Radio Havana Cuba-26 April 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 26 April 2002 . *CUBA SPONSORS RESOLUTION TO PROMOTE PEACE AS UNHRC WRAPS UP IN GENEVA *15th ANNIVERSARY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING MEMORIAL CENTER IN HAVANA *REGIONAL MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE OF FAO ENDS ITS MEETINGS *INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONVENTION BEGINS NEXT WEEK *BUSH AND ABDULLAH SHARPLY OVER MIDDLE EAST *ARGENTINA HAS ANOTHER FREE MARKET ECONOMY MINISTER, SIXTH IN A YEAR *US SENATE LEGISLATION DRAWS MORE FIRE FROM ENVIRONMENTALISTS *"WE'D RATHER STARVE THAN BE FED BY OUR KILLERS" - PALESTINIANS IN JENIN *WARNINGS OF HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN ANGOLA *LE PEN SAYS HE'S NO MORE RACIST THAN BLAIR Viewpoint: *SHARON SENDS IN MORE TROOPS TO KILL "AS MANY PALESTINIANS AS NECESSARY" . *CUBA SPONSORS RESOLUTION TO PROMOTE PEACE AS UNHRC WRAPS UP IN GENEVA Geneva, April 26 (RHC)-- Despite opposition from wealthy, industrialized countries and their allies, Cuba received support from Third World delegations for a number of resolutions during the final session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Observers in the Swiss city said that North and South was clearly delineated during the final debates, as the 58th Session wrapped up on Friday. Spain -- speaking for the European Union -- joined with Canada and other industrialized countries to vote against the resolutions sponsored by Cuba. Political analysts noted that had the United States still been a member of the Commission, Washington would have certainly voted with its wealthy friends. Cuba presented four documents on Thursday in the area of Protection and Promotion of Human Rights. One of the most important -- labeled L.90 and entitled Promoting the Right of People to Live in Peace -- was approved by 33 votes in favor, with 15 votes against and five abstentions. Cuban delegates to the UN Human Rights Commission questioned the negative votes, asking how it is possible that anyone could vote against the right to live in peace -- unless it was in their political and economic interest to promote war. *15th ANNIVERSARY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING MEMORIAL CENTER IN HAVANA Havana, April 26 (RHC)-- The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Havana is celebrating its 15th anniversary. A special activity was held on Thursday at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Cuba's Minister of Culture, Abel Prieto, was there and well as other special guests from the religious and non-religious community. Founded in 1987, the Martin Luther King Memorial Center -- known simply as the MLK Center -- is located in the Havana neighborhood of Marianao, which is in the western part of the city, about 10 minutes from Jose Marti International Airport. Based out of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, it is a non-governmental organization with solid roots in the community. It wasn't always that way -- as the pastor of the church, Reverend Raul Suarez, explained to the crowd on Thursday. He noted that the church was established in Marianao nearly one hundred years ago. The church was predominantly white, in an Afro-Cuban and mixed neighborhood. But, in recent years, with the arrival of Raul Suarez and the creation of the Martin Luther King Center, the church began providing services for Black and poor people in the community -- repairing and building houses for residents in the neighborhood and providing services for both the young and old, with special attention given to the elderly. The MLK Center is directly linked with the U.S. religious and solidarity organization Pastors for Peace. When the Pastors for Peace caravans began coming to Cuba, in November 1992, the Ebenezer Baptist Church and Reverend Raul Suarez personally welcomed them. Caravanistas are still housed at the church and the Reverend Lucius Walker -- who is also a Baptist minister at a church in Harlem -- has worked closely with the Center. Prior commitments prevented Lucius Walker from being at the MLK Center on Thursday for the celebrations, but he and many other organizations and religious institutions sent messages of congratulations on its 15th birthday. During yesterday's special activity, the Reverend Raul Suarez addressed the crowd. He spoke about the Christian convictions that guide his institution, emphasizing that there is no contradiction between religion and revolution. In fact, the Cuban Baptist minister said that it was capitalism that is contrary to everything that Jesus preached -- particularly the competitive, selfish attitudes that necessarily accompany capitalist society. *REGIONAL MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE OF FAO ENDS ITS MEETINGS Havana, April 26 (RHC)-- The 27th Regional Conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) wrapped up in Havana this afternoon. Eighteen ministers of agriculture and experts from a total of 33 nations of Latin America and the Caribbean attended the regional conference in the Cuban capital. They reviewed the activities of the FAO in the region over the past two years -- with a special emphasis on topics related to food security. Other important items on the agenda included regional preparations for the World Food Summit, slated from June 10th through the 13th in Rome. According to the United Nations, more than one billion 200 million people in the world live below the poverty line, with some 220 million from Latin America and the Caribbean -- half of the region's population. *INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONVENTION BEGINS NEXT WEEK Havana, April 26 (RHC)-- With the motto "Facing New Challenges in the 21st Century," the International Public Health Convention 2002 will meet in Havana from May 1st through the 4th. More than 500 health care specialists from 40 countries are expected in the Cuban capital next week for the annual meeting. Convention delegates will discuss all aspects of public health care as well as exchange ideas and information with other participants from around the world. A large delegation from the United States has confirmed its presence and representatives from the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) will also take part in the international convention. According to organizers of the meeting, roundtable discussions, lectures and debates dealing with issues related to general health care, epidemiology and hygiene will be held during the four-day conference. A special symposium dealing with dengue will take place with the participation of Cuban medical experts and specialists from biological research organizations. *BUSH AND ABDULLAH SHARPLY OVER MIDDLE EAST Austin, Texas, April 26 (RHC) -- Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah has warned US President George W. Bush of grave consequences for US interests in the Middle East if Washington doesn't do more to restrain Israel. During an informal summit at Bush's Texas ranch, the Saudi ruler ridiculed Bush's description of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as "a man of peace," saying that he didn't even think that Sharon believes that. Before the meeting, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said there was "no good terrorism" but Arabs could understand the acts of suicide bombers. He insisted that there is a difference between a terrorist act such as September 11 and a suicide operation carried out by a young woman or man for whom all avenues to a dignified life have been blocked. And while a senior adviser to the crown prince ruled out any suggestion of oil being used as a weapon against Israel, a senior unnamed Saudi representative warned The New York Times earlier this week that if worst come to worst, Riyadh and other Arab states might use the oil weapon against Washington and - far from supporting a US move against Saddam Hussein - demand the closure of US military bases in the region if Bush insists on attacking Iraq. Several media outlets pointed out that unsurprisingly, no joint appearance by Bush and the Crown Prince was planned after the meeting, in what was interpreted as an effort by US officials to avoid a public brow-beating from Abdullah, who is known for speaking his mind. And while Bush again stated that Israel must finish its withdrawal, including resolution of standoffs in Ramallah and Bethlehem, in a non-violent way, Tel Aviv again ignored Washington - raiding the West Bank city of Qalqilya. *ARGENTINA HAS ANOTHER FREE MARKET ECONOMY MINISTER, SIXTH IN A YEAR Buenos Aires, April 26 (RHC) -- Argentina has a new free market economy minister, the sixth in the past 12 months. Argentina's former ambassador to the European Union, Roberto Lavagna, was given the job Friday after former Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov resigned on Tuesday. Observers are noting that with four years of a recession that has left the country's economy in tatters, Lavagne's job won't be easy. His main task will be to convince the International Monetary Fund to restart a lending program to Argentina by pushing ahead with economic shock reforms that must include public spending cuts by the provinces that many fear will lead to another major social explosion. Nevertheless, President Eduardo Duhalde is in another dilemma as the prices of basic goods continue on the rise. On Thursday he said he would consider anchoring the peso to the US dollar, just four months after the country abandoned a one-to-one peg with the US currency - a move that would receive a thumbs down from the IMF but that might tone down street protests and prevent more food riots. At the same time, Argentinean lawmakers approved late Thursday legislation that will force citizens to wait a bit longer to get access to their money from banks that have been closed all week to halt a flood of panic withdrawals. While the Argentinean Congress debated the bill, demonstrators were burning US flags and firing fireworks at the parliament. *US SENATE LEGISLATION DRAWS MORE FIRE FROM ENVIRONMENTALISTS Washington, April 26 (RHC) -- Once again environmentalists are in an uproar over new legislation passed by the US Congress. While the US Senate's refusal to open the Alaska wildlife refuge to oil companies was one of the few victories for environmentalists in the energy bill passed overwhelmingly late Thursday, critics are slamming the rejection of even modest steps to improve automobile fuel efficiency and stripping the legislation of a requirement that the Energy Department impose the more aggressive efficiency standards for air conditioners that had been proposed by the Clinton administration. Elizabeth Thompson, legislative director of the organization Environmental Defense, said that "finding environmentally friendly provisions in the bill is like looking for a needle in a haystack." Joan Claybrook, president of the organization Public Citizen, noted that the United States guzzles nearly three times more oil than it produces - despite being the third highest oil producing country in the world - while making larger vehicles that drink up more gas than ever and doing nothing to conserve. She said the 580-page bill spends billions to promote fossil fuels by subsidizing the coal industry, as well as on- and off-shore oil and gas production, ultimately contributing to harmful global warming, and hands over more than a billion dollars to the nuclear energy industry, encouraging it to expand more and create even more deadly waste. Claybrook accused the US Senate of being short-sighted, saying that instead of looking to the future and helping to prepare for it, too many senators are catering to the industries that bankrolled their campaigns - or might in the future - calling the legislation "shameful, disappointing and, frankly disgusting." Approval of the legislation coincided with a new scientific report affirming that the first three months of this year were the warmest globally since records began in 1860, and probably the warmest in the past 1,000 years. The report was released Thursday by Britain's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Department, the Meteorological Office's Hadley Center and the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia. It prompted the British department's secretary, Margaret Beckett, to affirm that "in recent years more and more people have accepted that climate change is happening and will affect the lives of our children and grandchildren," but that she feared that "we need to start worrying about ourselves as well." *"WE'D RATHER STARVE THAN BE FED BY OUR KILLERS" - PALESTINIANS IN JENIN Jenin, West Bank, April 26 (RHC) -- Palestinian officials at the Jenin refugee camp have turned down a US aid shipment of tents, food, and children's toys, saying the camp had been destroyed by Israel with US-made weapons. Residents reportedly refused to unpack the shipment, saying that they would rather die of hunger than be fed by their killers. Media outlets, meanwhile, continue reporting revelations of the atrocities committed by Israel in Jenin. The Friday edition of The Washington Post quoted an anonymous Israeli sergeant who participated in the assault as saying that "the orders were to shoot at every house, put a bullet in each window" - saying that he had been troubled by orders that did not require soldiers to actually see the Palestinian resistance fighters they were trying to kill. Though he and another Israeli soldier told the Post that they did not believe Israeli soldiers had intentionally killed Palestinian civilians, other testimony refutes that affirmation. On Thursday, the British news daily The Independent reported finding that nearly half of the 50 dead Palestinians identified so far were civilians, including women, the elderly and children. They include, found the newspaper, a nurse in uniform who was shot in the heart when she tried to help a wounded civilian, a 14-year-old boy killed when he tried to buy groceries after a curfew was lifted, and a man in a wheelchair who was shot and then crushed under a tank as he tried to wheel himself up a street. The two soldiers interviewed by The Washington Post did, however, admit that there were insufficient efforts by the Israeli army to allow civilians to leave their homes in safety, and they questioned the decision to use bulldozers to knock down houses at a time when the fighting had mostly subsided. Numerous eyewitnesses in Jenin have told news correspondents and humanitarian workers that homes were bulldozed while their occupants were inside. *WARNINGS OF HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN ANGOLA Lisbon, April 26 (RHC) -- An international humanitarian organization warned Friday that about one third of the children among the tens of thousands of Angolans leaving the country's former war zones are starving in one of Africa's worst humanitarian crises in a decade. Doctors Without Borders appealed for a global relief effort to help civilians who have poured into Angola's cities in search of food since the government and the UNITA rebel group reached a cease-fire last month. The United Nations recently stated that the cease-fire has opened up areas previously inaccessible to aid workers and given them an extra 500,000 mouths to feed, making the humanitarian situation critical. Angola's civil war drove some 4 million people from their homes, one-third of the country's population. *LE PEN SAYS HE'S NO MORE RACIST THAN BLAIR Paris, April 26 (RHC) -- France's ultra right wing leader and presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen is proving to be more of an embarrassment to Europe than expected. Le Pen affirmed Friday that he is "no more a racist" than British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has reprimanded France on several occasions for allowing immigrants to cross over into Britain using the tunnel under the channel linking the two countries. Le Pen said that if elected he would send a special train full of illegal immigrants to the British prime minister, who Wednesday condemned what he called the French presidential candidates "repugnant racism." At the same time, Le Pen accused his rival, incumbent French President Jacques Chirac, of seeking a second term to avoid a corruption investigation - stating that Chirac just wants five more years of impunity. Chirac has been personally implicated in several illegal party fundraising enterprises during his 18 years as mayor of Paris, but has rejected successive attempts by the courts to submit himself to an investigation. Le Pen's statements coincided with the biggest protests yet against the far-right leader, with more than 300,000 taking to the streets of France's major cities and towns. Viewpoint: *SHARON SENDS IN MORE TROOPS TO KILL "AS MANY PALESTINIANS AS NECESSARY" The devotion to be found 2000 years ago at Christianity's most important site, now the location of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, has been substituted today by the sound of weapons. The place is now the epicenter of military and siege operations against a group of Palestinians who have taken refuge there to escape from Israel's barbarism. In the meantime, other Palestinian cities and refugee camps have suffered the terrible consequences of the massive and very brutal attack by Ariel Sharon that began in March to crush the resistance of those who only exercise their legitimate right to defend themselves. As long as Washington continues to funnel enormous sums of money to Israel the international community cannot do much. And that is because almost all governments - particularly those of western countries - have political and economic commitments with the United States that prevent them from acting against the will of the White House. Tel Aviv, with arrogance and impunity, continues to obstruct a UN mission to investigate the massacre perpetrated by the Israeli army in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin... and the rest of the world takes no action. Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestine National Authority, remains confined in his own headquarters in Ramallah surrounded by Israeli armor and deprived of the most basic rights - not only as a government official and leader of a nation but also as a human being... and the rest of the world takes no action. On Friday, the Israeli army advanced again into the West Bank city of Kalkilya, carrying out raids and capturing dozens of Palestinians who were taken to unknown locations. This was done only 24 hours after Washington managed to pressure Sharon into withdrawing from the areas it had invaded over the past month. But, needless to say, the rest of the world stands by and takes no action. The developed nations of Europe, the renowned western democracies, the heroes of human rights and champions against terrorism take little or no action when it comes to the Middle East conflict. They suffer from a Washington-induced paralysis, which prevents them from stopping a new massacre that is no doubt taking place in Kalkilya at this moment. However, why should we be surprised at Europe's inaction? The bulk of its so-called democracies, it should be recalled, joyfully devastated Iraq, tainted the Danube with blood in their bombing of Yugoslavia, and used their most advanced arsenals against the people of Afghanistan in an unsuccessful war to capture two men. It is clear that these governments, which have very little moral authority and tamely follow Washington's bellicose policies, are unable to stop Ariel Sharon because the difference between them and his terrorist government is, at the end of the day, minimal. So it must be left to the Palestinians themselves. Who can blame them for the desperate teenage suicide bombings or the hatred of stone-throwing children who have seen so much suffering, so much bloodshed. Sharon's purpose, as we editorialized last week, is to kill as many Palestinians as necessary - his own words after the massacres of Sabra and Chatilla. Without decisive action on the part of the European Union there will surely be many more terrible things in store for the people of Palestine. (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-23849 2002-Apr-27 03:32:48