RHC Weekend-27/28 April 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 27/28 April 2002 . *URUGUAY: DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA NOT BROKEN, JUST REDUCED *FOX UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE AT HOME FOR "SELLING OUT" TO US *SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA IN GUADALAJARA *MORE THAN 1,800 VENEZUELANS HAVE RECEIVED MEDICAL CARE IN CUBA *BRAZIL HONORS CUBAN REPRESENTATIVE TO UNITED NATIONS *CUBANS PREPARE FOR WORLD MEETING OF WAR CORRESPONDENTS *BUSH UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO CONTROL SHARON *AFTER US-STYLE SCHOOL MASSACRE, GERMANY SEEKS TO RESTRICT GUNS *PAKISTAN REFERENDUM TO EXTEND MUSHARRAF'S TERM IN OFFICE TO GO AHEAD *VENEZUELA INVESTIGATES COUP KILLINGS; CHAVEZ THANKS FMLN FOR SUPPORT . *URUGUAY: DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA NOT BROKEN, JUST REDUCED Havana, April 27 (RHC)--Having announced earlier in the week that Montevideo was breaking off diplomatic relations with Cuba, it now appears that Uruguayan President Jorge Batlle has taken time to reflect and back-peddle a little announcing that, in fact, relations between both nations remain in effect, if chilly. People from every sector of society had protested the decision, which is reported to have had an effect on the President as well as the image that he was bowing to pressure from Washington. The issue of US pressure on Montevideo was one of Havana's main criticisms of Batlle. Uruguay will retain consular relations with Cuba, it was announced today by Batlle to the newspaper "El Pais" in Montevideo. Explaining the supposed confusion, the Uruguayan leader said that he had expressed himself according to the political situation and was not an expert in the terminology of foreign affairs. Last Tuesday, the Uruguayan government announced that it was breaking off diplomatic relations with Cuba in the light of comments made by Havana after Montevideo's sponsoring of a US inspired human rights resolution against Cuba at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. *FOX UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE AT HOME FOR "SELLING OUT" TO US Mexico City, April 27 (RHC)--In the wake of the past week's strained relations between Cuba and Mexico, President Vicente Fox is being criticized by his compatriots for "selling out" to US interests. Reminding the Mexican president that his country's Revolution is 92 years old, many Mexicans are rallying to prevent Fox from turning his nation into what "The New York Times" reports is a 21st century banana republic. Mexico City's relationship with Washington is far more tied to commercial interests since the signing of the North American trade Agreement or NAFTA. In effect, the Latin American nation cannot openly defy the United States for fear of trade reprisals. The NAFTA agreement involves $250 billion a year in trade with the US. "It doesn't seem that he is promoting Mexico's interests," said Congressional leader Jorge Chávez Presa to the "Times." "We want to play a role in the world, but not if that means accepting orders from the United States." Fox and his Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda have been harshly criticized by all sectors of Mexican society for lying to the nation about their pressuring of Cuban President Fidel Castro to cut short his attendance at an international gathering in Monterrey last month because US President George Bush would also be in attendance. Castañeda was forced to admit on Friday that his government had indeed been coerced by Washington to prevent Fidel Castro from being seen anywhere near Bush. The Mexican president is also being criticized for being far more open in his support of Washington's policies in a nation that is very sensitive to issues of sovereignty, given its historical relationship with the United States. "Fox is selling Mexico to the United States," said Ursula Diaz, a sociology student at Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City in comments to "The New York Times." "Previous governments hid their relationship with the United States. Fox apparently no longer wants to conceal it." The issue of Mexico's betrayal of 100 years of diplomatic intimacy with Cuba is especially sensitive in the Mexican Congress, where Fox is facing his sharpest critics. Many legislators have refused to recognize Foreign Minister Castañeda as their representative in the nation's dealings with other countries. *SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA IN GUADALAJARA GuadalajarA, April 27 (RHC)--For one hour on Friday, the Solidarity with Cuba Movement of the Mexican state of Jalisco performed a symbolic closure of the entrance to the Office of Mexico's Foreign Affairs office in the state capital of Guadalajara. The demonstration protested "the undignified foreign policy of the Mexican government, and its coarse and interventionist attitude against Cuba." The demonstrators, carrying Cuban and Mexican flags as well as banners of their solidarity movement, chanted in favor of friendship and solidarity between the two peoples, and in rejection of the foreign policy of President Vicente Fox and of Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda. A letter addressed to them both was delivered to the delegate of Foreign Affairs in Jalisco. In the letter, they request the removal of Castañeda from his position for violating the constitutional precepts established for foreign policy, for his incompetence and for his servile attitude toward the government of George Bush. Likewise, the demonstrators called on the President of the Republic to respect the Mexican Constitution, and the historical traditions of the peoples. The letter also stresses that the ties of friendship and sisterhood existing between the two nations will not be broken, despite the attitude of a right-wing government, such as that of Fox. The Jose Marti Mexican-Cuban Institute for Cultural Affairs, the Federation of Students of Guadalajara, the Association of Parents of Children Studying at Havana's School of Medicine, and The State Front for Urban and Social Struggle are among the group of organizations included in the Solidarity with Cuba Movement in Jalisco. *MORE THAN 1,800 VENEZUELANS HAVE RECEIVED MEDICAL CARE IN CUBA Havana, April 27 (RHC)--More than 1,800 Venezuelan patients have received medical attention on the island through the Cuba-Venezuela Health Accord. The director of Havana's La Pradera restoration center told the press that this figure includes 600 surgeries, while 300 patients are presently at some 20 Cuban hospitals. On Friday, a new group of Venezuelan patients arrived in the Cuban capital. Among them is a four-year old girl, the daughter of a housewife and an agricultural worker, who suffers from heart and eye problems. At the moment, there are another 4,000 patients on a waiting list to come to the Caribbean island to receive medical care, some 700 of whom require rehabilitation treatment. *BRAZIL HONORS CUBAN REPRESENTATIVE TO UNITED NATIONS Havana, April 27 (RHC)--On Thursday, Brazil's ambassador to Cuba, Luciano Martins, presented outstanding Cuban revolutionary fighter Juan Nuiry with the Great Cross of the Rio Branco Order, a distinction granted by the Brazilian nation by presidential decree. Nuiry was, over the last 14 years, Cuba's representative before UN organizations, based in Rome, Italy. Julio Gomez Dos Santos, Brazilian representative before the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, reminded participants that when Nuiry spoke on behalf of Latin Americans it was impossible to distinguish between the ambassador and the student leader, because the guerilla of weapons was also the guerilla of words. He also said that during the last five years the consensus and unity of Latin Americans in Rome was possible thanks to Nuiry, whom he also characterized as a tireless fighter. Present at the awards ceremony were ambassadors, ministers, and personalities from the world of culture and politics. *CUBANS PREPARE FOR WORLD MEETING OF WAR CORRESPONDENTS Havana, April 27 (RHC)--The Committee of Honor of the third World Meeting of War Correspondents was constituted on Friday at Havana's Jose Marti International Journalism Institute. The creation of the Committee was sponsored by the Institute and by the War Correspondents Club as well as the Association of Cuban Journalists. The event will be held at Havana's International Press Center from May 7 to 11, and will be attended by journalists who have participated in armed conflicts in the 20th and 21st centuries. Cuban Comandante Juan Almeida Bosque is the president of the Committee of Honor, which also includes José Ramón Balaguer, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, and Comandantes Guillermo García and Ramiro Valdés. During the ceremony, the president of the War Correspondents Club and of the Organizing Committee explained the objectives of the event to participants, and introduced Brigadier General Harry Villegas (Pombo), who will address delegates to the event. *BUSH UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO CONTROL SHARON Jerusalem, April 27 (RHC)--US President George Bush has once again reiterated his demand for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw forthwith from Palestinian territory he invaded a month ago. "It's time to end this," said Bush after meeting with the outspoken Saudi Crown Prince who warned the US leader that there would be repercussions from the Arab world if he attacked Iraq once more. However, many observers said that the US president may be simply making such statements for international consumption while he secretly nods his head to Sharon. Bethlehem remains under siege and Palestine President Yasser Arafat is still blockaded in his headquarters. Troops also are still massed outside the Jenin refugee camp where the Israeli Defense Force massacred large numbers of civilians over the past few weeks. Tel Aviv continues to prevent press and human rights representatives from entering major parts of the camp. Oxfam worker Peter Holland from Canada expressed shock at what he saw in the portion of the camp to which he had access. In statements to the press, Holland said that he thought that Israel should be held accountable by the international community for its actions. He said that humanitarian agencies and Palestinian relatives had been trying to gain access to the camp for nine days, with some areas of the camp remaining inaccessible. Access is granted under Israeli army escort. The Oxfam representative said that aid workers who had just come from Afghanistan found it appalling that in Afghanistan that it took an entire day to obtain access to one of the refugee camps for medical attention. For them, said Peter Holland, this was an outrageous delay in keeping people from accessing their basic rights for medical services. Before Tuesday, the international aid agencies spent TEN DAYS trying to gain access to the Jenin camp. He added that the restrictions on access for the humanitarian aid agencies to the Jenin camp were and are unprecedented. Heather Guyton, an international solidarity activist, reported that the Jenin camp was totally devastated, with half the population homeless. She said that houses were bulldozed on top of people before they had a chance to leave. There has not been any water for 18 days -- as is the case with many other areas of the West Bank invaded by Sharon. Guyton said that aid workers had found Israeli booby traps in people's homes and that she herself had administered to a young boy whose hand had been blown off by such a trap. The situation is a humanitarian catastrophe, said Guyton. Feelings are so high in Jenin that desperate residents refused to even open food and material aid that had been sent from the United States, saying that they would rather starve than eat food from the country that also supplied the bombs, missiles and bullets that had killed so many of their families and neighbors. Meanwhile, a United Nations commission set up by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has been refused permission to travel to Jenin. Tel Aviv said that it lacked military expertise and is insisting that any findings not be used to seek to prosecute Israeli soldiers guilty of human rights abuses. Palestinian spokespeople say this amounts to an admission that such activities took place and that the Israelis have a lot to hide. As international condemnation became overwhelming, Sharon took comfort in the fact that his actions have been popular with Israeli citizens, 65% of whom say they are pleased with his performance, according to a poll published today in the Israeli newspaper "Maariv." Four Israeli settlers were killed today in a house-to-house attack close to the West Bank city of Hebron, and Tel Aviv has reopened the notorious Ansar 3 prison camp in the Negev desert, prompting concern by many about Sharon's future intentions. Some 1,314 Palestinians and 458 Israelis have been killed in the 19-month-old Intifada which erupted after Ariel Sharon, then opposition leader, provoked a reaction to a visit to the al Aqsa Muslim holy shrine accompanied by many soldiers. *AFTER US-STYLE SCHOOL MASSACRE, GERMANY SEEKS TO RESTRICT GUNS Erfurt, April 27 (RHC)--The deaths of 18 people in a US-style school massacre in the German city of Erfurt yesterday has underlined the need for strong gun control laws in Germany. Coincidental to the killing spree by a 19-year-old disaffected student who had been expelled from the school, the German parliament approved a new bill to further restrict the ownership of firearms in a nation that is concerned about the numbers of guns entering the country illegally from the Balkans after decades of conflict there. Reuters news agency quoted police as saying one in every three Germans owns a gun, with the country's military service ensuring that plenty of young people know how to use firearms. The new legislation requires up to a one-year check on people seeking to own a hunting rifle and now requires anyone with a pellet gun or a starter's pistol to own a license. Anyone wishing to use a gun for sport is obliged to belong to a club and be registered with the police. The familiar argument used by the politically powerful National Rifle Association in the US, that it is not those with registered guns that do the killing, was taken up yesterday in comments to Reuters by Joachim Streitberger, head of the Weapons Rights Forum, which represents legal weapons owners. The boy who carried out the massacre in Erfurt used a pistol, aimed at mostly adults, although two students were among those killed, and committed suicide once police trapped him in a classroom. Young people interviewed after the incident reported that it is relatively easy to obtain a gun -- especially by crossing the border to the Czech republic or Poland, where there are far fewer restrictions on ownership of firearms. *PAKISTAN REFERENDUM TO EXTEND MUSHARRAF'S TERM IN OFFICE TO GO AHEAD Islamabad, April 27 (RHC)--In a victory for Pakistan's military leader, the nation's Supreme Court threw out an opposition request to halt a referendum on extending President Pervez Musharraf's period in office for another five years. In a unanimous decision, the nine-member court rejected an appeal by political opponents to Musharraf. They had argued that the referendum was unconstitutional, but the court ruled that the President had been granted the power to hold such a referendum in 2000, when the Supreme Court granted him legitimacy. Musharraf seized power in 1999 and was due to hand over power to a civilian administration this year. He has insisted that he needs more time to complete his economic and social reforms. The country's main opposition parties have said that they will ask their supporters to boycott the referendum. Pakistan is no stranger to military rule, which has been the nation's form of government for at least half of its existence. Musharraf has gained many of his compatriots' ire by his support of Washington in its much-touted war on terrorism. Many Pakistanis thus see him as a traitor to Islam and to the Muslim world. *VENEZUELA INVESTIGATES COUP KILLINGS; CHAVEZ THANKS FMLN FOR SUPPORT Caracas, April 27 (RHC)--Venezuela's Parliament on Friday invited human rights experts, academics and church representatives to join a Truth Commission to look into the killings of over 60 people during the coup attempt against constitutionally elected President Hugo Chavez on April 11. The country's National Assembly reportedly has asked local human rights groups to propose six representatives to sit on the nine-member Truth Commission by next Tuesday. The remaining seats will include human rights experts from the Central and Catholic Universities and one representative designated by the National Council of Churches. The Venezuelan people have reportedly accused the local police of carrying out some of the killings during the 48 hours of the coup headed by entrepreneur Pedro Carmona. In related news, the Salvadoran press highlighted Saturday the April 20 meeting between the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. According to the Salvadorean dailies "Diario de Hoy" and "Prensa Grafica," FMLN leader Shafick Handal and former rebel leader Nidia Diaz met with the Venezuelan president. During the conversation, Chavez thanked the FMLN for their solidarity during the failed coup attempt on April 11. El Salvador's Farabundo Marti Liberation Front was the only political force that strongly condemned the coup in Venezuela, while the government of President Francisco Flores supported the de facto regime. In an open letter to the FMLN, the Venezuelan President recognized that the members of that party are faithful to the principles of justice. The meeting between the FMLN and President Hugo Chavez was criticized by the Salvadoran neoliberal government, while right-wing parliamentarians have demanded the FMLN change its current foreign policy. (c) 2002 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-431 2002-Apr-28 20:40:03