Radio Havana Cuba-22 November 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 22 November 2001 . *PEREZ ROQUE ARRIVES IN LIMA FOR 11th IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT *CUBA CONDEMNS USE OF FOOD AS A POLITICAL WEAPON *U.S. STUDENTS, ENROLLED IN "SEMESTER AT SEA," TO ARRIVE IN HAVANA *POLITICAL DEATH-ROW PRISONER MUMIA ABU-JAMAL LOSES ANOTHER LEGAL BATTLE *BRITISH OFFICIAL'S CRITICISM OF US SPARKS DISPUTE ON DOWNING STREET *PORTLAND, OREGON REFUSES TO COOPERATE WITH FBI TERROR SWEEP *NORTHERN ALLIANCE REJECTS ANY TALIBAN IN FUTURE AFGHAN COALITION GOVERNMENT *REBELS AND GOVERNMENT IN COLOMBIA STILL TRADING VERBAL GUNFIRE *Viewpoint: IBERO AMERICA - A DECADE OF PROMISES . *PEREZ ROQUE ARRIVES IN LIMA FOR 11th IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT Lima, November 22 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez has arrived in Lima, the Peruvian capital, to attend the 11th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Governments. Shortly before leaving for Peru Thursday morning, Cuba's top diplomat spoke with journalists at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. He said the Cuban delegation would take part "in a frank, open and wide-ranging discussion on the work done over the past ten years of Ibero-American Summits." Cuba's foreign minister noted that he would have a packed agenda, beginning with a ministerial meeting with his Ibero-American counterparts on Friday. Felipe Perez Roque also announced that he would travel from Lima to the United Nations on Sunday to participate in the current session of the UN General Assembly. He said that on Tuesday, November 27th, Cuba would introduce its annual resolution on the need to end Washington's economic blockade against the island. In the Peruvian capital, the Ibero-American cooperation coordinators continued negotiations on a draft of "The Declaration of Lima," which will be signed by the participating regional heads of state and governments on Saturday. Following a thorough review of the 50-page text, the document will be submitted to the foreign ministers for discussion on Friday. While attending another ministerial meeting leading up to the Summit, Cuba's finance minister -- Manuel Millares -- told reporters that he hoped the island's economy would grow by at least three percent this year, despite the damage caused by the biggest hurricane to hit Cuba in more than 50 years. Millares took part in a preparatory meeting of economy ministers and officials from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Havana's finance minister said that Hurricane Michelle had forced Cuba to readjust the island's growth estimates for 2002. Manuel Millares said that while authorities are still reviewing the numbers, it is generally believed that the island will maintain a three percent growth next year. The island's economy minister told journalists that Cuba's citrus harvest -- which officials say is heading for a production of one million tons a year -- had been particularly hard hit by the recent storm. But he emphasized that the sugar harvest would recover and can still hit an official goal of four million tons this year. He said that while the sugar crop had been seriously affected by Hurricane Michelle, "we will be able to get back on track and meet our goals." *CUBA CONDEMNS USE OF FOOD AS A POLITICAL WEAPON New York, November 22 (RHC)-- Cuba has strongly criticized the use of food as a political weapon. According to Prensa Latina News Agency, Cuba filed a draft resolution in the United Nations on Wednesday -- calling the use of food as a weapon "a violation of human dignity and the right of all people to have access to an proper diet." The resolution, which is co-sponsored by another 70 UN member-states, was presented in the Third Commission of the UN General Assembly -- dedicated to issues related to human rights. The proposal will be submitted to a vote in an upcoming plenary session of the world body. Cuba and the other co-sponsors of the draft resolution insist that it is intolerable that 826 million people in the world -- mostly women and children -- lack basic nutrition. The document urges all UN member-nations to take whatever measures are necessary to alleviate hunger, also calling for a better distribution of resources. *U.S. STUDENTS, ENROLLED IN "SEMESTER AT SEA," TO ARRIVE IN HAVANA Pittsburgh, November 22 (RHC)-- More than 600 undergraduate students will arrive in Havana on December 5th aboard the S.S. Universe Explorer, the maritime campus for a global studies program called "Semester at Sea." The vessel is the only ship carrying U.S. students to be licensed to dock in Cuba. Havana is the last port of call for these students, who are enrolled in the Fall 2001 term of "Semester at Sea," an international studies program academically sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh and administered by the Institute for Shipboard Education. Before the students return to their final destination in Miami, they will spend four days of cross-cultural exchange and educational travel within Cuba. Despite adjustments that had to be made to the Fall itinerary, the program includes Cuba for the fifth time in the past two years as an integral part of the academic program. According to organizers of the "Semester at Sea," students have written letters of invitation to Cuban President Fidel Castro to meet with them -- as he did last year -- to discuss the past and future relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. Such cross-cultural exchanges have often occurred during visits to many other countries including Vietnam, China and South Africa, where students have previously met with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The 645 "Semester at Sea" students, who represent 260 different colleges and universities, left Vancouver, Canada on August 31st and will have visited Japan, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, the Seychelles, South Africa and Brazil before arriving in Havana. Courses offered are accredited by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and can be fully transferable to the student's home institution. Students choose from approximately 75 lower and upper division courses in a variety of disciplines and classes meet daily while the ship is at sea. The faculty is made up of visiting professors from institutions across the U.S. and abroad. The entire faculty has extensive resident international experience, which serves to integrate course content with countries on the itinerary. Over 34,000 students have participated in the program since it began in 1964. *POLITICAL DEATH-ROW PRISONER MUMIA ABU-JAMAL LOSES ANOTHER LEGAL BATTLE Philadelphia, November 22 (RHC)-- A judge in the US state of Philadelphia has ruled that she does not have jurisdiction over African-American political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal's petition for a new trial. Twenty years after Mumia was arrested and later convicted for the killing of a police officer, in a trial riddled with racism and other irregularities, Judge Pamela Dembe's decision does away with hopes for another round of state-court appeals. The award-winning journalist and former member of the Black Panther Party is arguing that his former lawyers did a poor job and that he has new evidence that could clear him. Still pending is his federal appeal, but neither have the federal judges involved in the case indicated that they will allow any new evidence to become part of the official record. The new evidence includes the videotape of an individual confessing the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, and evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, judicial error and racism on the part of the first judge to preside over the case, Albert Sabo - also widely known as "the hanging" judge. Numerous celebrities and political leaders in the US and around the world have rallied to Abu-Jamal's cause, saying he was railroaded by a racist justice system. The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal noted that Judge Dembe picked the day before thanksgiving to post her decision, at approximately 3 pm, hoping that supporters of the African-American political prisoner would be unable to mobilize. Those supporters, however, are organizing what they hope will be a massive demonstration in Philadelphia on December 8th, the 20th anniversary of his frame-up on murder charges. *BRITISH OFFICIAL'S CRITICISM OF US SPARKS DISPUTE ON DOWNING STREET London, November 22 (RHC) -- A British government official's criticism of the United States over Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis Thursday sparked a dispute in Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet. As Downing Street attempted to ease diplomatic tension with the White House, an undeterred Clare Short - Secretary of State for International Development - gently mocked the Americans for dropping "jam, crackers and peanut butter" on refugees. The divisions between members of Blair's war cabinet became public after Short accused the US of lacking commitment to the humanitarian effort, urging the rapid deployment of troops on the ground to ensure aid was delivered. Meanwhile, British foreign correspondents in Kabul, writing for "The Guardian" news daily, Thursday reported that there is frustration as America gives food low priority in Afghanistan. The correspondents reported that the ironically-named Friendship Bridge linking Uzbekistan and Afghanistan remained closed on Wednesday, with mounds of barbed wire obstructing the way for tons of much-need food aid for the Afghans. Noting that aid workers are leaving the Friendship Bridge crossing in disgust, the report affirmed that its closing is the most visible sign of the differences between the US and Europe in the approach to Afghanistan. The article takes note of the 6,000 British troops to supervise humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan that were placed on 48-hour stand-by almost a week ago, asserting that with British government ministers giving different accounts about the role of British troops, Blair has been left in an awkward position. Abby Spring, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said military support was essential to allow aid groups to reach up to 3 million Afghans cut off by continued fighting, dangerous roads and the onset of a terrible winter. According to observers, the Pentagon appears to be reluctant to allow allied troops to step in before the US has been able to declare victory over the Taliban and Al Qaida, for fear of turning a US dominated operation into a joint international effort over which Washington would no longer have total control. It's also believed that Washington does not want to upset the Northern Alliance with a massive influx of foreign troops. *PORTLAND, OREGON REFUSES TO COOPERATE WITH FBI TERROR SWEEP Portland, Oregon, November 22 (RHC) -- At least one US city, Portland, Oregon, has officially refused to help the FBI question Middle Eastern immigrants hauled in as part of the terrorism investigation, saying the practice violates state law. Portland Police Chief Andrew Kirkland refused to help track down some 5,000 men wanted for questioning about the September 11 terrorist attacks, while Mayor Vera Katz Wednesday stated that the city objected to certain questions that would be asked of those on the list - though without specifying which questions. Katz said the law does not allow her state to go out and arbitrarily question people whose only offense is immigration or citizenship. While the FBI refused to comment and civil rights activists applauded, experts recalled that Oregon's laws are much more liberal than those in most states, while a local legislator threatened to reassess those laws. Max Williams, a Republican state representative who heads the Oregon House Judiciary Committee, expressed concern about the denial to assist the federal probe, affirming that the state law in that regard could be "revisited." *NORTHERN ALLIANCE REJECTS ANY TALIBAN IN FUTURE AFGHAN COALITION GOVERNMENT Tehran, November 22 (RHC) -- In another glimpse of the difficulties that lay ahead for the formation of a broad-based government in Afghanistan, Northern Alliance Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah Thursday rejected the inclusion of moderate Taliban elements in a future Afghanistan coalition. The statement came at a press conference in Tehran, Iran, after Abdullah held talks with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. The Northern Alliance official was also speaking just days before United Nations-brokered talks in Germany aimed at drawing up a framework for a new ethnically mixed government to replace the Taliban, overwhelmingly made up of the Pashtun ethnic group constituting approximately half of Afghanistan's 20 million population. Pakistan has insisted that a future government needs to incorporate moderate Taliban Pashtun elements if it is to enjoy broad support, while other observers insist that Pashtun exclusion from power-sharing will be a contributing element to another civil war - along with the possibility that Northern Alliance warlords refuse to subject their fiefdoms to some type of central authority, or engage in disputes for the control of territory. *REBELS AND GOVERNMENT IN COLOMBIA STILL TRADING VERBAL GUNFIRE Bogotá, November 22 (RHC) -- The exchange of verbal gunfire continued Thursday between the Colombian government and the country's Revolutionary Armed Forces as the 3-year-old peace process hangs by a thread. Responding to President Andres Pastrana's refusal to budge on rebel demands concerning military maneuvers near the guerrilla-controlled demilitarized zone, top rebel leader Manuel Marulanda accused Pastrana of mortally wounding the peace process. In statements to the leftist news weekly "La Voz", Marulanda called on Pastrana to once and for all clarify whether he considered the guerrilla organization terrorist, as Washington has charged. If that's the case, he added, the government shouldn't be engaged in negotiations with terrorists. The rebel leader also asked why should talks be held if the government isn't willing to discuss topics like the Washington-sponsored, military anti-drug Plan Colombia or legislation on socio-economic development in the country. He said that if these topics are non-negotiable, as Pastrana has insisted, then why negotiate? Both the president and the rebel leader have insisted in recent days that the ball is in the other's court. This new verbal retaliation comes as the international community has mobilized to save the rebel-government peace process. Special United Nations envoy, Norwegian Jan Egeland, was to meet Thursday with Marulanda, but it's not certain if the gathering will in fact take place. *Viewpoint: IBERO AMERICA - A DECADE OF PROMISES Ibero-American government officials are facing a serious challenge: that of pushing the region's summits towards practical solutions to current problems. Many of the serious difficulties expressed in the ten previous Ibero-American Summits remain unchanged or are even worse, despite reams of declarations. Take for example, the first Ibero-American Summit which was held in the Mexican city of Guadalajara in l991 which debated regional integration as its central theme. Today, with the exception of the Southern Common Market, and the Community of Andean Nations, there have been few attempts at full integration, though it is clear that in the Caribbean Basin, CARICOM and the Association of Caribbean States are making sincere attempts in that direction. Meanwhile, the goal of the United States is to achieve the Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA, a project that masquerades as integrationist but in reality is far from an economic and social coming together of its future participants. In Cartagena de Indias, where the fourth Ibero-American Summit was held in l994, participants called for a boost in trade and integration as factors of development, but in realty there have been few attempts to strengthen intra-regional commercial transactions. When in l996 it was Santiago de Chile's turn to host the group's sixth meeting, the participating world leaders analyzed the topic of democracy and governability, but years later social crisis continue placing in doubt the capacity of various leaders. A case in point is Argentina, where retirees block highways and strikers take over factories in efforts to halt unpopular government plans like the notorious " Zero Deficit", which includes cutting salaries and pensions by 13 per cent in compliance with International Monetary Fund demands. In the Havana summit, the regional dignitaries called for sustainable development, but little growth is predicted for the region for this year. In fact, the UN Latin American Economic Commission, known as CEPAL, estimates that the region's economy will only improve between zero point five and one per cent in 200l. Add to that the uncertainly prevailing in the world as a result of the war in Afghanistan, and acts of terrorism in the United States, which impact even more the downturn of the world economy since September 11th. In this context, the central theme of the upcoming 11th Ibero-American Summit in Lima, Peru, "united to build tomorrow", sounds like a pipe dream instead of a solid basis within which to examine real problems. Nevertheless, the Ibero-American meetings continue to be opportunities that must be taken advantage of because they are the only chance to exchange views on the many problems of the region. Though we are still far from achieving the " culture of cooperation" called for by the second summit which was held in Madrid in l992, there still is a chance to fill the existing void. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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