Radio Havana Cuba-24 May 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 24 May 2001 . *PEREZ ROQUE REMINDS BUSH THAT CUBA HAS OUTLIVED 10 US ADMINISTRATIONS *UN DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE MEETS IN HAVANA *MEXICO STRENGTHENS ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA *CUBAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES CELEBRATES 60th ANNIVERSARY *VERMONT SENATOR ALTERS BALANCE OF POWER IN US SENATE *ALEMAN ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION BY MEMBERS OF HIS OWN PARTY *CANADIAN LEGISLATOR SUES POLICE FOR QUEBEC SUMMIT RAMPAGE *Viewpoint: CHILDREN'S MARCH FOR LIFE IN ARGENTINA . *PEREZ ROQUE REMINDS BUSH THAT CUBA HAS OUTLIVED 10 US ADMINISTRATIONS Havana, May 24 (RHC)--Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has reminded U.S. President George Bush that Cuba has outlived 10 U.S. administrations. During his weekly press conference in Havana, Perez Roque referred to Bush's recent public expression of support for Washington's blockade of Cuba and for legislation to finance so-called dissidents on the island. The Cuban Foreign Minister said the announcement sparked no interest or concern in Cuba, that Cubans were merely astonished by how much Bush can talk without saying anything. He said that, like his predecessors, Bush will not be able to isolate Cuba -- pointing to the majority of U.S. public opinion and the 167 countries in the United Nations that support lifting the blockade. The Cuban foreign minister wondered when Washington would realize it has lost its war against Cuba. In reference to the legislation to finance so-called dissidents in Cuba, Perez Roque welcomed the move, stating that it's merely another public display of the U.S. interventionism that Cuba has always denounced. Felipe Perez Roque said Bush's incoherent and senseless anti-Cuba speech last week was merely an effort to thank those in Florida for his fraudulent electoral victory and to try and guarantee the re-election of his brother, Jeb Bush, as Governor of Florida. *UN DECOLONIZATION COMMITTEE MEETS IN HAVANA Havana, May 24 (RHC)--The 11th Regional Session of the United Nations Decolonization Committee got underway in the Cuban capital on Wednesday. Experts from the 24 member nations of the UN agency are meeting here in Havana until Friday, examining the issues of self-determination and sovereignty. The Committee makes recommendations to attempt to resolve colonial situations, but does not adopt binding resolutions. The UN agency was founded in 1961 during the height of the African liberation struggle when many countries on the African continent were given their nominal, economic independence. On December 14, 1960, the United Nations General Assembly approved Resolution 1514 -- calling for the independence of all colonial countries. The Decolonization Committee, formed one year later, was designed to help monitor the independence process. On Wednesday, during the opening session held at the Hotel Nacional, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon called for the total and definitive independence of Puerto Rico. The Cuban parliament leader said that the struggle for Puerto Rican independence has more significance than ever, given the battle to prevent the absorption of the continent by the United States -- a reference to the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Among the participants at the regional meeting of the UN Decolonization Committee is Juan Mari Bras, a veteran fighter for Puerto Rican independence. Speaking with reporters during a break in the closed-door meeting, Mari Bras said he hoped the session in Havana would lead to a better understanding of the colonial situation of Puerto Rico and hasten the eventual independence of his country. Juan Mari Bras pointed to the growing movement to throw the U.S. Navy out of Vieques -- and called for a renewed commitment to work for the total liberation of all colonial territories under foreign rule. *MEXICO STRENGTHENS ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA Mexico City, May 24 (RHC)--Mexico will strengthen its economic relations with Cuba despite threats from the United States. According to Eduardo Sojo, the Public Policy Coordinator of the Mexican Presidency, Mexico will not bow to Washington's threats. Speaking with reporters in Mexico City, Eduardo Sojo referred to recent threats by the U.S. government to take reprisals against Mexican companies that do business with Havana. He said that Mexico and Cuba would go ahead with the signing of an agreement on the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments, slated to take place next week. The Mexican official said that the U.S. Stock Exchange has issued a warning to all foreign companies that have agreements with countries subjected to economic blockades -- such as Cuba. According to Wall Street, the companies will be required to submit a detailed report on their transactions. Failing to do this will result in the denial of those companies to participate on the U.S. Stock Exchange. In related news, Mexico's Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations for Latin America and the Caribbean, Gustavo Iruegas, stated that his country would not be intimidated by extraterritorial laws. He confirmed that despite threats by Wall Street and the White House, Mexico plans to sign the economic cooperation agreement with Cuba next week. Mexico's Minister of the Economy, Luis Ernesto Derbez, is scheduled to arrive in Havana on Sunday on an official visit. Derbez will take part in the 11th Session of the Inter-governmental Commission for Economic and Industrial Collaboration here in the Cuban capital. On Wednesday, the 30th, the Mexican official will sign an accord to promote and protect investments between Cuba and Mexico. *CUBAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES CELEBRATES 60th ANNIVERSARY Havana, May 24 (RHC)--The Cuban Council of Churches is getting ready to celebrate its 60th anniversary. Founded on May 28, 1941, the Cuban Council of Churches was created with the aim of meeting the national and international need for cooperation among churches, Christian organizations and ecumenical movements. During a news conference in Havana, the President of the Cuban Council of Churches, Dr. Reinerio Arce Valentin, gave reporters details of the major celebrations taking place in the Cuban capital to mark the historic date. He said special services will take place at two major Protestant churches in Havana, including the First Presbyterian Reformed Church, the site where the Council was set up in 1941. A concert will also be held at the Mella Theater, located in downtown Havana. Dr. Arce said that three special religious services will take place next week with the participation of internationally renowned religious personalities. Among them are the Reverend Oscar Bolioli from the National Council of Churches of Christ, USA -- who participated in his organization's effort to bring Elián Gonzalez back home following his kidnapping by the anti-Cuba Miami mafia. Also present will be Bishop Federico Pagura from the Presidium of the World Council of Churches; the Rev. Franklin Guerrero from the Board of Global Ministries, USA; and Werner Rostan from the German-based Bread for the World Agency. *VERMONT SENATOR ALTERS BALANCE OF POWER IN US SENATE Havana, 23rd May (RHC)--In an important move that alters the balance of power in the US Senate in favor of the Democrats, Republican Senator James Jeffords has announced that he will become an Independent. The Republican Party will now be deprived of its one-vote majority, which observers say will seriously complicate President George Bush's life. The Senate votes on the heads of committees, for example, with such appointments affecting policy across the board. Jeffords, who is already known for his independent leanings, currently heads the Senate Committee on Education and Health. He said he made the decision due to his disagreement with President George W. Bush on issues such as the budget, tax reductions, education, energy, the environment and plans for a space-based anti-missile system, affirming that the move is for the good of the state of Vermont and the country in general. Jeffords is also known for his staunch defense of the right of abortion, and has openly come out in defense of gay rights. His defection from the Republican Party immediately converts Democrat Tom Daschle into the new Senate majority leader, reducing Republican Trent Lott into the minority spokesperson. At the same time, Democrats will now preside over the important Foreign Relations and Judiciary Committees, formerly presided over by Republicans Jesse Helms and Orrin Hatch. Bush will now have to negotiate all of his proposed legislative measures primarily with the democrats. Both Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney met separately with James Jeffords on Tuesday but, Jeffords said, he made no promises to either. *ALEMAN ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION BY MEMBERS OF HIS OWN PARTY Havana, 24th May (RHC)--Dissident ruling party legislators in Nicaragua have announced a campaign to gather 50,000 signatures to support a petition to investigate charges that President Arnoldo Aleman has illicitly amassed a huge fortune during his mandate. Liberal Constitutionalist Party dissidents Leonel Teller and Sergio Garcia said the campaign will begin Friday and that an eventual investigation will also include Aleman's entire family. The two legislators have accused Aleman on several recent occasions of amassing $250 million through corrupt activities. The announcement came after the ruling-party controlled parliamentary anti-corruption commission refused to investigate the president. In other news, President Aleman has bowed to pressure from the International Monetary Fund to veto legislation on a debt moratorium for thousands of coffee farmers. The legislation, approved in the Nicaraguan Parliament last April 30th and originally supported by Aleman, would suspend the sector's debt payment for 300 days, suspend trials and seizures of property against indebted farmers, and would release the indebted farmers who have been imprisoned. The legislation led the IMF to suspend conversations with the Nicaraguan government last weekend. Some 30,000 farmers are currently strangled by debt in Nicaragua, a situation that indirectly affects nearly 250,000 farmers. *CANADIAN LEGISLATOR SUES POLICE FOR QUEBEC SUMMIT RAMPAGE Quebec, 24th May (RHC)--A Canadian legislator has filed a lawsuit against the country's Royal Mounted Police for the excessive repression of anti-globalization demonstrators during last month's 3rd Summit of the Americas in Quebec. Canadian member of Parliament Svend Robinson, of the left-of-center New Democracy Party, accused police of firing rubber bullets and tear gas into a group of persons carrying out a peaceful protest. Robinson said he was among the group and was hit in the leg with a rubber bullet. The Canadian legislator joined forces with some 40 grassroots and human rights organizations demanding an independent investigation of police actions during the protests. The organizations charged that police fired nearly 8,000 tear gas canisters and more than 500 rubber bullets, creating a climate of terror in Quebec. Tear gas reportedly entered the homes of Quebec residents who had nothing to do with the anti-globalization protests. Robinson said the Summit of the Americas should be called the Summit of Shame. *Viewpoint: CHILDREN'S MARCH FOR LIFE IN ARGENTINA Carlos Menem came to the presidency of Argentina in 1989 with the promise that his government would work a "miracle" to change Argentina into a First World country. Ten years later and after Menem's two terms in office, instead of advancing to first world status, the majority of Argentines have passed through a nighmarish period. Today, the government of Fernando de la Rua is following in Menem's footsteps by applying the same disastrous economic model. The application of the doctrine of neoliberalism has been devastating in Argentina, where there are now more than 13 million people living in conditions of extreme poverty. And in this exercise of giving absolute power to market forces, the most vulnerable victims are the children. In Argentina, where there are six million people under the age of 18, child poverty has increased dramatically, by 70% on the northeastern borders with Paraguay and Brazil, and in the northwestern frontiers with Bolivia and Chile, by 61%. Recently, nearly a thousand poor children travelled from the North of Argentina on a fifteen-day march to Buenos Aires to ask president Fernando de la Rua to show some respect for their rights and to give work to their parents. "To be a poor child in Argentina has a name and a destiny: prostitution, drugs, jail or to be assassinated in a distant corner of poverty," was the message sent in a press announcement from the organizers of the march. Aside from the call for work, the marchers also demanded bread and changes in the the country's economical model, which they say is a sell-out of their welfare, their happiness and one of the major causes of child poverty. Meanwhile, the government continues its series of adjustments and readjustments which are meant to bring Argentina out of an economic recession which has already lasted three years. Signs of economic growth are very important aspects of the program, which Argentina agreed to with the International Monetary Fund, which has facilitated De La Rua by providing a meaningless line of credit to the tune of $40 million to date. The poor children of Argentina will not benefit from any of this money and neither will Argentina's economic growth. It only serves to increase the interest which has to be paid to the International Monetary Fund and the coffers of the world's multinational corporations, at a tremendous social cost to its youth. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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