Radio Havana Cuba-04 October 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 04 October 2001 . *CUBA DEMANDS A SINCERE STRUGGLE AGAINST TERRORISM *COMMEMORATION OF 1976 PLANE BOMBING SET IN VENEZUELA, PANAMA, BARBADOS *VIETNAM PRAISES CUBA'S ADVANCES IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY *"GRANMA" CELEBRATES ITS 36th ANNIVERSARY *BRAZILIAN COLLEGE OFFERS INTENSIVE HISTORY COURSE ON CUBA *OTTO REICH NOMINATION STILL IN TROUBLE IN WASHINGTON *ALTERNATIVE NOBEL PEACE PRIZES AWARDED *VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES AGRARIAN REFORM BILL *BRAZIL DENIES ASYLUM TO ARMY GENERAL WANTED BY AUTHORITIES IN PARAGUAY Viewpoint: *AS WASHINGTON SEEKS WAR ALLIES, CUBA REMEMBERS VICTIMS OF TERRORISM . *CUBA DEMANDS A SINCERE STRUGGLE AGAINST TERRORISM Havana, October 4 (RHC)--An extraordinary session of Cuba's National Assembly today demanded an international struggle against terrorism that is sincere, consistent and free of double standards, racism, hegemonic arrogance and fraudulent manipulation. In reference to the October, 1976 terrorist bomb against a Cuban civilian airplane, Cuban legislators recalled that 25 years ago Cuba was the victim of a premeditated and heinous crime that shocked the nation and remains in the collective memory of the Cuban people. An official declaration by the National Assembly recalled that those who conceived, planned and directed this act of genocide have a long history of terrorism that began in the 1960s under the auspices of the CIA and that the role they played in this act of cold-blooded murder is well known by the US government. The declaration notes that one of the terrorists, Orlando Bosch, resides undisturbed in the United States, while another, Luis Posada Carriles, went to work for the White House immediately after the terrorist attack, under the direct orders of Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North. Cuba's National Assembly affirmed that alongside the Cuban people and the rest of the world the island's legislature condemns the brutal attacks of last September 11th and reaffirms its solidarity with the American people while demanding that the war against terrorism be genuine and in response to a real desire to eradicate these acts wherever and however they occur. While recalling the thousands of Cubans who have lost their lives or suffered irreparable damage as a result of terrorist acts perpetrated against Cuba for more than 40 years by groups who operated, and continue to operate, from inside US territory -- with the complicity or tolerance of that country's authorities -- Cuba's National Assembly insisted that Cuba has every reason and the necessary moral strength to demand that justice also be done in the case of the crime committed on October 6, 1976. The National Assembly's extraordinary session was convened to pay homage to the 73 victims of that crime. Cuban legislators also took the opportunity to ratify 9 of 12 United Nations anti-terrorism conventions; three had previously been ratified. Cubans will also hold a mass political rally on October 6 at Havana's Revolution Square. *COMMEMORATION OF 1976 PLANE BOMBING SET IN VENEZUELA, PANAMA, BARBADOS Caracas, October 4 (RHC)--A Cuban delegation has left for Caracas, Venezuela to participate in a ceremony to remember the victims of the Cubana flight that was brought down by Venezuelan and Cuban origin terrorists in 1976. The delegation is comprised of high school and university students and family members of the 73 who died when their plane was bombed shortly after takeoff from the Caribbean island of Barbados 25 years ago. Students at the University of Panama are also commemorating the anniversary in an act of solidarity with Cuba in the amphitheatre of the Law School. There is a special interest in the crime in Panama due to the fact that one of the men who masterminded the bombing is the international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who is today incarcerated in a Panamanian jail awaiting trial for planning the assassination of Cuban President Fidel Castro last year. And in Barbados, solidarity groups will gather at the memorial to the tragedy built by the government of Barbados which Fidel Castro inaugurated on a visit to the island. *VIETNAM PRAISES CUBA'S ADVANCES IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY Hanoi, October 4 (RHC)--According to VNA news agency, the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Gia Khiem, has praised both Cuba's information technology and its biotechnology industries and called upon both countries to devise specific plans to promote bilateral cooperation in these fields. Khiem was speaking Wednesday in Hanoi at a reception for the visiting Cuban Minister of Science, Technology, and Environment, Rosa Elena Simeon Negrin. He added that the results of the bilateral working sessions were very promising and that both countries had determined to improve co-operation in science and technology, agriculture, information technology, and construction. VNA reported that the Deputy Prime Minister expressed his hope that the two countries would continue to boost scientific and technological cooperation for socio-economic development in their respective countries. For her part, the Cuban minister conveyed President Fidel Castro's best regards to Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and other Vietnamese leaders and expressed her satisfaction with the work that has been performed to the benefit of both nations. *"GRANMA" CELEBRATES ITS 36th ANNIVERSARY Havana, October 4 (RHC)--The 36th anniversary of the founding of the Cuban newspaper Granma was celebrated Wednesday in a ceremony conducted by the Confederation of Cuban Workers, presided over by its General Secretary, Pedro Ross Leal. Also present was Communist Party official José Ramón Balaguer. Cuba's newspaper of record, which also represents the opinion of the island's Communist Party, was founded on the October 3, 1965, the same day as the creation of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party. It runs a daily mixture of political, cultural and analytical material and is the newspaper with the largest circulation on the island. *BRAZILIAN COLLEGE OFFERS INTENSIVE HISTORY COURSE ON CUBA Rio de Janeiro, October 4(RHC)--Some 600 Brazilian professors and students from the Estadual Cuba College in Rio de Janeiro are taking an intensive course on Cuban history this week, with the help and support of the José Martí Cultural Association and the local education authorities, reports Prensa Latina news agency. The college, which offers night classes to young workers, is situated on Governor's Isle at the confluence of the city's Bahia de Guanabara River. It is offering a course on what history Professor Vera Gomes says is a Cuba that provokes many passions, but never indifference. The subject is designed to increase students' knowledge of the island and its social system, to engender analysis and discussion of events in Brazil, said Ana Lucia de Conceicao Ronton, another professor at the college. As elsewhere in the world, there is a great deal of debate in Brazil on the pros and cons of the Cuban social and economic system, said Gomes, but few know of the island's history and struggles, or about its successes, such as its remarkable literacy program, she added. The event also includes Cuban food and art as well as music and a photographic exhibition of today's Cuba. *OTTO REICH NOMINATION STILL IN TROUBLE IN WASHINGTON Washington, October (RHC)--The nomination of Otto Reich, George Bush's controversial nominee to a top State Department post, still faces opposition in the U.S. Senate, according to reports from Washington. The approval of Reich as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs is being delayed because of his role in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980's. Senator Christopher Dodd, Chair of the Senate Sub-Committee on Hemispheric Affairs, has refused to consider the nomination, which must be approved by the congressional body. A spokesman for Dodd told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday that the senator believes Bush should withdraw Reich's nomination and propose a less controversial figure. But administration officials have insisted that Reich is their man for the job. At a luncheon meeting with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell was firm in his support for the nomination, stating that he needed Otto Reich in his post at the State Department. Senator Joseph Biden, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has so far refused to call for hearings on the nomination. Reich, a Cuban-American who political analysts say is known for his extreme right-wing positions, directed the Office of Public Diplomacy at the State Department during the Reagan administration. He was accused of involvement in illegal, undercover activities against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Reich later worked for the passage of the anti-Cuba Helms-Burton Law, is a strong supporter of Washington's blockade against the island and has lobbied for even tighter restrictions against Cuba. *ALTERNATIVE NOBEL PEACE PRIZES AWARDED Stockholm, October 4 (RHC)--The 2001 Alternative Nobel Peace Prizes have been awarded to Brazilian liberation theologian Leonardo Boff, Venezuelan musician Jose Antonio Abreu, the Israeli pacifist organization Peace Now and the British anti-nuclear group Trident Ploughshares. Stockholm's Foundation for an Upright Life, which grants the alternative awards, stated that they went to people whose activities are directed against the roots of the violence and instability affecting the planet. Boff was honored, said the foundation, for establishing a connection between human spirituality, social justice and environmental protection, and for his decades-long commitment to the poor and excluded. Abreu was distinguished for having developed in Venezuela a national network of children's' orchestras, taking the joy and benefits of music to numerous poor communities. Peace Now was distinguished for its courage and dedication in efforts to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The foundation noted that since its founding in 1993, Peace Now is one of the few voices in Israel advocating the Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories. Trident Ploughshares received the award for its exemplary, transparent and non-violent actions against nuclear weapons. The Alternative Nobel Prizes, considered a criticism of the traditional Nobel Awards given by the Swedish Academy, were established in 1980. The Foundation for an Upright Life stated that the traditional awards betray the legacy of their founder, Alfred Nobel, because they mostly distinguish powerful western institutions -- particularly the scientific awards -- instead of honoring achievements that benefit humanity, as Nobel had originally conceived. *VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES AGRARIAN REFORM BILL Caracas, October 4 (RHC)--Venezuela's Council of Ministers has approved an agrarian reform bill that includes the confiscation of idle land. Coinciding with approval of the measure, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned the country's large landowners to prepare themselves for what he called the democratization of the ownership of productive land. He called large landed estates an enemy of the nation. The agrarian reform measure is part of a package of 40 bills that Chavez can approve by decree in the framework of the special powers the National Assembly granted him for a period of one year, which ends on November 14. Large landowners in the western state of Zulia are attempting to take the government to court to prevent agrarian reform, and have vowed to defend their land with weapons. *BRAZIL DENIES ASYLUM TO ARMY GENERAL WANTED BY AUTHORITIES IN PARAGUAY Brasilia, October 4 (RHC)--Brazil has officially denied political asylum to former Paraguayan army General Lino Oviedo, opening the door for his extradition back to Paraguay. Oviedo is accused in his country of the 1999 assassination of Vice President Luis Maria Argana and the deaths of seven protesters several days later during a massive protest in the capital, Asuncion. He has also been convicted and condemned to 10 years in prison in Paraguay for having led a 1996 military uprising against then-President Juan Carlos Wasmosy. Brazil's Supreme Court will now consider Paraguay's petition to extradite Oviedo, who has been under house arrest in Brasilia since last July. He was arrested in June of last year and was held in a military police station before he was granted house arrest. News agencies are noting that the home of a relative where Oviedo is under house arrest is close to the residence of former Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, who did receive political asylum in Brazil in 1989 when his regime was toppled by members of the military who had formerly supported him. Viewpoint: *AS WASHINGTON SEEKS WAR ALLIES, CUBA REMEMBERS VICTIMS OF TERRORISM The United States continues searching for allies for its military campaign against terrorism, despite the rising number of voices warning that violence will only provoke more violence and the deaths of more innocent people rather than changes in the conditions that gave rise to on September 11. For this reason US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Oman on Thursday after visiting Saudi Arabia, where he had to soothe his hosts by assuring them that Washington will not attack any Arab country in the war it is preparing. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has become one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the US war effort, announcing that the beginning of military actions is imminent. He will soon travel to Russia to try and convince his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to join in this modern crusade against the contemporary "infidels." The massing of military forces, unprecedented for a war against a single country, much less to capture a single man, has added to the climate of intolerance being created on an international level, prompting the leader of the anti-Taliban opposition, Ismail Jan, to plead with Washington to exhibit restraint by not attacking Afghanistan but rather the centers of terrorist power. And there's the rub. The causes of terrorism may not be where the US government is looking for them. In this international atmosphere, Cuba has begun a week-long homage to the victims of one of the Caribbean's worst terrorist attacks: the brutal bombing of a Cuban airliner 25 years ago in Barbados. This cold-blooded act, which cost the lives of 73 innocent victims, including Cuba's entire junior fencing team, was financed and organized with the complicity of the US CIA in Langley, Virginia. That is why on Thursday Cuba's Parliament convened a special session to honor those who died as result of that criminal explosion, as well the victims of innumerable other acts of terrorism committed against the island. The Cuban lawmakers also took the opportunity to ratify all anti-terrorism accords put forward by the United Nations. On Saturday, in Havana's huge Revolution Square, Cubans will join their voices to those of the millions worldwide who are demanding justice for ALL the victims of terrorism, and calling for an end of ALL the centers of terror. As they honor the fallen victims of terrorism, they will also be proclaiming themselves in opposition to an absurd and useless war, a war that in the end, would be nothing more than an arrogant act of vengeance. (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-8879 2001-Oct-05 06:01:11