Radio Havana Cuba-11 January 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 11 January 2002 . *VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ PRAISES CUBA'S COURAGE AND DIGNITY *DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THANKS CUBA FOR ASSISTANCE *SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN BOLIVIA DEMANDS RELEASE OF U.S.-HELD CUBAN PRISONERS *COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ISSUES ULTIMATUM TO LEFTIST REBELS *MAINSTREAM US MEDIA CAN'T IGNORE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TIES TO ENRON SCANDAL *NEW ARGENTINE PRESIDENT FACES FIRST MASSIVE PROTEST OVER CURRENCY DECREE *ISRAEL: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS SCATHING ON ARMY IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES *Viewpoint: COUP D' ETAT IN MANAGUA . *VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ PRAISES CUBA'S COURAGE AND DIGNITY Caracas, January 11 (RHC)-- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has praised Cuba's example of courage and dignity in the face of increasing international economic and social pressures. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the country's new minister of education, the Venezuelan leader expressed his solidarity with the region and noted that poverty is one of the main causes of recent social explosions in Argentina and other Latin American countries. Hugo Chavez told more than 3000 persons gathered at the Teresa Carreno Theater in Caracas that he admired Cuba's attempts to establish an alternative economic model to free market neo-liberalism -- adding that Venezuela is also working to establish such a model. Chavez asked the audience: "What good is the economy if people are not taken into account?" The Venezuelan president said that after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European socialist camp, the media launched a vicious campaign to try to convince people that there were no alternatives to capitalism. He emphasized that Cuba has proven them wrong and that Venezuela is following close behind. During his speech at the inauguration of the new cabinet minister, Hugo Chavez noted that upon coming into office, his administration found that only 2.8 percent of the country's budget was earmarked for education. Now, Venezuela dedicates nearly seven percent to education, with plans to raise the figure even more. *DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THANKS CUBA FOR ASSISTANCE Santo Domingo, January 11 (RHC)-- The President of the Dominican Republic, Hipólito Mejía, has praised Cuba's professional assistance to his country in various areas, among them health and sports. During a working breakfast at the residence of Cuba's ambassador to the sister Caribbean island, Miguel Pérez, the Dominican president asked the Cuban diplomat to convey a message to his Cuban counterpart, President Fidel Castro. He thanked the Cuban leader, as well as Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque, for the 50 scholarships for young Dominicans to study at Havana's Latin American School of Medical Sciences. In welcoming the Dominican president, the Cuban ambassador said the visit is further evidence of the friendship and solidarity between the two governments and peoples. *SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN BOLIVIA DEMANDS RELEASE OF U.S.-HELD CUBAN PRISONERS La Paz, January 11 (RHC)-- Bolivia's Assembly for the Sovereignty of the Peoples -- known by its Spanish acronym ASP -- has demanded the immediate release of five Cuban citizens being held in U.S. federal jail for fighting terrorism. The Bolivian social organization also condemned "the corrupt, cynical, inhumane attitude of the U.S. judicial apparatus which, under the control of Miami's right-wing Cuban-American community, orchestrated a political farce against Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, René González and Antonio Guerrero." The ASP said the Miami court "purposefully and wrongly convicted them for crimes they did not commit." The statement underscores that the five Cuban patriots were in Miami to monitor the activities of the so-called Cuban-American National Foundation and other anti-Cuba groups in an attempt to prevent terrorist acts carried out by these groups. In its statement, the Bolivian social organization strongly rejects the false allegations that the five Cubans endangered U.S. national security -- noting that the real threat is posed by confessed terrorists who freely act with the tolerance and even complicity of U.S. authorities. Finally, the Bolivian Association for the Sovereignty of the Peoples calls on activists to close ranks and demand freedom for the five U.S.-held political prisoners. *COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ISSUES ULTIMATUM TO LEFTIST REBELS San Vicente del Caguan, January 11 (RHC)-- Colombian President Andres Pastrana has extended his deadline for resuming peace negotiations as government troops step up activity around the vast demilitarized zone. As an earlier 48-hour deadline neared for the rebels to leave the zone, Pastrana said the United Nations special envoy for Colombia, James LeMoyne, had asked for another chance to meet guerrilla leaders. Pastrana said LeMoyne now had until Saturday evening to persuade the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces to return to peace talks. But the guerrilla organization continues insisting that it never left the negotiation table, that it was government negotiators who abandoned talks while accusing the rebels of not being serious about negotiations. Observers are noting that LeMoyne's task is to persuade the rebels to give up on their demand that the Colombian military cease its stepped-up patrols around and overflights above the demilitarized zone. Meanwhile, the 50,000 Colombians who live in the demilitarized zone are reported frightened since civilians are frequently targeted by the army and right-wing paramilitaries for aid they are perceived to have given to leftist guerrillas. For months, the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia have been poised outside the zone waiting for an opportunity to enter. Many worry that the Colombian army could escort paramilitary forces, whose ranks include many former soldiers, into the area despite government assurances concerning the safety of the civilian population. *MAINSTREAM US MEDIA CAN'T IGNORE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TIES TO ENRON SCANDAL Washington, January 11 (RHC)-- Influential mainstream media in the United States are no longer able to ignore the George W. Bush administration's ties to the Enron finance scandal -- though some are still trying to save Bush himself. A front-page article in Friday's New York Times, entitled "A Familiar Capital Script," affirmed that the rapidly exploding Enron inquiry presents elements reminiscent of earlier Washington scandals, including carefully phrased denials, noting that in a mater of hours, it sent the White House into a full-scale effort to contain the potential damage to President Bush. But the article went on to erroneously assert that no one has suggested that Bush has done anything wrong, even though the connections between his presidency and Enron are "uncomfortably close." Numerous alternative media and even mainstream press like The Los Angeles Times have long suggested that Bush did, in fact, do something wrong -- though neither the Times nor The Washington Post delved into the story. But today, The Washington Post took a look into the campaign contributions from Enron executives to Attorney General John Ashcroft's campaign -- noting that Ashcroft on Thursday rushed to distance himself from his own Justice Department's recently announced criminal investigation into Enron's collapse. The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile -- in a Thursday article entitled "Compassionately Conserving Enron" -- affirmed that now we know why the White House has spent the better part of a year fending off congressional efforts to find out who Vice President Richard Cheney met with for input on his energy task force. The newspaper asserted that during his run for the White House, Bush tried to convince the public that he was a compassionate conservative, though recent events make it clear that he is actually "the standard-bearer of a far more coldhearted breed: the Enron conservatives, people who use political money and connections as levers to free themselves of all accountability to laws, regulations and responsibility, even to their own employees." The Los Angeles Times' staff writer Arianna Huffington wrote "to put it simply, they are people who consistently, shamelessly and aggressively put their self-interest above the public interest, destroying lives in the process." The House Government Reform Committee's highly critical statements of White House contacts with Enron, and the subsequent Justice Department announcement of a criminal investigation, are flooding the U.S. media some three months after the giant energy firm stole the life savings of its employees while providing multimillion-dollar bonuses to its executives as the company came crashing down. Meanwhile, a Justice Department audit has thus far determined that Enron destroyed thousands of documents late last year and that its executives discussed the firm's bankruptcy with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Commerce Secretary Don Evans. Investigators now reportedly say they don't have evidence to prove that Enron abided by the law upon declaring bankruptcy and firing some 4000 employees who lost their life savings. The firm that most benefited from the energy crisis in California and other Western states in the U.S. was found to have destroyed all documents pertaining to the retirement savings of fired employees and severance pay for those workers. *NEW ARGENTINE PRESIDENT FACES FIRST MASSIVE PROTEST OVER CURRENCY DECREE Buenos Aires, January 11 (RHC)-- Following Argentina's long night of massive pot-banging protests and some violent street protests, Friday the government finally allowed the value of the peso to float -- in what is being called the baptism of fire of the country's currency devaluation. Argentineans angry over the government's decision to further freeze savings accounts triggered the first major street protest since Eduardo Duhalde since he took office on January 2nd as the country's fifth president in less than a month. And at least the initial operations in currency exchange houses did not bring good news. Minutes after trading began at 13 hundred hours GMT, it took 1.80 pesos to buy one U.S. dollar after authorities had placed the dollar at 1.40 pesos. Some finance experts are warning that the currency's value may plummet quickly, and could depreciate to 2.70 pesos to the dollar by year's end. That would have devastating consequences for ordinary Argentineans, increasing inflation and bringing on drastic price hikes. Prices on imported goods like computers and camera film have shot up around 40 percent, while even local raw produce such as wheat, bananas and beef have increased by as much as 40 percent as producers prefer to hold on to stock rather than sell in today's uncertain times. *ISRAEL: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS SCATHING ON ARMY IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES Tel Aviv, January 11 (RHC)-- Human rights activists in Israel have issued the most scathing criticism ever of the Israeli army's crimes and abuse in occupied Palestinian territories. The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, also known by its Hebrew name B'Tselem, has charged that Tel Aviv's army is behaving with "blatant disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians" and a "complete lack of military accountability." The report comes amid the Israeli army's demolition of dozens of Palestinian homes -- leaving hundreds homeless -- the destruction of the airport in the Gaza Strip and the virtual house arrest of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. These new actions are in reprisal for a Palestinian attack against an Israeli military checkpoint that left four Israeli soldiers dead and six wounded before the two Palestinian attackers were shot and killed. The militant Hamas group claimed responsibility. The report covers the fatal shootings of 15 Palestinians, at least nine of whom were unarmed, after the army's incursion into the Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem region between last October 19 and 25. B'Tselem's investigation found that "in all the cases described in the report, no shots were fired toward Israeli Defense Force soldiers from the immediate vicinity of the civilians who were killed." The report said that these are not isolated incidents. The Israeli military's response to B'Tselem's report was that it was unfamiliar with most of the cases described, despite the fact that they have been previously reported by journalists and human rights groups. Among the cases covered are the killings of four unarmed Palestinians in their homes in the Aida refugee camp by Israeli gunfire from the Intercontinental Hotel. It also cites damage inflicted by the Israeli shelling of Bethlehem's two major hospitals, the killings of two Palestinians by indiscriminate gunfire from Israeli armored personnel carriers as the army entered Bethlehem, and the killing of a 16-year-old boy in the square of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem -- far away from the Latin Cemetery from where Palestinians were firing at Israeli positions. *Viewpoint: COUP D' ETAT IN MANAGUA Businessman Enrique Bolanos has assumed the presidency in Nicaragua, but he has been unable to rid himself of his predecessor, the corrupt Arnoldo Aleman. Unpopular Aleman will remain on as head of the Congress, playing a starring role in yet another episode of his habitual party maneuvering. The newly-elected Nicaraguan president looked on in amazement while in one of his typical tricks, his fellow Constitutional Liberal Party member, Aleman, managed to have himself named as the president of Parliament. Both Bolanos and the opposition Sandinista Front had supported liberal dissident Jaime Cuadra as their choice for the leader of the Congress over the next five years, as a way to bridge the political polarization engendered by the administration of outgoing head of state, Arnoldo Aleman. But it will be Aleman, after negotiating the resignation of former Parliament president, Oscar Moncada, who will be telling Bolanos what he can legally do as president of the Republic. So Arnoldo Aleman has left the presidency of Nicaragua, only to assume another presidency in a virtual coup d'etat. Mr. Aleman ended his term like a good student of the International Monetary Fund, from which he received his directions on further entrenching the neo-liberal economy imposed in Nicaragua since the early l990's. The results of those cruel policies? The weakest country socially in Central America exhibits faint macroeconomic indicators, like reduced inflation and a slight growth in the Domestic Gross Product. But it has come at a high cost for the great majority of the people. Extreme poverty is the norm for the country's 5.2 million inhabitants, while a tiny minority lives in opulence. Nicaragua is suffering under a top-heavy foreign debt of six billion, 600 million dollars, one of the region's largest per capita. 72 per cent of Nicaraguans are defined as living in poverty, according to official figures, though during his government Aleman preferred to concentrate resources in the partially destroyed capital of Managua, victim of several devastating earthquakes. Thanks to that "concern" today, a few high buildings are seen and some elegant shopping centers. But Aleman "forgot" to concern himself about basic services in sprawling Managua's many shantytowns. Though skillful in the personal use of public funds for himself and his friends, Aleman, did little to reduce unemployment; today registered at 25 percent. Nor did he support agrarian policies aimed at counteracting the effects of a regional drought and resulting hunger. A recent world study undertaken by the U.S. magazine, Time, placed Nicaragua 77th on a list of the 91 most corrupt countries in the world; considered to be a grave risk for national and foreign investments. Nevertheless, the U.S. government was pleased with Aleman's administration and did everything possible to keep the Sandinistas from coming to power in last November's elections which were finally won by the ruling party's candidate, Enrique Bolanos with whom Washington has just offered to cooperate. Washington, more than giving Bolanos the stamp of approval, was relived that it managed to keep Daniel Ortega out of the presidency. All in all, it appears doubtful that Enrique Bolanos is qualified to take on the complex mission that faces the president of a country as complicated and filled with political, social and economic problems as Nicaragua. (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-23065 2002-Jan-12 00:30:59