Radio Havana Cuba-25 September 2001 (delayed) Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 25 September 2001 [report delayed by technical difficulties in Havana] . *CUBA TO DEVOTE $4M TO LAUNCH NEW EDUCATIONAL TV CHANNEL *GOVERNOR GENERAL OF JAMAICA CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA *CUBANA AIRLINES BOMBING - 25TH ANNIVERSARY TO BE OBSERVED OCT 6 *INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL FEATURES NEW PLAYS, WORKSHOPS *BUSH BACKPEDALS ON POWELL'S PROMISE TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE *INDONESIA'S ISLAMIC LEADERSHIP WARNS US AGAINST BOMBING AFGHANISTAN *WHAT ABOUT THE TERRORISTS HARBORED BY THE USA, ASKS SAUL LANDAU *ATTACK ON US PROMPTS URGENT CALLS TO SOLVE ISRAELI-PALESTINE CONFLICT *SAUDI ARABIA BREAKS RELATIONS WITH AFGHANISTAN'S TALIBAN *US PLAN TO RESTRICT CIVIL LIBERTIES MEETS UNEXPECTED RESISTANCE *COLOMBIA ANNOUNCES FOILED PLOT TO ASSASSINATE PASTRANA *Viewpoint: DROWNING OUT THE WAR DRUMS WITH CALLS FOR PEACE . *CUBA TO DEVOTE $4 TO LAUNCH NEW EDUCATIONAL TV CHANNEL Havana, September 25 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro has announced major educational advances on the island, including the news that a new television channel -- devoted exclusively to educational programming -- will begin transmissions in the next few weeks. The Cuban leader noted that the educational channel, including new TV studios, cost nearly four million dollars. He said that initial transmissions will reach viewers in Havana, the capital, as well as residents in the surrounding Province of Havana. By January, a similar educational/cultural TV channel will begin broadcasting in Santiago de Cuba. Speaking Monday evening at the inauguration of a training school for primary school teachers in Caimito, located on the outskirts of Havana, the leader of the Cuban Revolution pointed to the many achievements made in the area of education over the past several years. He said that it was truly marvellous to see all the incredible things that the Cuban people have been able to accomplish in educational, cultural and social programs. Fidel Castro emphasized that the island's authorities hope to train more teachers over the coming months in order to fill a deficit in the Province of Havana -- with the aim of achieving the goal of beginning the next school year with no more than 20 students per classroom. During the opening of the new training school in Caimito, the Cuban leader said that in order to guarantee good quality education, it is necessary to employ modern audio-visual techniques and programs. He noted that 4000 students have now enrolled in the recently inaugurated training schools for teachers. And he called on students to be exemplary models, proud of the educational projects that are being implemented in Cuba for the benefit of society. *GOVERNOR GENERAL OF JAMAICA CONTINUES OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA Havana, September 25 (RHC)--The Governor General of Jamaica, Sir Howard Cooke, arrived in Havana Monday afternoon to begin an official three-day visit to the island. The Jamaican official was welcomed at Jose Marti International Airport by Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas. Speaking with reporters upon his arrival, Sir Howard Cooke said he was looking forward to his visit, expressing a particular interest in touring schools on the island. He noted that he has been extremely impressed with the Cuban educational system. The distinguished Jamaican visitor also praised the leaders of the Cuban Revolution -- expressing his appreciation for Cuba's assistance to the Third World, especially the underdeveloped nations of the African continent. For his part, Cuban Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas told reporters that the visit of the Jamaican governor general will greatly contribute to the ties of friendship between the two island nations. Shortly after his arrival in the Cuban capital, Sir Howard Cooke laid a floral wreath at the foot of the monument to Jose Marti in Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion. *CUBANA AIRLINES BOMBING - 25TH ANNIVERSARY TO BE OBSERVED OCT 6 Panama City, September 25 (RHC)--Families of the victims of one of the bloodiest terrorist actions against Cuba will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the event on October 6th in Panama City. Organizers of the commemoration recalled that the mastermind of the sabotage bombing -- Luis Posada Carriles -- is currently being held in Panama for his role in planning the assassination of Cuban President Fidel Castro last November. The sabotage bombing of a Cubana airliner in flight -- killing all 73 passengers on board -- took place on October 6, 1976. Trade unions, student groups and Cuba solidarity organizations have invited family members of the victims to take part in the commemoration ceremony in Panama City. *INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL FEATURES NEW PLAYS, WORKSHOPS Havana, September 25 (RHC)--Theater lovers are really enjoying themselves these days, taking in a wide variety of presentations at theaters throughout the Cuban capital. Havana's International Theater Festival runs through this coming weekend. One of the theater groups representing Cuba is "Korimacao," directed by top Cuban actor Manuel Porto, which is presenting the play entitled "El Vuelo del Quetzal." Theater lovers are not only enjoying new plays during the festival, but also other activities related to the world of the performing arts. There are conferences, workshops and book launchings taking place during this week's Theatre Festival in the Cuban capital. *BUSH BACKPEDALS ON POWELL'S PROMISE TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE Washington, September 25 (RHC)--US President George Bush has excluded the possibility of making public in the short-term evidence supposedly linking Osama Bin Laden to the September 11th terrorist attacks. Last weekend, Secretary of State Colin Powell told the NBC TV network that Washington would publicly present the evidence in the near future, but Bush stated that revealing confidential information would, in his words, make the war more difficult. Controversy over the nature of such evidence comes amid a growing global chorus calling for proof, as many leaders fear that retaliation without a public show of evidence could trigger greater Mideast violence. News correspondents in Europe and the Middle East are reporting that even close allies like France and Germany want to see more than circumstantial proof, according to independent defense analyst in London Paul Beaver. The need for a thorough airing of evidence is seen as most crucial in the Middle East, where traditional US allies like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have called for an investigation preferably conducted under an international umbrella - an idea the US has so far rejected. *INDONESIA'S ISLAMIC LEADERSHIP WARNS US AGAINST BOMBING AFGHANISTAN Jakarta, September 25 (RHC)--The highest religious authorities in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, have called for a holy war against the United States if Afghanistan is attacked. Jakarta's Ulema has called the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. "criminal" and expressed condolences to the victims, but affirmed that an attack against Afghanistan would be a manifestation of hostility and hate towards Islam and Muslims. The religious leaders also condemned the wave of xenophobic attacks against Muslims in the United States, Great Britain and Australia. Several hundred Indonesians have reportedly signed a list of eventual volunteers to fight alongside Taliban soldiers, distributed by Indonesia's Islamic Youth Movement. Close to 30 thousand Indonesians fought against the Soviet army in Afghanistan between the years 1979 and 1989. Of the country's 210 million inhabitants, almost 90 percent practice the Muslim faith. *WHAT ABOUT THE TERRORISTS HARBORED BY THE USA, ASKS SAUL LANDAU September 25 (RHC)--US academic and writer Saul Landau has asked, as US leaders warn countries that harbor terrorists, who will warn US leaders about harbouring terrorists in the United States. In an article posted Monday on the Internet, entitled "Harboring Terrorists: Our Own List Is Long," Landau noted that President George Bush's anti-Castro Cuban friends in Miami lobbied successfully to free Cuban-American terrorists Virgilio Paz and Jose Dionisio Suarez, convicted of the 1976 Washington D.C. car bomb assassination of exiled Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier. He said they began walking the streets along with Michael Townley, the bomber in chief for Chile's dictatorship secret police, also convicted in the crime but now enjoying US protection from extradition for his other terrorist attacks - including the 1974 car bomb murder in Argentina of dissident Chilean army General Carlos Prats. Landau wrote that Cuban-American Orlando Bosch, who boasted about his role in bombing a Cuban commercial airliner over Barbados with 73 people on board, enjoys his Florida retirement thanks to President Bush the first, who welcomed this terrorist into the United States from Venezuela where he faced charges for the crime. He noted that Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North gleefully hired Luis Posada Carriles, Bosch's cohort in the airplane bombing and subsequently the organizer of the bombings of Cuba's tourist spots in the 1990s. Landau said high-ranking US officials like Eliot Abrams, who holds the Latin America portfolio at the National Security Council, had regular and friendly dealings with people who mined Nicaragua's harbors and plotted bombings and assassinations. *ATTACK ON US PROMPTS URGENT CALLS TO SOLVE ISRAELI-PALESTINE CONFLICT Berlin, Riyadh, September 25 (RHC)--The terrorist attacks against the United States are sparking growing clamor for a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The issue was one of those topping the agenda of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday during their visit to Germany and talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Mubarak said that without a solution to the Palestinian question there can be no world stability and no nation will be safe from terrorism. Saudi Arabia Tuesday called on President George Bush to change its policies in the Mideast region. Hereditary Saudi Prince Abdul Bin Adbul Aziz said Washington should press for a total and just peace in the region. Statements Tuesday by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw blaming the Israelis for the current situation in the Middle East almost aborted his planned gathering with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Straw said one of the factors behind the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. is the anger and rage of the people of Palestine. *SAUDI ARABIA BREAKS RELATIONS WITH AFGHANISTAN'S TALIBAN Riyadh, September 25 (RHC)--Saudi Arabia has broken diplomatic relations with Afghanistan's Taliban regime, following in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates - two of the only three countries that recognized authorities in Kabul. Saudi Arabia's economic aid to the Taliban was pivotal in the establishment of their fundamentalist regime in late 1996. Riyadh has insisted, however, that its citizens have no connection with Saudi fundamentalist Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1994 after insulting and threatening the Saudi royal family for allowing US troops into the country. The third country, Pakistan, has insisted that it will not break relations with its neighbor. Islamabad also provided immense material support in the Taliban's war against moderate Islamic forces in Afghanistan. *US PLAN TO RESTRICT CIVIL LIBERTIES MEETS UNEXPECTED RESISTANCE Washington, September 25 (RHC)--US Attorney General John Ashcroft is coming up against stiff congressional opposition to his proposed anti-terrorism measures seen by many as unconstitutional. Ashcroft again attempted to defend the measures Monday before the House Judiciary Committee, but both Democrats and Republicans expressed their skepticism concerning proposals that infringe on privacy and individual liberties. Committee chair James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, told Ashcroft that his initiative must not be used against the freedom of innocent citizens. The highest ranking Democrat on the Committee, Representative John Conyers from Georgia, said the measures contain many clauses that seem to be unconstitutional, including the indefinite detention of immigrants. Conyers said there is also concern about the disposition that would allow the Justice Department to use in federal courts telephone conversations illegally taped in foreign countries. Civil rights organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union have expressed concern over the proposed right of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to deport foreigners suspected of ties with terrorism while denying them any right to a hearing. Controversy over the measures has delayed their approval, which the Justice Department had reportedly hoped to obtain this past weekend. Ashcroft was slated to appear Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. *COLOMBIA ANNOUNCES FOILED PLOT TO ASSASSINATE PASTRANA Bogotá, September 25 (RHC)--Colombia's secret service Monday announced that it had thwarted an assassination plot against President Andres Pastrana involving right wing paramilitaries. Intelligence chief Colonel German Jaramillo said the attempt to kill Pastrana was to have taken place last August 8th in Bogotá, the capital, or in the city of Armenia, where the Colombian President was planning to visit in late July. Jaramillo said revelations from an informant led to the discovery of the residence where the plot was being organized and a subsequent police raid on August 4th that resulted in a gun battle and eventually led to the arrest last weekend of several important paramilitary leaders. The revelation comes as the paramilitaries warn Pastrana to refrain from prolonging the demilitarization of a vast area in southern Colombia for peace talks with leftist guerrillas. That decision will have to be made by next October 9th. Meanwhile, a group of personalities designated by Pastrana to give support to the rebel-government peace process has called on the government to treat right-wing paramilitaries in the same way as drug lords from the Medellin Cartel were treated 10 years ago. The Committee of Personalities was set up last February during a face-to-face gathering between Pastrana and rebel leader Manuel Marulanda. It was asked to elaborate recommendations in the fight against right-wing paramilitaries, an issue that has stalemated peace talks on several occasions with leftist rebels accusing authorities of not doing enough to pursue and bring the death squads to justice. *Viewpoint: DROWNING OUT THE WAR DRUMS WITH CALLS FOR PEACE As Washington intensifies its calls for revenge, peace has become a dirty word - a dangerous concept and an insult to the traumatized public. At least that is what some would have us believe. Among the most recurrent sounds in the history of humanity are the drums of war. Perhaps because we have heard the sound so often, we are unable to perceive the full horror concealed in the beat. Or perhaps the blaring strains of martial music drown out the cries of the victims. In this difficult and emotional time many media outlets, some to sell the news and others intentionally sowing racist, hawkish ideas, are participating in an international campaign to convince the world that not only is war inevitable, it is just. In order to do so it is necessary to convince people that the true root of the problem lies in some "other" place. As Cuba's president, Fidel Castro noted last Saturday, the basis, the conception, the true purposes, the spirit and the conditions for a war that could turn into an endless massacre of innocent people, have been hastily established in the past few days. The Cuban president warned that the most extreme ideologues and the most belligerent hawks, who are now installed in positions of power, have taken advantage of the shock and the sorrow felt by all the peoples on earth to convoke a war in which the use of all types of weapons has already been announced. And the wagers of this new war have admitted that they themselves are ignorant of just what course it will take. Once again the leaders of the United States are announcing to the world that the ends justify any means. Faced with the declaration of war that Washington is claiming to make in the name of all humanity, Cuba has firmly declared its position: it is against terrorism and against war. Cuba will not allow itself to be dragged into the conflict nor will it ever allow its territory to be used to organize terrorist activities. Let there be no doubt that the drums of the first imperial war of the new millennium will not sound in Cuba and whatever the island can do to prevent war will be done in the name of those who have already died and of those who are sure to fall in the future. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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