Radio Havana Cuba-20 February 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 20 Febuary 2002 . *FIDEL CASTRO MEETS WITH MEMBERS OF US-CUBA SISTER CITY ASSOCIATION *WASHINGTON PRESSURES COUNTRIES TO VOTE AGAINST CUBA IN GENEVA *CUBA PARTICIPATES IN MEETING OF LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION ASSOCIATION *IN SOUTH KOREA, BUSH TONES DOWN WAR RHETORIC, BUT PROTESTS GROW *ISRAELI TROOPS LAUNCH UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE *HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS HE WON'T BE HELD HOSTAGE BY PRIVILEGED MINORITY *PROTESTS SPREAD IN ARGENTINA *SCIENTIST SAYS US SECRECY MAY BE OBSTRUCTING ARREST ANTHRAX SUSPECT *EU ATTEMPTS TO HEAL FOREIGN POLICY RIFT WITH WASHINGTON *Viewpoint: WITH GOOD INTENTIONS? . *FIDEL CASTRO MEETS WITH MEMBERS OF US-CUBA SISTER CITY ASSOCIATION Havana, February 20 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro met Tuesday evening with members of the U.S.-Cuba Sister City Association, which ended its fifth conference here in the Cuban capital. The 150 delegates to the gathering listened intently as the Cuban leader explained the many social programs being undertaken by the Revolution. He noted that despite the obstacles placed before Cuba by the U.S. government, the island has been able to carry out far-reaching cultural and educational programs. Fidel Castro told the delegates that great efforts are being made to increase the educational level of the Cuban people, which is already very impressive. He referred to the daily television courses, known as "Universidad para Todos" or "University for All," as well as other continuing education courses. The Cuban leader also talked about efforts being made in rural areas to provide solar panels to schools that lack electricity, in addition to making sure that all schools are equipped with computers. Members of the U.S.-Cuba Sister City Association broke into applause when the Cuban president mentioned that maternity leave in Cuba has now been extended to one year with full pay. Previously, new mothers were paid their full salary for six months, with an additional six months at half pay. Following their meeting with Fidel Castro, delegates to the conference broke into smaller groups and organized trips to various cities and towns across the island. Over the next few days, they will visit their sister cities and meet with local officials. The Fifth Conference of the U.S.-Cuba Sister City Association -- "Building Bilateral Relations: A Continuous Conversation" -- met at Havana's International Convention Center on Monday and Tuesday. Delegates discussed a series of issues, including how to incorporate food and medicine into their work, the development of mutually beneficial programs and the impact of current U.S.-Cuba relations. Sister city relations already exist between Santa Clara and Bloomington, Indiana; Camagüey and Madison, Wisconsin; Havana and Mobile, Alabama; Santiago de Cuba and Oakland, California; Matanzas and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Cienfuegos and Tacoma, Washington. According to Lisa Valanti, USCSCA president, the organization's mission is "to foster sister-city relationships" and understanding through mutually beneficial exchanges between individuals, community groups, organizations and institutions in the United States with their Cuban counterparts. The first sister-city link was established between Cuba's capital and Mobile, Alabama in 1993. Since then, a number of delegations of scholars, artists, religious figures and musicians have traveled between the two cities. *WASHINGTON PRESSURES COUNTRIES TO VOTE AGAINST CUBA IN GENEVA Havana, February 20 (RHC)--The United States is applying increased pressure on countries to vote against Cuba at the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. According to a statement by the Metropolitan Coordinating Committee in Solidarity with Cuba, based in Santiago de Chile, the stepped-up pressures carried out by Washington are "brutal." The statement, published in this morning's edition of Granma newspaper, calls U.S. policies toward Cuba "based on extortion, political vendetta and arrogance." The Chilean solidarity organization warns that the United States is using blackmail against countries that have serious economic problems and desperately need the support of international lending agencies -- which Washington can veto if they don't jump on it's anti-Cuba bandwagon. The United States promotes an annual resolution before the UN Human Rights Commission, which will meet in Geneva in April, to condemn Cuba for alleged human rights violations. Written in the form of an open letter to Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, the statement also expresses concern for what is called "a systematic campaign against Cuba, launched by the Chilean media, concerning the alleged existence of Chilean citizens in Cuba who are being sought by law enforcement officials." The statement calls on the Chilean president to resist U.S. pressure by refusing to cast his country's vote against Cuba -- and "not allow Chile's foreign policy to be subordinated to the foreign policy of the United States." The open letter says that Chilean foreign policy "should be fundamentally based on Latin American solidarity." *CUBA PARTICIPATES IN MEETING OF LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION ASSOCIATION Montevideo, February 20 (RHC)--Cuba will take part in a meeting of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), which gets underway tomorrow, Thursday, in the Uruguayan capital. Cuban Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas told reporters that delegates to the meeting in Montevideo would evaluate the organization's work over the past 20 years and make projections for the future. He noted that the ALADI meeting is taking place during a very complex time for Latin America -- not only in terms of the current economic and political situation in a number of member countries, but also given the future challenges for regional integration. Ricardo Cabrisas noted that a new secretary general for the association could be selected during the upcoming two-day meeting, or the current head of ALADI, Jose Francisco Rojas from Argentina, could be reconfirmed. Cuba became a full member of the Latin American Integration Association in August 1999 -- joining Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay. *IN SOUTH KOREA, BUSH TONES DOWN WAR RHETORIC, BUT PROTESTS GROW Anumunjom, South Korea, February 20 (RHC)--Though visiting US President George W. Bush told South Koreans that he had no intentions of invading or attacking North Korea, Wednesday saw violent anti-American protests throughout the country. As Bush stated that he fully supported South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's so-called sunshine policy of negotiations with the north, thousands in the capital engaged in pitched battles with hundreds of riot police as protesters shouted that they were against Bush and against war. Thousands more police were deployed in the center of the city along the route Bush was to take for a meeting with the South Korean president at his official residence. The protests followed Tuesday's ruckus in South Korea's National Assembly when a ruling party lawmaker called Bush the "incarnation of evil," in response to the US president's recent "axis of evil" remark. The statement by Representative Song Seok-chan of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, coupled with a denunciation of corruption within opposition circles, led to insults and pushing and shoving on the floor of the legislature. Observers are noting that Bush's remark about not planning to attack North Koreas showed the extent to which he has had to reassure US allies at a time when his harsh words are still rebounding around the world. *ISRAELI TROOPS LAUNCH UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE Ramallah, Tel Aviv, February 20 (RHC)--Israeli troops have launched the most violent attack in occupied Palestinian territories in the 17 months of the Intifada as criticism of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon continues on the rise. Israeli troops killed close to 20 Palestinians in reprisal for a Palestinian shooting ambush that killed six Israeli soldiers -- also one of the deadliest attacks against Israeli soldiers. An Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile at an intelligence facility inside Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah, which hit just a few meters from the Palestinian leader in his office. One of Arafat's advisers said the Palestinians have a right to resist and fight the Israeli occupation, implying support for the ambush on Israeli soldiers, though reiterating opposition to attacks inside Israel. Though the ambush is stepping up right-wing pressure on Sharon to strike a crippling blow against the Palestinian National Authority, the call to withdraw from occupied territories and grant independence to the Palestinians issued by Israeli army reservists, high-ranking retired military officers, a growing peace movement and local media outlets is also growing. A protest that began with 52 Israeli reservists and retired combat officers signing a petition in which they refuse to serve in the occupied territories and condemn Israel's systematic violation of the Palestinian people's right, has now grown to 250 -- and the number is expected to continue growing. They say they will not continue to fight in missions of occupation and oppression to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people. The army has stripped some of them of their ranks, but is reportedly wary of the intense media spotlight and is careful not to draw more negative publicity by sending them to prison. >From the center-left of the Israeli political spectrum, meanwhile, Israel's "Ha'aretz" news daily asserted Wednesday that there is growing demand in the street for a new political approach instead of the stubborn insistence by the government and the army to opt for a military solution. From the right of that spectrum, an article in today's edition of "The Jerusalem Post" affirmed that Sharon is a man without a plan who has failed to enhance Israeli security and has failed to root out what it called Palestinian terror. *HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS HE WON'T BE HELD HOSTAGE BY PRIVILEGED MINORITY Caracas, February 20 (RHC)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has vowed that he will not be held hostage by a privileged minority that got rich on the backs of the poor majority and that has no moral authority to lead the nation. Speaking late Tuesday in Caracas before the United Nations-sponsored Africa, Latin America and Caribbean Cooperation Forum, Chavez said Venezuela is today in the process of restoring the sovereignty of the majority. In that struggle, he added, the victors will be those who place their bets on the future and not the past, that the struggle is precisely one between the past and the future, between desperation and hope. Quoting the Bible, Chavez said may he who has eyes look and he who has hate listen. The statements came just days after a third military officer, taking advantage of discontent within the middle class, called for the Venezuelan president's resignation -- accusing him of installing a "leftist tyranny" in the country. *PROTESTS SPREAD IN ARGENTINA Buenos Aires, February 20 (RHC)--Protests in Argentina continued to spread Wednesday as President Eduardo Duhalde vaguely backed down from a threat to unleash repression. Duhalde said society's woes and complaints resulting from an unprecedented socio-economic crisis will not be resolved with police, soldiers or bullets, though adding that there has to be a minimum of order. His statement came to the press as jobless protesters blocked nine of the principle highways and bridges leading into Buenos Aires. In the northern Jujuy, besides road blockages protesters gathered in front of provincial headquarters demanding food and school supplies for their children. Similar protests have been reported in numerous provinces, including Salta, Tucuman, Neuqen, Mar del Plata and Chaco. The growing disturbances coincided with a government report on on-going record job losses. An official government document from the presidential secretariat's office published in local media outlets revealed that 50,000 jobs were lost in the private sector in January. That was double the 25,000 jobs lost in December, while in all of 2001 130,000 workers were laid off. And according to the news daily "Clarin," business leaders plan to continue reducing personnel. Just 2 weeks ago, Argentinean Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov admitted that the country's unemployment rate had reached a record 22 percent, up from 18 percent in October. *SCIENTIST SAYS US SECRECY MAY BE OBSTRUCTING ARREST ANTHRAX SUSPECT Princeton, February 20 (RHC)--US federal authorities reportedly have a prime suspect in the wave of anthrax attacks but are hushing it up because he is a former government scientist familiar with secret government research into biological weapons, according to Barbara Rosenberg, director of the Federation of American Scientists' chemical and biological weapons working group. Rosenberg said Tuesday in a speech at Princeton University that the FBI may be dragging its feet and may not be so anxious to bring to public light the person responsible for the attacks. Rosenberg said that her government sources were worried that a quiet deal is being made so the suspect just disappears from view, which would send a message to other terrorists that they could get away with it. She said the FBI has questioned that person more than once since last October, that the suspect might have worked at a US military laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland, that he would have been vaccinated and that he would have access to classified information about modifying anthrax spores to make them stay airborne. Doctor Rosenberg wondered whether the suspect knows something that he believes to be sufficiently damaging to the US government to make him untouchable by the FBI. Several other scientists have argued in recent weeks that the perpetrator must have worked in the US government's biological weapons program, criticizing the wide scope of the FBI investigation. Doctor Elisa Harris, a former national security council advisor, recently said that authorities should be able to narrow the investigation down to a fairly limited number of facilities, and that she found it puzzling that the FBI has approached all 40,000 members of the American Society of Microbiologists. *EU ATTEMPTS TO HEAL FOREIGN POLICY RIFT WITH WASHINGTON Brussels, February 20 (RHC)--The European Union's two foreign policy chiefs have called for a calmer tone in the transatlantic dispute over Washington's foreign policy, while nevertheless reiterating opposition to US military action against Iraq. Javier Solana, the EU's common foreign and security policy commissioner, said there was a need to avoid what he called "megaphone diplomacy" and close the widening EU-US gap. EU external affairs commissioner Chris Patten, who recently launched the most scathing criticism of what he called the US's "absolutist and simplistic" foreign policy, lowered the tone by saying that he wants to convince Washington that a multilateral approach would pay dividends for the US as well as Europe. Admitting that he had "lost his cool" in his criticism of Washington, Patten nevertheless made it clear that he stood by the EU's policy of engagement with Iran and North Korea. The government of France, however, has not sought to soothe ruffled feathers in Washington. French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin Wednesday accused the US administration of implementing, in his words, a "Texan-style foreign policy." *Viewpoint: WITH GOOD INTENTIONS? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. According to the World Bank, in order to achieve the goal of cutting world poverty in half by the year 2015, it is necessary for the industrialized countries to double official development assistance and significantly increase private sector investment. Also important will be the willingness of donor nations and multilateral financial organizations, like the World Bank itself, to substantially increase assistance directed towards expanding the South's basic social infrastructure. "In this case it takes three to tango," commented the bank's vice president for Private Sector Development, Nemat Shafik. If the poor of Latin America, Asia and Africa don't obtain greater access to electricity, clean drinking water, transportation and telecommunications, "it is highly doubtful that the international goal of reducing world poverty by half by the year 2015 can be achieved." The financial institution noted that as a consequence of what it called "the poverty of infrastructure" electricity is denied to more than a billion and half people who are forced to use fuels that pollute the atmosphere and cause respiratory disease. Though it seems absurd, some 1.2 billion people don't have access to drinking water and "due to insufficient sanitation" 2.4 billion are forced to live in polluted environments where disease abounds. Although 900 million people reside in rural areas without passable roads, the urban areas aren't any better. "The lack of infrastructure services in the poor countries continues to increase as the population itself increases, especially in the cities. Of the over 2 billion inhabitants that will exist in the developing world in the year 2025, more than 90 per cent will live in urban areas, which will double in size," says a World Bank report. "According to current trends, these new urban residents will live stacked on top of each other in massive ghettos, without services, without property rights and security and will have to struggle to survive in unregulated and expensive parallel markets" continues the study. Already in Latin America "25 per cent of the urban population, 90 million people, live in marginalized neighborhoods. Faced with such enormous injustice, the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, recommended that "it is necessary for the governments of the developing countries to establish the conditions for creating better access of infrastructure services by way of the promotion of more efficient government attention. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and cycism. Thirty years ago, the rich nations pledged to earmark seven per cent of their Gross National Product to help development, a duty which only five countries have complied with: Holland, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark and Sweden. As World Bank president Wolfensohn says, "the rich countries spend seven times more on subsidizing agriculture than they spend on assistance to Third World countries." And one last observation: the World Bank, created after World War II to assist the poor, has not only changed its vision and purpose but along with the International Monetary Fund it provides a double protector of big capital -- a great supplier of global poverty and inequality. (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-25027 2002-Feb-21 02:04:04