Radio Havana Cuba-09 October 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 09 October 2001 . *FIDEL TO REGIONAL JOURNALISTS: A SIMPLE BATTLE OF TRUTH vs. LIES *HONDURAN INTERESTS OFFICE TO OPEN SOON IN HAVANA *SOUTH AFRICAN HEALTH MINISTER PRAISES CUBAN MEDICAL PERSONNEL *FOUR UN WORKERS KILLED IN US-LED ATTACKS AGAINST AFGHANISTAN *US PEACE ACTIVISTS TAKE TO THE STREETS TO BUILD ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT *PAKISTAN: 4 KILLED, 60 WOUNDED, 200 ARRESTED IN 2 DAYS OF ANTI-US PROTESTS *JAKARTA: HUNDREDS PROTEST ATTACKS ON AFGHANISTAN AT US EMBASSY *PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIES CLOSE SCHOOLS IN GAZA FOLLOWING VIOLENT CLASHES *Viewpoint: OF BOMBS AND FOOD AND UNSUSTAINABLE ARGUMENTS . *FIDEL TO REGIONAL JOURNALISTS: A SIMPLE BATTLE OF TRUTH vs. LIES Havana, October 9 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro, in a dialogue with participants at the Latin American and Caribbean Journalists Congress currently underway in Havana, said Monday that today's battle is simple: it is one of truth against lies in a struggle that Cuba has called the Battle of Ideas. Speaking before some 400 delegates at the capital's Convention Center, the Cuban leader added that it was necessary to effectively use the media to seek alternatives to combat the domination of the world's economic power. He said that Cuba needed to further promote the diffusion of information and culture and praised the work of the island's journalists in their coverage of things like the kidnapping of Elián González. The delegates addressed the dramatic effect that the unrestricted free market had had on the region's media, with high unemployment, very low salaries, a rupture in solidarity and the fragmentation and liquidation of journalist's organizations and unions. The Latin American and Caribbean Journalists Conference ends on Thursday. *HONDURAN INTERESTS OFFICE TO OPEN SOON IN HAVANA Tegucigalpa, October 9 (RHC)--The opening of the Honduran Interests Office in Havana is about to become a reality as the new head of the diplomatic mission, Reynieri Amador, prepares to leave Tegucigalpa for Cuba, reports the Honduran daily "Tiempo". In comments to the press, Amador said that the office - which reciprocates that which the Cuban government has already opened in the Honduran capital - will primarily serve the needs of the more than 400 Honduran medical students studying at the Latin American School of Medicine, as well as deal with enquiries and concerns of Honduran businesspeople on the island or those that wish to invest in Cuba. The Honduran Foreign Minister, Roberto Flores Bermúdez, announced last month his country's decision to open the Interests Section in an effort to normalize relations with Cuba. The opening of such interest sections does not constitute full diplomatic relations but is a step in the right direction. Honduras, as with every country in Latin America save Mexico, bent to Washington's will in the 1960s and broke diplomatic relations with Cuba in an attempt to politically and economically isolate the island. *SOUTH AFRICAN HEALTH MINISTER PRAISES CUBAN MEDICAL PERSONNEL Johannesburg, October 9 (RHC)--The South African Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Tuesday gave tribute to the labor of the 400 Cuban doctors currently working in rural hospitals across the nation. During a ceremony to bid goodbye to 71 medical students who will be studying in Cuba, the Health Minister said that as a result of the efforts by the Cuban medical personnel in South Africa, the country's health care system had improved in the centers they are servicing. Many people in isolated rural areas and in others that have been traditionally underserved now receive the professional help of fully qualified doctors, which would have been unthinkable prior to the arrival of the Cubans, said Tshablala-Msimang. She added that the 185 South African students currently studying medicine in Cuban universities came from poor communities where it would have been impossible for them to pursue such studies without help from Havana. *FOUR UN WORKERS KILLED IN US-LED ATTACKS AGAINST AFGHANISTAN Islamabad, October 9 (RHC)--Four United Nations workers have been killed by US and British warplanes bombarding Kabul, prompting the world body to reiterate its demand for the respect of civilian lives. At a press conference in Islamabad just hours after the civilian deaths were confirmed, UN spokesperson Stephanie Bunker said it's imperative to distinguish between combatants and unarmed innocent civilians. Bunker told news correspondents that the non-governmental office Afghan Technical Consultants was destroyed by a missile, killing 4 of its Afghan workers cooperating in the eradication of landmines. An AFP news correspondent at the scene of the destroyed building quoted an elderly Afghan citizen who said that the site is nowhere near any military objectives. Afghanistan's Taliban regime has affirmed that dozens of civilians have died in the attacks, though independent confirmation has been virtually impossible thus far. *US PEACE ACTIVISTS TAKE TO THE STREETS TO BUILD ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT Havana, October 9 (RHC)--As the United States continues its attacks against Afghanistan, U.S. peace activists are taking to the streets in efforts to build an anti-war movement. Gloria la Riva, a leading organizer of that movement and a member of the International Action Center, told Radio Havana Cuba that protests are being held in the United States on an almost daily basis. "In San Francisco, Washington, Los Angeles and elsewhere, there were massive mobilizations on the 29th of September: 15,000 in San Francisco, a solid 20,000 in Washington, even 2500 in Los Angeles, I think a couple hundred in Houston and hundreds in Chicago. And then, last night -- we're into the war two days now -- there were thousands of people in New York City. I heard that there was a very militant march through the streets of New York at night. In Berkeley, last night it was called "the Berkeley Bart Alert" -- at a subway stop, people met the day after the San Francisco demonstration: 1500. We're encouraged, we really are." That was Gloria la Riva, a member of the International Action Center and a leading organizer of the growing anti-war movement in the United States. *PAKISTAN: 4 KILLED, 60 WOUNDED, 200 ARRESTED IN 2 DAYS OF ANTI-US PROTESTS Islamabad, October 9 (RHC)--Another 3 people were killed Tuesday in Pakistan during the second consecutive day of anti-US demonstrations in several cities. Protesters in the southwestern city of Kuchlak torched a police station and then confronted police, who opened fire, with clubs and rocks. Similar protests occurred in the cities of Islamabad, the capital, Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. Massive protest marches also demanded the release of 3 influential Islamic clergymen rounded up and arrested by authorities. The Muslim leaders were detained for having led demonstrations calling for a holy war against the United States. The 3 leaders have called for non-stop protests organized by some 40 Islamic groups forming a coalition called The Pakistan and Afghanistan Defense Council. A total of 4 people have been killed, some 60 wounded and more than 200 arrested between Monday and Tuesday. Pakistan's military government has for the first time built sandbag and concrete block walls around important installations in the capital, including Islamabad's diplomatic residence area. Guarded by machine-gun carrying soldiers, barricades have also been lifted around the capital's TV station and government buildings. *JAKARTA: HUNDREDS PROTEST ATTACKS ON AFGHANISTAN AT US EMBASSY Jakarta, October 9 (RHC)--Police in Indonesia Tuesday fired their weapons into the air and used tear gas to disperse hundreds of Islamic activists armed with clubs protesting in front of the US embassy in the capital, Jakarta. Other anti-US demonstrations took place in several regions of the world's largest Islamic nation, including Sulawesi - where protesters burned American flags and attacked a McDonald's fast-food restaurant - in Java and in Sumatra. Indonesia's Ulemas Council of Muslim religious leaders, and the Islamic organization Muhamadiya - the country's second largest with 30 million members - are demanding that the government condemn the bombardment of Afghanistan. Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri expressed support of an international campaign against terrorism, though originally coming out against attacking Afghanistan. But since the bombardments commenced, she has justified the attacks while expressing hopes that they don't last long. *PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIES CLOSE SCHOOLS IN GAZA FOLLOWING VIOLENT CLASHES Gaza, October 9 (RHC)--Palestinian authorities Tuesday closed schools and universities in Gaza following Monday's anti-US protests that left 2 people killed and close to 200 wounded. The internal confrontation between Palestinian civilians and police has been called the worst ever, and the first time Palestinian authorities use lethal violence to repress domestic protesters. Some 130 protesters and 60 Palestinian police were wounded, one by gunfire. Protesters torched several police stations. Observers are affirming that Monday's clashes have intensified the breach between the Palestinian Authority and Islamic militants at a moment when Yasser Arafat is trying to persuade his rivals to comply with a fragile cease-fire with Israel. Leaders of rival Palestinian factions Tuesday came together to call for calm. Palestinian authorities are preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza, fearing the transmission of the images of some Islamic militants expressing support for Osama Bin Laden. The Palestinian Authority has condemned the September 11th terrorist attacks against the United States, but has maintained silence concerning the US attacks against Afghanistan. *Viewpoint: OF BOMBS AND FOOD AND UNSUSTAINABLE ARGUMENTS The United States is experiencing growing criticism of its conduct towards Afghanistan, where a quarter of the country's population - seven and a half million human beings - that are not only living on the edge of starvation, but are now in danger of being slaughtered by U.S. missiles. Though governments have signed on to the idea of a so-called "international anti-terrorist coalition" organized in Washington, wide sectors of the population and some press outlets in various nations have reacted to the attacks against Afghanistan with alarm. These first few days of bombarding Afghanistan have confirmed and validated Washington's philosophy of placing hatred and vengeance above peace and international law. The feeble claims by the United States that its concentrated bombings of the central Asian country are aimed solely at military objectives, is being seen by increasing more people as a smokescreen behind which to hide civilian deaths. Sources in Kabul speak of the first 20 deaths, victims of bombs sent by the Pentagon whose true interest is testing the latest generation of so-called "intelligent" weapons. But the massive attacks have so far not been intelligent enough to eliminate in one fell swoop the hated Osama Bin Laden, or to avoid harming civilians. The Bush administration's argument that the bombings are in "self-defense" pale when we note that the attacker is the most powerful nation on earth and those being attacked are millions of starving people who don't even have enough belongings to gather up as they stampede towards the closed off borders to escape the days and nights of terror. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld gave an optimistic report of the military actions but forgot to mention the damage done by the bombs that hit beyond the airports, which are supposedly the favored targets. And, unlike the victims of the attacks on the United States, the victims of the bombings in Afghanistan will not receive the attention of the big television chains. Nor do the most influential western media outlets appear to be willing to question the use of war as a means to resolve international disputes. Fortunately people are beginning to see that the latest U.S. military adventure cannot be justified with the excuse of "legitimate defense", much less the extension of those actions to other countries, which is what Washington's new UN Ambassador, John Negroponte threatens in his letter to the United Nations. And as the bombs begin to fall - along with, it should be noted, the Orwellian addition of food packages for the hungry - it has never been more clear that the United States will never be content with merely capturing Osama Bin Laden and bringing him to justice, but only when they have brought chaos to a desperate land. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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