Radio Havana Cuba-02 November 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 02 November 2001 . *MOZAMBICAN PRESIDENT JOAQUIM CHISSANO TOURS MATANZAS *PRESIDENT OF PRINCIPALITY OF ASTURIAS CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA *CUBA SOLIDARITY GROUP QUESTIONS WASHINGTON'S DEFINITION OF TERRORISM *PABLO MILANES SLATED TO PERFORM IN MEXICO CITY *GUATEMALANS CHARGED WITH TERRORISM IN HAVANA EXPRESS REGRET FOR THEIR ACTS *U.S. MEDIA WATCHDOG DEPLORES CNN COVERAGE OF AFGHANISTAN WAR *PENTAGON CHANGES COLOR OF FOOD PARCELS DROPPED IN AFGHANISTAN TO PREVENT CONFUSION WITH CLUSTER BOMBS *DOUBLE STANDARD SEEN IN WASINGTON'S DISREGARD OF PHARMACEUTICAL PATENT RIGHTS IN THE ANTHRAX SCARE *ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT FINALLY ANNOUNCES EIGHTH ECONOMIC PROGRAM; MARKET AND OBSERVERS REMAIN SKEPTICAL Viewpoint: *WAR ON AFGHANISTAN FAILS TO ACHIEVE ITS OBJECTIVES DESPITE BRUTAL BOMBING . *MOZAMBICAN PRESIDENT JOAQUIM CHISSANO TOURS MATANZAS Matanzas, November 2 (RHC)-- Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, wrapping up a six-day official visit to Cuba, toured the province of Matanzas on Friday and visited the tourist installations of Varadero Beach. Earlier, the African leader toured Playa Girón -- also known as the Bay of Pigs -- site of the CIA-sponsored mercenary invasion of the island in April 1961. Speaking with reporters covering his visit, the Mozambican president said the liberation struggles of the African continent were greatly helped by Cuba's victory against the mercenary invaders. He noted that the struggle against Portuguese colonialism was just beginning in Mozambique when Cuba gained its independence, adding: "Had you not won [the fight against the U.S.-backed invasion], our success would have been impossible". At the beginning of his visit this week, the Mozambican president toured the Latin American School of Medicine and the International School of Sports and Physical Education, both located on the outskirts of Havana. He praised Cuba's gains in health and education, noting that the Cuban Revolution has generously offered its help in these and other areas to the rest of the Third World. The African leader told journalists that one of today's major concerns in the world is poverty, but that wars and conflicts are currently getting all the attention. Joaquim Chissano said: "In our opinion, the fight against poverty and the search for solutions to the most urgent problems of humanity are the only way to resolve conflicts." And he added, "We must discover the fundamental, root causes of these conflicts and do whatever we can to eliminate them". The Mozambican president will wrap up his visit to the island tomorrow, Saturday. *PRESIDENT OF PRINCIPALITY OF ASTURIAS CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA Havana, November 2 (RHC)-- The President of the Principality of Asturias, Vicente Alberto Alvarez Areces, met on Friday with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque. He also toured the Salvador Allende Hospital in Havana, the Latin American School of Medicine and the Museum of Fine Arts. President Alvarez Areces arrived in the Cuban capital Wednesday evening and is accompanied by a large delegation of government officials and business representatives from the Spanish autonomous community. This is the first visit of the Asturian president since taking office in July 1999. During their stay -- which runs through Sunday -- the Asturian delegation will visit places of interest and plans to meet with members of the Asturian community in Cuba. *CUBA SOLIDARITY GROUP QUESTIONS WASHINGTON'S DEFINITION OF TERRORISM Seattle, November 2 (RHC)-- In an open letter to the editor of the daily Seattle Times, a Cuba solidarity group has questioned Washington's definition of terrorism. The Seattle Cuba Sister Cities Association says that while the events of September 11th were obvious terrorist attacks, "how is terrorism defined and by whom?". The open letter points out that Cuba is considered by the U.S. government to be a country that sponsors terrorism. "However, Cuba does not presently pose a military security threat nor has it been convicted of any terrorist activity. On the contrary, Cuba is known for exporting doctors as international relief workers, training medical students from poor countries for free, having exemplary public health care, high literacy rates and low infant mortality rates". The Seattle Cuba Sister Cities Association notes that Cuba's achievements can serve as models for other countries. The letter-to-the-editor points out that "including Cuba on a list of terrorist nations and thereby preventing Americans from traveling to Cuba is clearly a policy that deserves to be questioned". According to the solidarity organization, members of the Sister Cities Association have traveled to Cuban towns, communicated openly with the people, visited schools, medical institutions, churches, community centers as well as the homes of local residents. The goal of the group is to foster people-to-people exchanges "so that Americans can see for themselves what life is like in Cuba and create an open dialogue." The open letter states that "without such current information based on personal experience, Americans will continue to be susceptible to propaganda about Cuba and will be unable to engage in intelligent debate about its role in "terrorism". The Seattle Cuba Sister Cities Association encourages readers of the letter, as well as their government representatives, "to learn about Cuba, travel to Cuba or talk to those who have, listen to multiple viewpoints and make their own decisions". *PABLO MILANES SLATED TO PERFORM IN MEXICO CITY Mexico City, November 2 (RHC)-- Popular Cuban singer/songwriter Pablo Milanés will offer a free, open-air concert in Mexico City's Zócalo on Sunday. According to the director of Mexico's Cultural Institute, British pop star Elton John had also been invited to perform, but turned down the offer -- claiming that he was not assured of adequate security measures in the open plaza area. Pablo Milanés recently performed a series of concerts in the Mexican capital, promoting his latest recording entitled "Pablo Querido" ("Dear Pablo"). The CD includes more than 20 compositions by the Cuban artist, sung with internationally-renowned musicians. Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez recorded an introduction for Pablo's new CD. *GUATEMALANS CHARGED WITH TERRORISM IN HAVANA EXPRESS REGRET FOR THEIR ACTS Havana, November 2 (RHC)-- Three Guatemalans standing trial in Havana on charges of terrorism have expressed regret for their acts, asking forgiveness from the Cuban people. Trial proceedings against Nadel Kamal Musalem, Jazid Fernandez Mendoza and Maria Elena Gonzalez de Fernandez began Thursday, with Havana's district attorney's office requesting 30, 25 and 20 year prison sentences. The three Guatemalans pleaded guilty to charges that they attempted to smuggle into Cuba 432 grams of explosives to be used in terrorist attacks against tourist installations, revealing that they were hired by Francisco Chavez Abarca -- a member of Miami's ultra right-wing Cuban-American National Foundation. They said Abarca promised to pay them 1300 dollars for each bomb explosion. Cuban authorities insist, and say they have ample evidence, that the terrorist attacks against the island's tourism infrastructure was planned in Miami and El Salvador, with the help of Luis Posada Carriles -- terrorist of Cuban origin currently imprisoned in Panama -- and financed by Miami's CANF. All three defendants, arrested in March 1998, testified that they did it for the money, that there was no political motive. The foreign press and Guatemalan diplomats have access to the trial proceedings. *PENTAGON CHANGES COLOR OF FOOD PARCELS DROPPED IN AFGHANISTAN TO PREVENT CONFUSION WITH CLUSTER BOMBS Washington, November 2 (RHC)-- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Thursday announced a change in the color of the food parcels launched over Afghanistan, so that they won't be confused with cluster bombs. Until now, the wrapping of the food parcels was the same color, yellow, as the cluster bombs, but will now be changed to blue. At a press conference in Washington with the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Richard Meyers, Rumsfeld also defended the use of cluster bombs in the bombardment of Afghanistan, asserting that the September 11 terrorist attacks give the U.S. every right to use this anti-personnel weapon. He also said that until the color is changed the yellow food parcels will continue to be dropped over Afghanistan even though they're the same color as the cluster bombs. *DOMESTIC WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS SCRUTINIZED BY FEDERAL AGENTS IN ANTHRAX INVESTIGATION Paris, November 2 (RHC)-- The U.S. government is coming under fire for its disregard of pharmaceutical patent rights in the anthrax scare while opposing the right of Third World nations to do the same in the face of the AIDS epidemic. French Foreign Trade Minister Francois Huwart has affirmed that Washington is applying a double standard by forcing the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer to reduce its price for Cipro, the anthrax antibiotic. In statements Friday to the French news daily "Liberation", Huwart noted that the United States and Switzerland are radically opposed to a trade accord on intellectual property rights that does not impede exceptional health measures in cases like the struggle against AIDS, which is promoted by 60 developing countries led by Brazil and India. A US congressional panel Thursday proposed that Washington set up a government-owned pharmaceutical laboratory to produce vaccines in the case of a massive bioterrorist attack, which is precisely what the US government has opposed when it comes to dealing with AIDS in underdeveloped countries. South Africa had to engage in a three-year legal battle to get the world's leading pharmaceutical firms to reduce the cost of AIDS medication. The intellectual property rights issue is on the agenda of the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference next week in Doha, Qatar. Observers believe that Brazil and India could reject another round of trade talks if their demand is not satisfied, which would lead to another failure for the WTO following its debacle in Seattle in December 1999. *DOUBLE STANDARD SEEN IN WASINGTON'S DISREGARD OF PHARMACEUTICAL PATENT RIGHTS IN THE ANTHRAX SCARE San Francisco, November 2 (RHC)-- U.S. federal agents hunting for the source of the nation's anthrax attacks are scrutinizing a host of homegrown terrorists with grudges against anyone from nonwhites to non-Christians, according to the Thursday edition of the "San Francisco Chronicle". As has been widely reported in alternative media outlets, Chronicle staff writer Kevin Fagan wrote that investigators are looking at domestic hate groups like the white supremacist Aryan National Alliance and the Christian fundamentalist Army of God. The article quoted former FBI profiler Robert Ressler, who said that though shocking, it has to be admitted that there are people in the U.S. who will launch anthrax attacks for thrills or for some sick agenda. It also quoted Mark Potok, of the Southern Poverty Law Center -- a racism watch organization -- who stated that American hate groups have had caches of anthrax and other deadly bioweapons for at least a decade. Fagan pointed to the thwarted 1999 plot by a Texas militia to fire anthrax-tipped darts from converted lighters, noting that the chatter since September 11 on extremist hate-group Web sites has leaned heavily toward joining in the attack. The article also quoted Gary Ackerman, a bioterrorism specialist at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, who affirmed that domestic terror groups in the U.S. are capable of launching such an attack and have just as much motivation as Osama Bin Laden to cause terror. *ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT FINALLY ANNOUNCES EIGHTH ECONOMIC PROGRAM; MARKET AND OBSERVERS REMAIN SKEPTICAL Buenos Aires, November 2 (RHC)-- Under pressure, Argentinean President Fernando de la Rua finally announced his eighth economic program in less than two years. The economy, however, responded negatively - with another stock index nosedive and a new record-breaking investment risk factor - while observers and local media outlets are expressing skepticism. Admitting that "many aren't pleased with the government", de la Rua said he will maintain his decision to continue paying the foreign debt, not devaluate the national currency, maintain the currency's exchange rate and consolidate his zero government spending plan. He asked creditor nations to renegotiate Argentina's 132 billion dollar foreign debt in order to reduce the debt's interest rate, while announcing a social contract with the most needy that basically consists of welfare checks for five million poor children and 500,000 elderly people living below the poverty line. De la Rua also announced tax cuts to stimulate production and job creation. The "Ambito Financiero" news daily called the plan an "audacious" effort to prevent a moratorium on foreign debt payments, but expressed doubts that it will work. The "Buenos Aires Economico" daily wrote that de la Rua disguised a foreign debt payment default while praying that the market believes him. Argentina's ultra neoliberal Center for Macroeconomic Studies called some aspects of the plan interesting, but did not see how it would encourage consumption. Financial consulter Hernan Fardi said the magnitude of the government's loss of credibility practically condemns to failure any type of new economic measures. Argentina has been in recession now for the past 42 months, with a such a sharp decrease in economic activity and tax collection that for the past year observers have been questioning the country's capacity to pay its foreign debt. Viewpoint: *WAR ON AFGHANISTAN FAILS TO ACHIEVE ITS OBJECTIVES DESPITE BRUTAL BOMBING After four weeks of unrelenting air attacks mounted by the two most powerful armies against one of the world's most backward countries, the only results exhibited have been the mutilated bodies of children. Surely these children, massacred by the U.S. and British military, had never in their short lives known of the existence of those powers and their first contact with the so-called "latest" developments in military technology, was also their last. Those stark images and the destruction of humble dwellings of mud and rocks are what remain in the minds of observers after 27 days of attacks and four thousand bombs, in a spiral of mistakes and horror. That is why people around the world are beginning to feel uncomfortable, while in the major European cities tens of thousands have taken to the streets calling for an end to the war of vengeance waged on innocent victims. It is impossible to predict how long the strength of the military alliance against Afghanistan will last, but already the British labor government is being pressured both from within and from abroad, with demands for explanations about how the war is proceeding. Some experts, like colonel Terence Taylor, of London's International Institute for Strategic Studies, believe that the military imprecision that has been demonstrated in the air attacks, stems from insufficient intelligence gathering. Even the commander of the Royal British Navy, Roger Lane, told the British Broadcasting Company, BBC, that Britain would not send troops to Afghanistan until the war's objectives have been adequately identified. Enthusiasm for the war is also diminishing in the United States itself. According to a New York Times survey, among those who are not opposed to the current Republican administration, only 25 per cent of those questioned believe that the war is going very well, 58% say it is going well, and 13 percent feel it is going badly. Though most people in the United States still support the war, which is promoted by an intense media campaign, there has been a noticeable decline in that support. It is obvious that the phantom of Vietnam still exists in the hearts and minds of Americans. And it will become even more a factor if ground troops are sent in large numbers to Afghanistan, and begin returning in pine boxes. And finally, though the world is already at war, there is always time to stop and reflect on the situation, and hopefully public opinion will eventually take the side of peace. We can only hope that it will be sooner and not later. (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-6824 2001-Nov-03 16:02:50