Radio Havana Cuba-10 May 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 10 May 2001 . *PRESIDENT CASTRO ARRIVES IN MALAYSIA AFTER 3 DAYS IN IRAN *CUBA'S MATERNITY LEAVE BENEFITS "BEST IN THE HEMISPHERE" *JOURNALISTS DISCUSS ISSUE OF CUBAN PRESS FREEDOMS *SECOND CUBA-US YOUTH EXCHANGE SCHEDULED FOR JULY *VIOLENT PROTEST IN PANAMA LEAVES 20 WOUNDED BY GUNFIRE *US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VOTES AGAINST PAYING UN DEBT *FAMILY OF CINCINNATI VICTIM SUES CITY AND KILLER COP *AIDS WILL CLAIM 16 MILLION AFRICAN FARMERS, SAYS FAO *Viewpoint: CARIBBEAN INTEGRETION BEFORE FTAA . *PRESIDENT CASTRO ARRIVES IN MALAYSIA AFTER 3 DAYS IN IRAN Kuala Lumpur, May 10 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro has arrived in Malaysia for an official visit after spending three days in Iran. In a joint communiqué shortly before his departure from Tehran, Cuba and Iran stated that they are determined to strengthen political, economic, cultural and parliamentary ties and to promote bilateral cooperation in international forums like the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement. In an emotional good-bye after receiving the highest honors granted by Iran to a head of state in recent years, the Cuban leader expressed his gratitude to the population, Iranian students, journalists, security personnel and, particularly, to his translator. President Castro said it would be impossible for him to carry away a more pleasant memory of and higher esteem for all of those with whom he came in contact during the visit. *CUBA'S MATERNITY LEAVE BENEFITS "BEST IN THE HEMISPHERE" Havana, May 10 (RHC)--According to an article by IPS news agency, Cuba's recent extension of paid maternity leave from six months to one year is by far and away the best in the hemisphere. The article by Marcela Valente compares Cuba with other nations in Latin America. Mexico and Peru provide 84 days of leave, Argentina and Uruguay three months, Brazil four months and Chile and Venezuela four and a half months. However, say women's rights activists like Monique Altschul who leads the Argentine group Women in Equality, these leave periods are not necessarily adhered to. Cuba also seems to be unique in that it respects maternity leave to the letter, says Valente. Many women elsewhere worry that their jobs may be at risk and are often back at their workplaces within two weeks of giving birth. Employers skirt around maternity leave by hiring women on short-term contracts only, thereby avoiding the legal requirement to provide such leave. Argentine attorney Carmen Gonzalez explained to IPS news that in the case of domestic workers, the largest group of workers in Argentina, the law explicitly does not provide maternity leave. According to a report by the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean, 74% of the region's workforce earn salaries that are insufficient to take them out of poverty. Women are especially vulnerable, due to their contract-worker status; and tend to work as much as possible before and after pregnancy. They attempt to hang on to their jobs at all cost, in spite of the fact that they are often replaced for cost-reduction reasons enabling employers to avoid paying wage increases. *JOURNALISTS DISCUSS ISSUE OF CUBAN PRESS FREEDOMS Havana, May 10 (RHC)--Cuba is often condemned by the US as suppressing press freedoms; last night Cuban journalists discussed the issue of freedom of the press in a televised roundtable. Julio Garcia Luis, the dean of the Department of Social Communication at the University of Havana, recognized that at the outset of western capitalism, the concept of freedom of the press was very laudable. However, he said, the concept became tarnished when wide freedom were granted to corporations which are have now become the owners of the media. When the press is owned by the very same magnates who run the corporations, information is used to strengthen the empires of these magnates. To do this, they have reduced news content to reports on banal issues, programming to a mediocre level to keep the majority of people as uninformed as possible about the real issues. The director of the Cuban magazine Mujeres, Isabel Moya, agreed, saying that just as the term "representative democracy" is now a myth in the US, so is its so-called "freedom of the press" which homogenizes and spoon-feeds everything to the public so they won't have to analyze or reflect on the issues. TV journalist Reynaldo Taladrid added that this kind of government control over the free press has led to a situation where omissions and silence on matters of importance has reached a level of effective censorship in the US. Journalist Lazaro Barredo noyed that since 1988, 626 journalists have been killed or disappeared in Latin America; 70 percent of these cases have not even been investigated. He asked how Cuba could be condemned on this issue, when not a single one of these cases occurred in Cuba. Two nations that are especially critical of Cuba in the region are Argentina and Costa Rica. In Argentina, 900 journalists reported being physically attacked during the course of the last administration of Carlos Menem. In Costa Rica, some 200 journalists denounced the lack of press freedoms only three days ago. Luis Sexto from the Cuban daily Juventud Rebelde explained that the concept of freedom of the press is tied in with private property. He stated that Cuba has committed the unpardonable sin of wanting its government to run the country for the benefit of the people, instead of allowing private corporations the control of public enterprises. Thus, Cuba's press operates for the well-being of its people, as does its transportation system, power grid, major industries etc., and not for profit. Sexto reminded those present that the first act of the Revolution was to eliminate illiteracy from the island -- hardly an action designed to limit the Cuban people's access to information. *SECOND CUBA-US YOUTH EXCHANGE SCHEDULED FOR JULY Havana, May 10 (RHC)--Havana will be the site of the second Cuba-US Youth Exchange, scheduled from July 22nd through the 30th. According to the organizing committee, the conference will give young people from Cuba and the United States time to join together in discussions. It will also serve to strengthen solidarity between the peoples of both countries by challenging everything that keeps the youth of the two nations apart. The Youth Exchange will include workshop discussions, visits to the universities and meetings with Cuban students, meetings in local communities, visits to the Latin American School of Medicine, sports and cultural events and participation in July 26th activities to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the revolutionary attack on the Moncada barracks. The event is sponsored by Cuban organizations and NGOs, among them the Jose Marti Pioneer Organization, the Federation of High School Students, the Federation of University Students, the Young Communist League, the Hermanos Saiz Cultural Association, the Technical Youth Brigades and the Youth Study Center. The cost for U.S. participants is 250 dollars, which will cover registration, meals, lodging and transportation within Cuba during the event. Cubana Airlines will also offer a special fare for exchange participants. For further information, those interested should contact the Cuba-US Exchange Organizing Committee in Havana via e-mail at ujcri@ujc.cu or ri@ujc.org.cu or by telephone at (537) 60 0225 or (537) 67 0225. Information is also available from the Young Socialists in the US via mail to P.O. Box 33, Times Square Station, New York, NY 10010; telephone (212) 695-1809; e-mail: youngsocialists@attglobal.net *VIOLENT PROTEST IN PANAMA LEAVES 20 WOUNDED BY GUNFIRE Panama City, May 10 (RHC)--A massive and violent protest in Panama Wednesday evening left 20 people wounded by gunfire, some 100 mostly children hospitalized due to the effects of tear gas and close to 50 people arrested. Between 10,000 and 20,000 Panamanians, mostly students and workers, took to the streets of Panama City to protest public transportation price hikes. When demonstrators arrived at the presidential palace police attempted to disperse them, and 4 hours of pitched battles ensued. As demonstrators clashed with riot police, residents of poor neighborhoods began looting business establishments. Some of the looters engaged in gun battles with police, wounding one officer. Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso, facing the largest protest movement against her administration, which began last week, vowed to maintain the price hikes. The protesters have vowed to continue taking to the streets. *US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VOTES AGAINST PAYING UN DEBT Washington, May 10 (RHC)--The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a measure to rescind payment of part of the US debt to the United Nations in reprisal for having been excluded from the UN Human Rights Commission. In a 282 to 165 vote, legislators attached the measure to a foreign appropriations bill that will come to a final vote in the Senate next week. Washington reacted bitterly to its exclusion from the Human Rights Commission and the UN's International Narcotics Control Board, although the White House has said that it does not support suspension of debt payments to the world body. The measure voted on today would cancel approval to pay $244 million of the more than $800 million Washington owes to the world body, not only in reprisal for its exclusion from the Commission, but also as a pressure tactic to try to force the UN to eliminate secret votes. Some US allies reportedly pledged to vote in Washington's favor, but didn't keep their promise -- and the secret vote prevents the U.S. government from knowing which countries made an about-face. *FAMILY OF CINCINNATI VICTIM SUES CITY AND KILLER COP Cincinnati, May 10 (RHC)--In the US city of Cincinnati, the family of an unarmed African-American youth slain last month by a police officer has decided to take the city and the perpetrator to court. The announcement follows a Grand Jury decision to indict officer Stephen Roach only of negligent homicide and obstruction of justice in the shooting death of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas. If found guilty, Roach would have to spend less than one year in prison. As a result of the less serious charges, the Cincinnati Police Department has its agents on 12-hour shifts and has cancelled a popular music festival that was to be held this weekend, in fear of further protests from the city's black community. The shooting led to an uprising that lasted several days and resulted in dozens wounded and some 800 people arrested. Also this week, the US Justice Department's Civil Rights Division announced the beginning of an investigation to determine whether there is a pattern of police brutality in the city. Authorities do not know how long the investigation will take. There are currently similar investigations of the police departments in the cities of Detroit, Los Angeles, Cleveland, New Orleans, New York, Washington and Tulsa. *AIDS WILL CLAIM 16 MILLION AFRICAN FARMERS, SAYS FAO Rome, May 10 (RHC)--The AIDS epidemic will claim the lives of some 16 million African Farmers over the next 20 years, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the FAO. This bleak forecast comes as international agencies prepare the 27th session of the Committee on World Food Security, to be held in Rome from May 28 to June 1. The FAO said that countries like Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa will lose between 20 and 30 percent of their rural labor force. Experts organizing the gathering have announced that throughout human history, few crises have constituted such an enormous threat to humanity and to economic and social progress as does the HIV epidemic. The FAO will propose in Rome more and better assistance for the widows and orphans of AIDS victims, more prevention campaigns and the transfer of more knowledge and resources from donor countries to African nations. *Viewpoint: CARIBBEAN INTEGRETION BEFORE FTAA During the so-called Third Summit of the Americas, the United States failed to obtain the desired support to push through more rapidly its Free Trade Area of the Americas, known as the FTAA. In addition to the explicit reticence of Venezuela and Brazil, the Caribbean countries expressed concern that their economies won't be ready to face the challenge of a free trade area by the target date of 2005. There is fear that the United States will inundate the western hemisphere with its products and investments which could ruin the Caribbean's incipient economies, since the area is made up by tiny islands. That is why a recent high-level CARICOM meeting in Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam, recommended that its members first establish a regional free trade area, before making the leap into the FTAA. CARICOM speaks cautiously about first concentrating on regional integration, taking into account the limited reach of the economies of member nations, unable to defend themselves against today's large regional blocks. Luckily for the Caribbean, CARICOM has been working for the past several years on integration and the formation of a single market. There has been talk of asking Cuba join in, since the island has signed a special accord with the regional group. Cuba, for its part, has offered its support. That is the purpose of the island's EXPOCARIBE commercial fairs that have been held for the past ten years in eastern Santiago de Cuba. That is also the significance of the establishment of the Association of Cuba-CARICOM Entrepreneurs, in the context of an accord between Havana and the regional entity, which is seen as a new idea favoring the integration of Cuba with its neighbors. Concerns over the necessity of achieving regional integration before entering the FTAA, and problems of globalization, will be the central topics in the Third Summit of the Organization of Caribbean States. Set for next December on the Venezuelan island of Margarita, the high-level meeting will examine areas such as sustainable tourism, transportation, trade and the prevention of natural disasters, among other topics. Organization of Caribbean States General Secretary, Jamaican Norman Girvan, has said that summit participants must set ambitious goals, such as uniting the entire Caribbean by land and sea. Mr. Girvan is right. The goal must be a Caribbean that first takes care of itself before making the fatal move towards the Free Trade Area of the Americas. (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-22680 2001-May-11 02:57:44