Radio Havana Cuba-02 April 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 02 April 2002 . *US DENIES VISAS TO AT LEAST 60 CUBAN AGRICULTURAL OFFICIALS *URUGUAYAN LAWMAKER URGES MONTEVIDEO TO OPPOSE US PRESSURES TO CONDEMN CUBA IN GENEVA *MEXICAN PARLIAMENTARIANS PROPOSE TRIP TO CUBA TO IMPROVE RELATIONS *EUROPEAN UNION HAS MOST INVESTMENTS IN CUBA *INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SLAMS ISRAEL LIKE NEVER BEFORE *PAKISTAN REFUSES US REQUEST TO PURSUE TALIBAN AND AL QAIDA FIGHTERS INTO PAKISTANI TERRITORY *ANGOLAN PARLIAMENT UNANIMOUSLY PASSES AMNESTY LAW FOR UNITA REBELS *MUSLIM NATIONS REJECT LINKING PALESTINIAN STRUGGLE WITH TERRORISM *ENVIRONMENTALISTS ACCUSE EUROPEAN FISHING FLEETS OF DEVASTATING WEST AFRICA'S FISHING RESOURCES *Viewpoint: COLOMBIANS FACE A DECISIVE ELECTORAL PROCESS . *US DENIES VISAS TO AT LEAST 60 CUBAN AGRICULTURAL OFFICIALS Havana, April 2 (RHC)--The United States has denied visas to at least 60 officials with the Cuban food-importing agency who had been invited by US agricultural producers. A US State Department spokesman stated that Washington has a "kind of blanket restriction" on Cuban government officials and members of the Cuban Communist Party that goes back to the mid-eighties. Spokesman Chip Baker said that though the US has waived that restriction in the past, they had decided on this occasion not to. The spokesman refused to discuss the reasons for denying the visas this time. "I'm not supposed to get into the why behind this specific decision," he said. The officials work for Alimport, the Cuban agency in charge of purchasing foodstuffs. They were invited to the United States by several US agro businesses interested in selling their products to Cuba, Baker said. In November, the US government permitted the first food exports to Cuba in 40 years, after Cuban President Fidel Castro announced his wish to purchase food and medicine from the United States, in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Michelle. A large majority in the US Congress approved the sale of food in 2000, but congressional defenders of the blockade against Cuba managed to deny Havana any financing for the purchases. With a population of over 11 million, Cuba imports a billion dollars worth of foodstuffs annually. US exporters are among the principal opponents of the US economic blockade imposed against the island for more than 40 years. *URUGUAYAN LAWMAKER URGES MONTEVIDEO TO OPPOSE US PRESSURES TO CONDEMN CUBA IN GENEVA Montevideo, April 2 (RHC)--A member of the Uruguayan House of Deputies' International Affairs Council has urged Montevideo to oppose US maneuvers to condemn Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Deputy Carlos Pita, reiterated the Parliament's call to Foreign Minister, Didier Opertti to explain Uruguay's decision to support the US initiative to condemn the island. The lawmaker stressed that if Uruguay votes against Cuba in Geneva as announced by President, Jorge Batlle, it will be a demonstration of subservience in the face of US pressures. Meanwhile, Uruguay's Worker's Confederation, the PIT-CNT, today called a demonstration for Thursday in the capital's Martyrs of Chicago Plaza, to express support for the people and government of Cuba. *MEXICAN PARLIAMENTARIANS PROPOSE TRIP TO CUBA TO IMPROVE RELATIONS Mexico City, April 2 (RHC)--50 Mexican parliamentarians announced on Tuesday that they are considering traveling to Cuba to help make amends for problems that have arisen between Mexico and the island. Headed by Sergio Acosta, of the lower house's International Relations Commission, and by Marti Batres of the Democratic Revolution Party,(PRD), 50 of that party's Legislators were to meet this afternoon with Cuban Ambassador, Jorge Bolaņos. Acosta told Prensa Latina news agency that the lawmakers would express their interest in strengthening the bonds of friendship between Mexico and Cuba would reject the idea of losing a century-long relationship. The Mexican parliamentarian said that the group would ask the Cuban ambassador to arrange a meeting in Cuba at the highest level to help alleviate the situation caused when Cuban president Fidel Castro was asked to leave last month's Monterrey summit early at the insistence of Washington. Acosta explained that the delegation would reaffirm Mexico's friendship with the island, since the Mexican people oppose US manipulation and desire good relations with Cuba. The Mexican lawmaker also recalled actions taken by the Democratic Revolution Party and others to obtain an explanation from Mexican Foreign Minister, Jorge Castaneda, about what actually happened during the Monterrey International Conference on Funding for Development. Last week the Mexican Parliament passed a proposal calling on the foreign minister to give a full accounting of the incident. "This House of Deputies calls on the journalist, Foreign Minister and future presidential candidate to explain the circumstances surrounding the participation and abrupt departure from the Monterrey Summit, of the president of the Republic of Cuba" says the resolution. Meanwhile, some 170 deputies are calling for the Congress to place the foreign minister on trial for reiterated violations of the national Constitution with his anti-Cuba actions and statements. Mexico's Constitution provides that the Congress can hold trials to remove public officials from their positions for refusing to obey legislation, for acts of disloyalty and for other causes. *EUROPEAN UNION HAS MOST INVESTMENTS IN CUBA Havana, April 1 (RHC)--Investors of the European Union make up most of the economic associations on the island. 52 per cent of the 403 economic associations using foreign capital, are with members of the European Union according to official sources in Havana. Figures published on Tuesday by the Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ministry indicated that of the economic block's 15 members, Spain is the principal investor with 104 companies. A local radio station reported that some 5 billion dollars are currently committed in various investments and other projects in Cuba including from Canada and Italy. Also making an important contribution to the Cuban economy are investments from Mexico, Britain, China and Germany. Among the 32 economic activities that receive foreign capital are the island's Basic Industry in oil and natural gas prospecting, mining and pharmaceuticals. French investment, was also deemed substantial. The report issued by the Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation also underscored the importance of foreign investment in tourism, considered to be the island's most dynamic sector, which boasts 33 mixed enterprises and 52 administration contracts with international companies. The priorities for the country at this time, says the study, are INFORMATICS services, biotechnology, sugarcane derivatives, agriculture, fishing and the metal industry. So far, Cuba has signed 60 reciprocal investment promotion and protection accords with 69 nations and another seven aimed at eliminating double taxation. *INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SLAMS ISRAEL LIKE NEVER BEFORE Geneva, London, Madrid, Rome, April 2 (RHC)--With the exception of Washington, the international community is slamming like never before Israel's renewed military offensive in occupied Palestinian territories. At the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Amnesty International Tuesday charged that Israel is committing appalling abuse "every day, every hour, almost every minute." Though the organization denounced what it called the "hair-raising" Palestinian suicide bomb attacks, it insisted that these acts can in no way justify Israel's systematic assassinations when human life is not in danger, the systematic demolishing of Palestinian homes that have left thousands of mostly Palestinian children homeless, Israel's use of heavy artillery in densely populated civilian areas, the systematic firing on Red Cross and Red Crescent ambulances and other measures to collectively punish, intimidate and humiliate the Palestinian people. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories, affirming that Tel Aviv's military actions cannot be justified as forming part of a legitimate war against terrorism. He said there can be no military solution for the desperate situation in which both Palestinians and Israelis find themselves. Referring to affirmations by British and other solidarity activists who said they were shot at by Israeli troops as they tended to demonstrators shot by earlier Israeli gunfire, Straw said he would investigate the claims. The European Union and Russia Tuesday called on Israel not to confuse the struggle against terrorism with the destruction of Palestine National Authority installations, demanding that Israel comply with the unanimously approved UN Security Council resolution 1402 demanding Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories. Italy, meanwhile, has protested the shooting death of a Franciscan priest and the wounding of ten nuns by Israeli soldiers at the Saint Mary Church in Bethlehem. Israeli troops reportedly opened fire through the doors of the church when those inside refused to open them. *PAKISTAN REFUSES US REQUEST TO PURSUE TALIBAN AND AL QAIDA FIGHTERS INTO PAKISTANI TERRITORY Islamabad, Kabul, April 2 (RHC)--US lawmakers have been urging Pakistani military regime leader Pervez Musharraf to allow US forces to engage in "hot pursuit" of Al Qaida and Taliban forces if they flee into his country from Afghanistan. But Musharraf, who according to observers fears the tribal unrest such a move could spark, has flatly said no. While US military commanders in Afghanistan are reportedly frustrated over what they see as the ability of Taliban and Al Qaida fighters to slip across the border at will, Musharraf said Tuesday that his government has shown that it can handle such operations without cross-border forays by American troops. Speaking in Kabul during his first visit to Afghanistan, he noted that 40 or 50 people were detained in roundups last week in two Pakistani cities, while another 16 were arrested late Monday in a raid on a suspected Al Qaida hide-out. The Pakistani leader said that joint operations across the border are not in the coalition's interest and not in Pakistan's interest. He also urged the international community to speed up their reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Afghanistan in order to bring stability to the region. This plea came on the heels of efforts by Afghan families whose lives were shattered by US airstrikes to obtain promises of compensation from two US senators visiting Kabul. As Senators Robert Torricelli and Jon Corzine Monday visited US troops at the capital's Bargram air base and met with interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai, about 3 dozen Afghans waited outside the US embassy. But American embassy officials said they did not have time in their schedule to meet bomb victims. The US group Global Exchange is working with Afghan petitioners to determine the extent of civilian losses from US airstrikes and is helping victims file for compensation with the US government. Global Exchange stated that Afghan relief groups have proposed an average grant of 10,000 dollars to pay for homes and possessions, medical treatment and the loss of breadwinners, noting that if 2,000 families file claims, that would come to 20 million dollars - less than the cost of one day of the US bombing campaign. *ANGOLAN PARLIAMENT UNANIMOUSLY PASSES AMNESTY LAW FOR UNITA REBELS Luanda, April 2 (RHC)--Angola's Parliament has unanimously approved a general amnesty for members of the rebel UNITA organization just two days before the scheduled ratification of a ceasefire agreement. Nevertheless, a reminder of the country's instability came Monday when seven people were reportedly killed in an ambush attributed to UNITA in the central town of Huambo. It's not certain how many UNITA fighters will refuse to demobilize and turn to banditry, but observers believe that if the leadership and the bulk of the organization remains on the path of peace the Angolan government will soon be able to bring under control any instability generated by armed renegades. At its height, UNITA had 80,000 troops backed by tanks and long-range artillery, though several years of a government offensive, coupled with international sanctions, considerably weakened the organization. The amnesty, meanwhile, pardons anyone who committed "military crimes and other crimes against the security of the state during the political-military conflict" that broke out in 1975 after Angola gained its independence from Portugal. Ratification of the peace deal signed last Saturday will take place in Luanda with the presence of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and UNITA's ranking leader, Paulo "Gato" Lukamba. Lukamba was the number three man in UNITA's hierarchy when Jonas Savimbi and Antonio Dembo were recently killed in battle. *MUSLIM NATIONS REJECT LINKING PALESTINIAN STRUGGLE WITH TERRORISM Kuala Lumpur, April 2 (RHC)--Muslim nations side-stepped defining terrorism Tuesday at a conference to address the issue, though flatly rejecting any attempt to link the Palestinian struggle with terrorism. Opinion had been divided among the foreign ministers and officials of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference over Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's call Monday to classify as terrorism all attacks on civilians, including those by Palestinian suicide bombers. A significant number of delegates insisted that suicide bombers were driven by frustration stemming from Israeli terrorism in occupied territories. The final declaration stated that the participants reject any attempt to associate Palestinian and Lebanese resistance with terrorism, insisting that first the roots of terrorism - including "foreign occupation, injustice and exclusion" - should be addressed. The document also rejected any attempt to link Islam and Muslims to terrorism, asserting that terrorism has no association with any religion, civilization or nationality. The countries agreed to form a 13-member committee to "work toward an internationally agreed definition of terrorism" under a UN convention to "formulate a joint organized response of the international community to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations." *ENVIRONMENTALISTS ACCUSE EUROPEAN FISHING FLEETS OF DEVASTATING WEST AFRICA'S FISHING RESOURCES London, Brussels, April 2 (RHC)--Environmental activists have accused European fishing fleets of laying waste to West Africa's fishing resources by discarding most of their catch due to the industrial trawling technique. A study by the Television Trust for the Environment has documented how foreign boats catching huge quantities of shrimp, tuna and sardines off the coast of Senegal during the past 20 years have destroyed that and other West African nations' delicate marine ecology. Brian O'Riordan, of the Belgium-based International Collective in Support of Fish Workers, has compared industrial trawling to clear-felling in a forest. He said European fleets are catching everything, including the small and uneconomic fish, keeping only between 10 and 20 percent of the catch while throwing 80 to 90 percent back in the water dead. O'Riordan said the trawlers are turning the west African coastal ecosystem into a kind of waste dump. *Viewpoint: COLOMBIANS FACE A DECISIVE ELECTORAL PROCESS Colombia has entered the final stage of its presidential elections, scheduled for next May 26th. Ten candidates are running for the presidency, at a time when the country is going through its worst social and political crisis ever. The last legislative elections proved that the traditional Liberal Party, with Horacio Serpa as candidate, and the Colombia First Movement, who is running Alvaro Uribe, have the greatest chances of winning the race. On the other hand, those elections resulted in the ruling Conservative Party being literally wiped out, having to pay the price for President Andres Pastrana's political mistake of having closed the negotiating process with Colombia's rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces and seeking a military solution to the conflict. The legislative elections also showed the strength gained by progressive forces representing important social sectors, as former rebel leader Antonio Navarro Wolf ended up leading the polls. At the same time, Luis Eduardo Garzon, also seems be scoring high and could become the third main political force in the Colombian electoral scene. The characteristics of the candidates running for the presidency point to the need for voters to carefully ponder their choice as results should prove decisive for the future of the country. Before starting his campaign, Alvaro Uribe had already expressed his willingness to favor a military solution for the Colombian conflict, openly offering his support for an intensification of the so-called Colombia Plan, the presence of U.S. soldiers or a more brazen intervention by Washington in Colombia's affairs not appearing to disturb him at all. Uribe is presently seeking European support for Colombia, but he wants that support to be military, for his solution to the severe internal crisis and the extreme poverty, which affects nearly 24 out of the 41 million inhabitants, does not take into consideration that the country could end up on fire. And equally lacking a viable solution for the country's problems is liberal Horacio Serpa. The bleak picture is worsened by the fact that ending the war may not bring true peace, for as long as basic societal needs like eliminating poverty and opportunities for all are not secured, the likelihood of more tensions and a relapse of the conflict will linger on. (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-4145 2002-Apr-03 18:25:25