Radio Havana Cuba-07 February 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 07 Febuary 2002 . *ARGENTINA: ALFONSIN OPPOSES VOTE AGAINST CUBA AT UN RIGHTS COMMISSION *JAPAN AND CUBA CELEBRATE CENTENARY OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS *HAVANA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR INAUGURATED THURSDAY *CUBA-VENEZUELA COOPERATION ACCORD RUNNING "FULL STEAM AHEAD" *ENRON EXECS REFUSE TO TESTIFY BEFORE US CONGRESS *US PLANS TO INCREASE ARMS TO COLOMBIA JEOPARDIZE PEACE PROCESS *US GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO SET POLLUTION-REDUCTION TARGETS *VIOLENCE IN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES CONTINUES TO SPIRAL *ARGENTINA DISAPPOINTED WITH IMF RELUCTANCE TO DISH OUT MORE LOANS Viewpoint: *ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT SCRAMBLES FOR A SOLUTION AS TIME RUNS OUT . *ARGENTINA: ALFONSIN OPPOSES VOTE AGAINST CUBA AT UN RIGHTS COMMISSION Havana, February 7 (RHC)--Former Argentine President and current Senator Raul Alfonsín has called on his country's authorities to not vote against Cuba in the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Alfonsín called the commission's US-sponsored anti-Cuba campaign one of the most conspicuous examples of the discriminatory manipulation of international cooperation - in reference to Washington's apparent demand that Argentina align itself with the anti-Cuba campaign as a condition for US support of the South American nation's efforts to overcome its acute social and economic crisis. Argentina has voted against the US blockade of Cuba at the UN General Assembly, leading the former Argentine president to term as contradictory and untenable his country's support of a resolution based on arguments that attempt to justify the blockade. He added that though Cuba's concept of human rights differs from the western conception, Cuba respects other fundamental human rights much better than does Argentina - such as health care, education and housing. *JAPAN AND CUBA CELEBRATE CENTENARY OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS Havana, February 7 (RHC)--Four years ago Japan and Cuba celebrated the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the island. This year the two countries are once again celebrating a centenary - the establishment of diplomatic relations. Aside from a ten-year hiatus over the Second World War and its aftermath, the two nations have maintained diplomatic relations since 1902. Following a visit to Japan by Cuban President Fidel Castro in 1995, Tokyo began voting against the US economic blockade of Cuba as of 1997. Debt renegotiation accords signed between both countries in 1998 and 2000 also paved the way for much closer relations. Japan and Cuba now maintain excellent commercial links and the celebration of the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations is expected to further develop trade between them. *HAVANA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR INAUGURATED THURSDAY Havana, February 7 (RHC)--The Havana International Book Fair opened Thursday at the Cabaña Fortress which overlooks the capital. This year's fair - which is one of the largest of its kind in the world - is twice as large as last years with 120 book publishers and distributors represented from 24 countries. A remarkable total of five million books are expected to be sold across the nation in a fair that has now been extended to 17 Cuban cities. The Havana Fair will last through the 18th February when it will take to the provinces through the 11th March. The venture is not highly commercial, as books will be sold to Cubans for very low prices in keeping with their purchasing power. This year's honorary participant will be France, which is hosting a stand under the title "Victor Hugo: The Defender of Great Causes." Aside from the thousands of French books in both French and Spanish, Mexican, Italian, German, Norwegian and Spanish books will be well represented. The Cabaña Fortress opens its great gates to the general public tomorrow, Friday, at 10:00am when the lines are expected to be huge. *CUBA-VENEZUELA COOPERATION ACCORD RUNNING "FULL STEAM AHEAD" Havana, February 7 (RHC)--As another 70 Venezuelans flew into Cuba yesterday to be treated for various ailments in the two nations' cooperation accords signed in November of 2000, the assistant director of the program in Caracas announced that the agreement was running "full steam ahead." Among those who arrived on Wednesday, was seven-year-old José Elías who has suffered from severe psoriasis since his first birthday. His mother said that this was the third time they had been to Cuba for treatment and that her son's condition was very much better than it had been. The arrival of the 70 Venezuelans seeking medical help now brings to 1,493 the number to whom 27 different Cubans hospitals and institutions have administered. The accords were signed by Presidents Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez in an important development in relations between both countries. Cuban medical and sports know-how is being exchanged for Venezuelan preferential oil tariffs. In comments to the press at the airport where he met with the new arrivals, Dr Pedro Llerena who directs La Pradera Hospital in Havana, said that his country was exhibiting one of the most basic of human rights - that of the right to health care. *ENRON EXECS REFUSE TO TESTIFY BEFORE US CONGRESS Washington, February 7 (RHC)--The Chief Financial Officer of the scandal-ridden Enron firm has refused to testify before the US Congress. Andrew Fastow is considered a key figure in the largest bankruptcy in US history that cheated employees, stock holders and creditors out of millions of dollars while the firm generously greased the hands of its top executives. He managed the secret business partnerships through which Enron hid its losses from shareholders while making 30 million dollars for himself in the process. Representative James Greenwood, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told Fastow that stubborn witnesses won't stop lawmakers from finding out the truth. Fastow became Thursday the fourth top Enron executive to proclaim his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Michael Kopper, an Enron executive who helped manage the partnerships and earned 10 million dollars from them also remained silent, as well as Richard Causey, Enron's chief accounting officer, and Richard Buy, the firm's risk officer. An internal report authored by three members of Enron's board of directors, and called a bombshell in media outlets, criticizes all the witnesses for their actions at the firm. Meanwhile, some lawmakers are using the specter of the Enron scandal to urge the defeat of a measure that would make it harder to sue large corporations. Representative John Conyers said he is shocked that in the midst of one of the greatest financial rip-offs of all time the House Judiciary Committee would even consider legislation that would make it easier for corporations, their lawyers and their accountants to engage in fraud and deceit. *US PLANS TO INCREASE ARMS TO COLOMBIA JEOPARDIZE PEACE PROCESS Bogotá, February 7 (RHC)--US President George W. Bush's efforts to increase military aid to Colombia has driven another wedge into the Andean nation's rebel-government peace process. After having agreed in late January to discuss a ceasefire, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces insurgency is now first demanding a pullout of US military advisors. In a communiqué released Wednesday, the guerrilla organization charged that the government has unleashed an undeclared war on the Colombian people, on which it spends more than a third of the national budget and in which foreign military advisors, particularly Americans, are involved in an undignified violation of Colombia's national sovereignty. In reference to the Bush administration's plan to help Colombia protect an oil pipeline from guerrilla attacks, rebel leaders said "the mask has been taken off." The plan, which faces debate in the US Congress, marks a departure from a policy that had previously limited military aid to Colombia to wiping out drugs. Some key US lawmakers are concerned about the Colombian army's human rights record, and fear deeper US involvement in the country's 38-year-old civil war. The guerrilla organization has also demanded a purge of the Colombian army, persecution of right-wing paramilitary death squads and an end to the extradition of Colombian nationals to the United States. According to observers, the government and rebels now appear light-years away from setting ceasefire terms by April 7, as the warring sides pledged to do last month. *US GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO SET POLLUTION-REDUCTION TARGETS Washington, February 7 (RHC)--Washington has decided not to set any targets for reducing its own massive emissions of polluting gases, in what is being called a challenge to the rest of the world's increasing fears about the effect of climatic changes. President George W. Bush, who last year repudiated the Kyoto protocol on global warming and promised to come up with an alternative strategy, has reportedly decided not to impose any regulations and to rely on industry to come up with solutions. The British news daily "The Guardian" reported Thursday that the policy is contained in an economic report to the president published Wednesday evening, and that it adds insult to injury by again casting doubt on the validity of the science of global warming. The White House claimed that the economic report is not the last word on climatic changes, but critics are skeptical. With 4 percent of the world population but producing 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions, the Bush administration faces worldwide condemnation for failing to tackle global warming. Late Wednesday, the European Parliament voted 540 to 4 for the EU to press ahead and ratify the Kyoto agreement without the US, binding Europe to an 8 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2010. According to Tony Juniper, acting director of the prestigious environmental organization Friends of the Earth, the US is in danger of being isolated in a world stunned by its double standards. He said Washington builds military coalitions to further its interests and then refuses to cooperate with the rest of the world to save the environment. *VIOLENCE IN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES CONTINUES TO SPIRAL Ramallah, February 7 (RHC)--Violence in occupied Palestinian territories continued to spiral as ultra right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon traveled to Washington in a further effort to isolate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Large crowds of Palestinians in the cities of Nablus and Jenin stormed jails to release more than 20 Islamic militants of the radical organizations Hamas and Jihad - fearing an Israeli bombardment of the detention centers - just several hours after Israel bombarded autonomous territories in reprisal for a Palestinian attack against a Jewish settlement. A heavily armed Palestinian Wednesday evening penetrated the Hamra Jewish settlement in the West Bank killing a soldier, a woman and her 11-year-old daughter before he was killed by Israeli security forces. In reprisal, Israeli jets bombarded the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority in Nablus, wounding 11 people. Meanwhile, the White House Thursday announced that President Bush won't sever ties with Arafat, as Sharon is urging, despite Washington's constant criticism of the Palestinian leader's inability to curb Palestinian attacks against Israeli citizens. Arafat told the BBC that his government is doing everything possible, but to not forget that they are under siege. He said his hands are tied because of the Israeli blockade on him and his security forces. This is Sharon's fourth visit to Washington since he was elected last year, while Arafat has yet to be invited by the White House. *ARGENTINA DISAPPOINTED WITH IMF RELUCTANCE TO DISH OUT MORE LOANS Buenos Aires, February 7 (RHC)--The government of Argentina has voiced frustration at the International Monetary Fund's aloof attitude toward the country's efforts to obtain emergency loans. Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov stated Wednesday that there should have been a stronger reply from the IMF to the economic austerity plans the government unveiled this week. The measures are much in line with IMF policies, but US Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, John Taylor, told a congressional hearing that the Bush administration still expects Argentina to implement some politically painful measures to qualify for an international loan. Meanwhile, street demonstrations and pot-banging protests have continued throughout Argentina as authorities announce another record unemployment rate. The local news daily "La Nacion" reported Thursday that according to official statistics, unemployment now affects between 22 and 23 percent of the economically-active population - translating into 3 million 200 thousand jobless Argentineans. According to some private survey firms, the jobless rate is even higher in some regions. And the short-term perspectives are not optimistic. Argentina's Statistics and Census Institute is predicting another record unemployment rate, while the consulting firm Equis has warned that as a result, the poverty rate has increased from 44 to 48 percent of the population. Viewpoint: *ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT SCRAMBLES FOR A SOLUTION AS TIME RUNS OUT Argentine authorities could say that there is a lack of communication with their International Monetary Fund advisors, because no matter how much Buenos Aires writes or calls, they never answer. That was the bitter complaint registered by the South American nation's economy minister, Jorge Remes Lenicov. The Argentinean minister was forced to admit that the financial package that was announced last Sunday by a recent IMF mission contains no answers. The problem is that the current Argentinean government is living on borrowed time until the bank holiday ends on Monday and the new flotation of the peso against the dollar begins. Monday is also the day that banks will be obliged to liberate Argentinean's dollar bank accounts. It is only then that the true dimensions will be seen of the rate of inflation sparked by the economic crisis and the devaluation of the peso in January. That means beginning on Monday, we will see if the economic makeup job consisting of the measures announced by President Eduardo Duhalde, generate confidence among the population. Or if the debacle will continue; and now it isn't just an economic matter, but a social, political and institutional crisis. We say the measures are merely cosmetic because all the elements that sparked the crisis in the first place still exist. Some problems have even become worse in the last few weeks, like the face off between the executive and the Supreme Court, whose magistrates are now the objective of an investigation for corruption and embezzlement. The country's foreign debt continues soaring to new heights: the 141 billion dollars represents 90 per cent of Argentina's Gross Domestic Product last year and at least 50 billion must be immediately renegotiated if the country is to keep from falling into bankruptcy. The officially acknowledged unemployment rate has risen to 23 per cent, which means three million 200 thousand workers in the street, which has had a tremendous affect on poverty indices. Industrial production is off 18 per cent and supermarket sales have fallen by 14 per cent so far this year. Shopping centers and automobile production have been hard hit, registering their worst results ever in January with shopping center sales falling by 35 per cent and auto sales down 65 per cent. Naturally, as a result, tax payments dropped by a fifth in January and it looks just as bad for February. In this difficult scenario with ever more people protesting in the streets and discontent growing daily, the government measures are like prescribing an aspirin to a terminal cancer patient. The architects of neoliberal market policies must be feeling nervous as they watch the Argentinean economy crumble before their eyes, after 15 years of implementing their system. And there is certain logic in the fact that the agonized calls of Argentinean authorities to their "partners" in the IMF are going unanswered, despite the former close relations. The financial institutions' ladies and gentlemen wish to avoid at all costs, dirtying their fine business suits in the dust that is flying as the country's entire economic and social system crashes to the earth. (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-20727 2002-Feb-08 03:03:57