Radio Havana Cuba-26 November 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 26 November 2001 . *CUBA EXPRESSES SATISFACTION WITH 11th IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT IN PERU *NEW EDUCATIONAL COMPUTER PROGRAM DEVELOPED IN CAMAGUEY *STUDY AND RESTORATION OF COFFEE PLANTATIONS IN PINAR DEL RIO *SEMI-DESERT AREA TO BE TRANSFORMED *CUBAN SCHOOL CHILDREN TAKE A BREAK FROM THE CLASSROOM *42nd ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST VOLUNTARY WORK DAY *U.S. TROOPS ON THE GROUND NEAR SOUTHERN AFGHAN CITY OF KANDAHAR *NORTHERN ALLIANCE CLAIMS IT HAS FULL CONTROL OF KUNDUZ *WASHINGTON CALLS ON BAGHDAD TO ALLOW INSPECTIONS -- OR ELSE Viewpoint: *IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT CONDEMNS GLOBAL TERRORISM... FINALLY . *CUBA EXPRESSES SATISFACTION WITH 11th IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT IN PERU Havana, November 26 (RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage returned to Havana Sunday night, following the conclusion of the 11th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Governments in Lima, Peru. Lage headed the Cuban delegation to the important regional meeting; Cuban President Fidel Castro decided not to attend the Summit, as he has been personally directing recovery efforts on the island in the wake of Hurricane Michelle -- the worst storm to hit Cuba in more than 50 years. Shortly before leaving the Peruvian capital, Carlos Lage held a news conference and expressed Cuba's satisfaction with the results of the latest Ibero-American Summit. He noted that the Declaration of Lima calls for an end to the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba and Washington's extraterritorial legislation known as the Helms-Burton Law. The final document also condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and the Cuban vice president affirmed that Havana has also repeatedly condemned all terrorist actions. Speaking with reporters in Lima shortly after the conclusion of the 11th Ibero-American Summit over the weekend, Cuba's vice president rejected the false arguments of the enemies of the Cuban Revolution, who are saying that the island is now isolated from the rest of Latin America. Carlos Lage noted that Cuba maintains diplomatic relations with all Latin American nations except for one. He also pointed out that Cuba is a member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and has signed numerous cooperation agreements with the Caribbean Community, CARICOM. The Cuban vice president said that the U.S.-proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) further deepens neo-liberal policies, which have been applied for two decades now in Latin America, with tragic and very negative results for the region's poor. Asked about the possibility of purchasing food and medicine from the United States after Hurricane Michelle hit Cuba earlier this month, Lage said that Havana appreciated Washington's respectful attitude in offering humanitarian assistance for the first time in more than 40 years. The Cuban vice president said that arrangements are now being made to purchase the food and medicine, but stressed that this is an isolated event. Carlos Lage said that there is no reason to believe that this represents a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba. *NEW EDUCATIONAL COMPUTER PROGRAM DEVELOPED IN CAMAGUEY Camaguey, November 26 (RHC)-- A new educational/information product aimed at primary school students has been developed by specialists of the province's Center of Studies of Educational Games and Software. The CD-ROM will be immediately integrated into the national school system as a back-up computer system to the teaching of the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. The product is a game for children between the ages of nine to twelve years and the content develops knowledge of geometry, logic, memory and also muscle control by way of the movements that are executed with the keys of the computer and the mouse. The educational software company in Camaguey has produced more than 50 programs in the last five years and all of them are available free-of-charge to the Cuban educational system. *STUDY AND RESTORATION OF COFFEE PLANTATIONS IN PINAR DEL RIO Pinar del Rio, November 26 (RHC)-- The study and restoration of the ruins of 60 coffee plantations in the mountains of the western province of Pinar del Rio are underway. It is hoped that they will reveal knowledge about life on the plantations over a period of three centuries. One of the discoveries was the vestige of one of the plantations in the municipality of Minas de Matahambre, in the north-eastern part of the territory. Surrounded by mountains and practically inaccessible by road, El Carmelo had unfavorable conditions for the growing and selling of coffee because of infertile ground due to the presence of certain minerals. It eventually went bankrupt. According to historical sources in the region, several hypotheses point to the possibility this remote hacienda hid the sordid history of one of the worst illegal slaves practices of the time. Its owner, a Spaniard named Francisco Marti, made a fortune out of his ill treatment of slaves and converted the big house into a "human being factory," forcing young slaves to procreate in order to sell their offspring. The investigations continue to find the remaining 100 haciendas of the kind that existed before they were developed at the beginning of the 19th century, with the arrival of the French immigrants from Haiti. *SEMI-DESERT AREA TO BE TRANSFORMED Guantanamo, November 26 (RHC)-- A project to transform the semi-desert area on the southern border of Guantanamo, known as the Cuban desert, into land for cultivation has been put in place with the support of the European Union. The European Community has plans to extend the project to other Latin American and Caribbean countries threatened by desertification, emigration and unemployment. The extensive tract of semi-desert was visited recently by Professor Otto Kaufman, Director of the Institute of Agriculture of the University of Humboldt in Berlin and Doctor Jose Rodriquez Oruna, delegate of the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (CITMA) in the province. Dr. Oruna presented the project to the European Union in the first place. The EU has put in two million Euros to finance the project and the Cuban State has put in a quarter of this in U.S. dollars. The Citma, different Cuban teaching institutions, German scientists and the University of Madrid will train the personnel who will have the job of saving the most fragile ecosystem of the archipelago *CUBAN SCHOOL CHILDREN TAKE A BREAK FROM THE CLASSROOM Havana, November 26 (RHC)-- This week, Cuban primary school children will take a break from the classroom and enjoy a recess from the teaching year. The school schedule will be changed for games, competitions, and sports, and the inauguration of special TV programming for children called MI TV (My TV). These activities will complement the teaching process as the week is seen as important to consolidate the knowledge acquired in the classroom. The Cuban children's own organization, the Pioneers will also arrange activities including visits to museums, galleries, historical locations and the use of videos and computers for recreation. The success of this break will depend on everybody, teachers, parents, school management and the community. There are three such breaks in the Cuban primary school year. *42nd ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST VOLUNTARY WORK DAY Ciego de Avila, November 26 (RHC)-- The 42nd anniversary of the first day of voluntary work, organized by Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara on November 23, 1959, was remembered last Saturday at the construction site of the International Airport, Jardines del Rey, considered as the priority work of the Young Communist League (UJC). The activity was presided over by Julio Martinez, second secretary of the UJC. At the conclusion of the day, Rogelio Acevedo, who accompanied Che 42 years ago in this historical first day of voluntary work, emphasized that at the end of the working day, Che pointed out that through their voluntary work, the students, workers and farmers contributed to the construction of the new Cuba. *U.S. TROOPS ON THE GROUND NEAR SOUTHERN AFGHAN CITY OF KANDAHAR Bangui, November 26 (RHC)--Hundreds of U.S. Marines reportedly landed Monday near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. According to a senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, as many as 1000 U.S. troops could be on the ground within the next few days. While the Pentagon would not disclose the troop's mission, it was acknowledged that their arrival was the largest deployment of U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led war began on October 7th. The arrival of the Marines confirmed an apparent shift in Washington's strategy from using air power and proxy Afghan armies to throw Taliban forces out of power, to relying on U.S. forces. Up until Monday, the only U.S. forces that Washington confirmed were on the ground were special forces advising rebel militias, helping to direct air strikes and working in small teams to "harass" Taliban troops. According to eyewitnesses, the Marines brought with them armored personnel carriers, Cobra attack helicopters and Harrier jump jets and are said to be very heavily armed and more mobile than their Northern Alliance allies. The U.S. forces landed on a day when dozens of American fighter jets and bombers continued to attack Taliban positions in and around Kandahar. More than 20,000 Taliban fighters are thought to be massing in Kandahar, though their numbers have dwindled with defections. Military officials have expressed concern that large numbers of Taliban forces are slipping out of Northern Alliance-held territory to regroup and possibly form guerrilla units. In related news, three Japanese warships left port today to support the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan under a new law that loosens post-World War II restrictions on Japan's military. The supply ship Towada left carrying about 130 troops, while the minesweeper Uraga left with 110 sailors aboard. Another Japanese destroyer, the Sawagiri, sailed with about 200 sailors. The deployment is the first time since World War II that the Japanese military has been used to support forces engaged in combat. *NORTHERN ALLIANCE CLAIMS IT HAS FULL CONTROL OF KUNDUZ Kunduz, November 26 (RHC)--Northern Alliance soldiers on Monday reportedly gained full control of Kunduz, the Taliban's last stronghold in northern Afghanistan. According to reporters in the area, Northern Alliance forces had begun moving into Kunduz on Sunday, meeting armed resistance even as thousands of Taliban fighters surrendered. By Monday, however, the Alliance had entered the heart of the city and was reportedly encountering no Taliban fighters. Meanwhile, hundreds of Taliban prisoners who surrendered Saturday staged a violent uprising Sunday outside Mazar-I-Sharif. Northern Alliance General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who helped negotiate a surrender agreement last week, brought in an additional 500 Northern Alliance troops to put down the rebellion. Eye-witnesses said U.S. warplanes repeatedly struck the prison compound, located about 15 kilometers outside Mazar-I-Sharif. One reporter from German television said that a number of Taliban prisoners detonated hand grenades, killing themselves and several guards nearby. The reporter said that at that point, other Taliban fighters grabbed weapons from the dead guards and staged a revolt. U.S. military advisors at the scene reported that hundreds of prisoners may have been killed in the uprising. There were also reports that CIA operatives were working in the area, but Pentagon spokesmen declined to speculate on their situation. On Sunday, it was reported that some 250 Taliban troops surrendered to Northern Alliance forces, departing Kunduz in a 30-vehicle convoy along with machine guns, assault rifles and rocket launchers. One Alliance commander in the area said his troops had entered the city and encountered only light resistance and small-arms fire. *WASHINGTON CALLS ON BAGHDAD TO ALLOW INSPECTIONS -- OR ELSE Washington, November 26 (RHC)--U.S. President George W. Bush has called on Iraqi authorities to allow UN inspectors to check for so-called "weapons of mass destruction." Speaking with reporters at the White House on Monday, Bush said that Iraqi President Sadam Hussein must allow inspectors back into the country or face the consequences. Asked what those consequences might be, the U.S. president said: "He'll find out." Observers note that the threatening tone from the White House comes at the same time that analysts believe other countries -- including Iraq -- make up a hit-list of future targets after Afghanistan. Monday's edition of The New York Times reports that Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen head the list of military objectives. The Times article says that the U.S. president, as well as his British counterpart Tony Blair, believe that the conditions exist to continue launching military attacks against other countries. According to a high-ranking official from the White House, "the wind is at our backs and we should not lose the momentum." The New York Times recalls that Baghdad was threatened on October 10th -- only three days after the attacks began against Afghanistan -- when U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, warned Iraqi President Sadam Hussein that his country could face the same fate as the central Asian country. Viewpoint: *IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT CONDEMNS GLOBAL TERRORISM... FINALLY In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States, this year's Ibero-American Summit that just ended in Peru had no difficulty in unanimously passing a resolution that condemned terrorism in all its forms and from every source. The Lima Declaration reads: "We reaffirm our agreement to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, wherever it may occur and whomever may commit it; to not lend assistance nor refuge to the perpetrators, promoters or participants of terrorist activities." During last year's Ibero-American Summit in Panama, Cuba earned the ire of powerful Spain and the scorn of even more powerful Washington when Havana disagreed with a resolution on terrorism because it singled out only Spain for consideration in its struggle against the Basque separatist movement. Havana felt that the resolution should be a blanket one covering all forms of terrorism -- especially as it had suffered four decades of constant terrorist attacks which nobody seemed willing to take into consideration -- and suggested the following language in a resolution it proposed but which was ultimately voted down. "We express our strongest rejection of all forms and manifestations of terrorism, regardless of where it may originate or who may be its victim, including the financing of terrorist activities and the use of third States for the commission of acts of this nature." Sound familiar? This year's text -- which everyone scrambled to champion -- was taken almost verbatim from last year's Cuban text so soundly defeated after a heated discussion in which Cuban President Fidel Castro reacted to condemnation of Cuba by Salvadorean President Francisco Flores, reminding him of his government's support of U.S. sponsored terrorism against Cuba over four decades. Flores' government this year had no problem with the same text -- now that it is approved by Washington, whose influence is always lurking in the wings at these summits. To those of us here in Cuba that closely follow these important international gatherings, the portrayal of Cuba as a nation that espouses terrorism by not voting for last year's resolution in Panama City -- where listeners will recall a plan to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro was discovered -- is dishonest, manipulative and a clear example of the propaganda that is constantly aimed at undermining this country. We should also remember the almost telepathic paragraph from last year's Cuban resolution that foresaw the dangers of bypassing the United Nations to combat terrorism -- something that has been done once more by the U.S. in its bombing of another Third World nation. It said that the member nations of the Ibero-American Summit pledged to: "participate in negotiating, within the framework of the United Nations, an international instrument against terrorism on the basis of adopted resolutions by that world body" regarding terrorism. It, too, was rejected, and the United Nations stands by emasculated, as Washington imposes its terrible will on the people of Afghanistan. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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