided to use the Internet as much as possible and is creating new websites dedicated to defending what it says is the very sovereignty of the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean. The commission will hold its first meeting in Caracas, Venezuela from the 22nd to the 24th July to cement its organization and campaign strategy in the face of the acquiesence of the majority of Latin American governments to the planned FTAA. *CUBAN TV's "UNIVERSITY FOR ALL" TO EXPAND PROGRAMMING Havana, May 7 (RHC)--The highly successful University for All programming on Cuban TV will expand to include preparatory classes for entry exams to higher educational institutions across the island. The new program, aimed at 12th grade students, will be broadcast during school hours to allow high schools in Cuba to tune in for two hours every day for the next four weeks. Required levels of knowledge in Mathematics, Spanish, Literature and History will be taught. Mathematics will have the highest airtime at 20 hours total over the one month of programming. The program will not only provide academic instruction, but also bibliographical references, independent activities and advice to pupils on how to best collate and present their work. Twelfth grade teachers will receive technical support to enable them to successfully complement the TV lessons. *LARGEST-EVER TOURISM CONVENTION OPENS IN CUBA Havana, May 7 (RHC)--In what is being hailed as the largest gathering of its kind in Cuban history, the Cuba Tourist 2001 Convention opens today at Havana's Cabana Fortress. More than 100 exhibitors from 41 countries, representing 652 participants, gathered for the inauguration Monday morning. Tourism has become Cuba's most important source of foreign revenue and the island's popularity as a vacation destination -- especially in Europe -- is being heavily promoted at the Convention by the Ministry of Tourism. Principal themes that will be explored and presented this week will include e-commerce, sustainable tourism and the environment, the development of water sports and the inclusion of cultural values into the tourist product. The Convention is the 21st meeting of its kind to be held in Cuba and given the results of past gatherings, is expected to be highly successful. *MEXICO AND CUBA TO SIGN ACCORD TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE INVESTMENT Mexico City, May 7 (RHC)-In spite of the possible ramifications under US law, the Mexican government will shortly be signing an accord with Cuba to protect and promote investment between both nations, it was reported today in the Diario Milenio. The US Helms Burton Law specifically targets other nations investing in Cuba, seeking to deny US visas to executives from companies that do business with the island and penalize such firms if they have holdings in the United States. The law has been strongly condemned by most countries as extra-territorial. It has been a source of constant friction between Washington and the European Union. The new accord is expected to authorize the entry of more Mexican companies seeking to invest in Cuba and provide them with state protection should they be pursued under the Helms Burton Law. The agreement will especially target small to medium investors, although large companies are also expected to show interest. The participation of Mexico in the foreign investment field in Cuba fell from a high of $700 million in 1993 to only $200 million last year. The new accord is expected to greatly increase this amount with the protections it offers against the US legislation, according to Diario Milenio. *COLOMBIAN PEACE PROCESS IN CRISIS Bogota, May 7 (RHC)--The rebel-government peace process in Colombia has entered another moment of crisis. The Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces Monday accused President Andres Pastrana of endangering the peace process due to his lack of action in efforts to facilitate an exchange of imprisoned guerrillas for prisoners of war in rebel captivity who are suffering health problems. The rebel press release reproduced by local media outlets comes just four days after Pastrana stated, during a military ceremony, that the reasons to continue believing in the peace process are running out. The Colombian president, with just 15 months before the end of his mandate, also questioned what he called the legitimacy of the force used by the insurgency-- contrasting that force with the peaceful methods of the Zapatista rebels in Chiapas. The Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces charged that Pastrana has not complied with accords agreed upon during a face-to-face meeting with rebel leader Manuel Marulanda last February 9th following a 3-month suspension of the peace process. The Colombian leader had promised to facilitate a prisoner exchange. But when the rebels announced in March that the text of the agreement was ready to be signed, Pastrana said he would have to examine the legal implications. Since February, high-ranking Colombian military officers have come out against a prisoner exchange on several occasions, warning that it would legitimize the rebel organization as a recognized belligerent force. *LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR JULY REFERENDUM ON NAVY BOMBING IN VIEQUES San Juan, May 7 (RHC)--Legislators in Puerto Rico will reportedly approve a draft bill allowing for a referendum in Vieques concerning U.S. military exercises on the island. The referendum is to be scheduled for next July 8th, and will allow Vieques residents exclusively to express their approval or rejection of the U.S. Navy's target practice. Though the measure does not seem to be binding for U.S. authorities, five Senators of Puerto Rico's Popular Democratic Party -- known for its usually pro-U.S. and annexationist positions -- stated that the referendum a powerful wake-up call to President George W. Bush. Meanwhile, the Hispanic Caucus of the U.S. Congress announced over the weekend an investigation into charges that U.S. authorities mistreated peaceful demonstrators in the most recent civil disobedience campaign against the military exercises in Vieques. The 18 Hispanic Caucus members said they would hold public hearings, call for testimony from the Navy and will travel to Vieques to listen to the residents of the island-municipality. Caucus president Silvestre Reyes said the Hispanic legislators are alarmed over the treatment of their colleague, representative Luis Gutierrez, who says that he and many others were held in open-air dog cages containing excrement. The office of Attorney General John Ashcroft had previously indicated that it would investigate the conditions in the facilities in which the demonstrators were detained. . Viewpoint: *CUBA WARNS THE SOUTH NOT SURRENDER THEIR ECONOMIES TO US CONTROL Cuban President Fidel Castro, since the beginning of the so-called "neoliberal globalization process", has been warning that the system's logical conclusion is the economic colonization of Latin America. After everything has been privatized, all the national economies will be in the hands of transnational corporations, from industry and business to social security. Worse yet, the political decisions of independent nations will be made based on market concerns. President Castro warns that national currencies will disappear, to be replaced by the US dollar, as in Ecuador. The US Federal Reserve will dictate the monetary policy which will mean that it will make political decisions as well. If the neoliberal globalization process is allowed to continue the freedom, independence and sovereignty of all of our peoples will be seriously compromised in the near future. The United States will become the czar of the hemisphere and nothing will be able to be done without Washington's consent. Latin America will be condemned exclusively to providing raw materials and labor to the great, industrialized North and will be at the mercy of US wishes. In the factories and businesses it installs in Latin America, US industry pays workers salaries that are 15 to 20 times lower than it would pay North American workers. And those big industries, dependent on automated production, each day employ fewer workers. Education and culture in the South will become a simple business proposition. And only those who have managed to acquire modern technical skills will find work. Every day, thousands more human beings of this and other continents will join the ranks of the poor, the ignorant and the unemployed. It will be only the highly qualified professionals, or what is left of the upper classes, who will be able to aspire to a decent life. All those who realize the urgency of the situation must begin to mobilize now and demand that their governments hold plebiscites to find out how the people truly feel about becoming part of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the FTAA. To act otherwise will mean that the dreams of North American big business may be realized, but not those of the millions around the world who are experiencing hunger and thirst. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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