Radio Havana Cuba-22 January 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 22 January 2002 . *CUBA ANNOUNCES PLAN TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE *CUBA AMONG MAJOR CARIBBEAN CRUISE SHIP DESTINATIONS *FIRST CRUISE SHIP ARRIVES IN JARDINES DEL REY RESORT *ESCALATING VIOLENCE AS ISRAELI TROOPS TAKE OVER WEST BANK TOWN *AFGHAN VICTIMS OF US BOMBINGS DEMAND COMPENSATION *US WARPLANES HIT IRAQ... AGAIN *WASHINGTON FACES GROWING CRITICISM OVER TREATMENT OF PRISONERS *PERUVIAN SUPREME COURT HEARS APPEAL OF LORI BERENSON *Viewpoint: BUSH CELEBRATES FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE . *CUBA ANNOUNCES PLAN TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE Havana, January 22 (RHC)-- Despite the current world crisis, Cuba has plans to reduce its unemployment rate, which is already the lowest in Latin America. Cuba's Labor and Social Security Minister Alfredo Morales explained that a drop in the jobless rate is the goal of a new strategy implemented by Cuban authorities, which includes reforms in social and economic conditions, as well as the creation of new jobs. The Cuban official pointed to a series of short-term higher education courses that have begun island wide, designed to bring young people back into classrooms to receive professional training for future jobs in social work and nursing among other professions. The new plan would train and then put young people to work in areas in which there is a critical lack of trained personnel. The Cuban labor and social security Minister also pointed to urban agriculture as a permanent source of employment, saying that in the year 2001 alone over 51,000 new jobs were created. According to the Cuban official, social security is yet another prioritized area for which Cuban authorities have earmarked 11 percent of the gross national product. President of the Cuban National Bank, Francisco Soberon, insisted on the need to achieve greater efficiency in the use of available materials as well as human resources and pointed out that all the new measures are economically feasible. *CUBA AMONG MAJOR CARIBBEAN CRUISE SHIP DESTINATIONS Havana, January 22 (RHC)-- Ports in Havana and the Isle of Youth will be included among the principal destinations of the Italian "Festival" cruise ship line, which will increase its trips this year to the Caribbean. Marite Lopez, head of the Cuban tourism office in Spain, explained that the Cuban ports symbolize the endemic natural beauty of the Caribbean area, and places where visitors can enjoy their vacations safely in natural, beautiful settings. The executive president of Festival cruises, Santiago Labrador, said it is still too soon to mention figures, but pointed to his firm's expectations to operate at full capacity of 3,400 passengers a week. The Latino Caribbean Program, organized by the Italian cruise company, will inaugurate its new weeklong tours throughout the Caribbean next April. The trip begins in Havana then goes to Progress Harbor, Cozumel Island, the Grand Caiman Islands and the Isle of Youth before returning to Havana. The Italian cruise line began traveling to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean two years ago. From April to December this year, it plans to introduce a special program in four Caribbean ports, which includes the Grand Caiman Islands. *FIRST CRUISE SHIP ARRIVES IN JARDINES DEL REY RESORT Ciego de Avila, January 22 (RHC)-- The tourist destination Jardines del Rey in eastern Ciego de Avila province, the country's third most important, has taken a significant step in expanding services with the arrival there of the first cruise ship from the Caribbean. The Black Prince cruise ship, with 450 English visitors aboard, arrived near Playa Pilar beach, a site immortalized in the story "Islands in the Stream" by U.S. writer Ernest Hemingway. During the ship's eight-hour visit, tourists enjoyed a variety of options created by the hotel chains operating in the area. Tour operators in Jardines del Rey announced that arrangements have been made for the arrival of another cruise ship in March. Porto Sol Marina, which operates in Cayo Guillermo, offers a number of services, including drinking water, electricity, and shelter, as well as migratory, customs and port services, which encourages the arrival of cruise ships traveling in the area. Visitors will have a unique opportunity to enjoy scuba diving in some 40 locations off Cuban coral reefs, which are considered the second largest in the world. *ESCALATING VIOLENCE AS ISRAELI TROOPS TAKE OVER WEST BANK TOWN Jerusalem, January 22 (RHC)-- For the first time in 16 months of fighting, Israeli forces occupied a major Palestinian town in the West Bank on Monday, seizing the mayor's home and dozens of other buildings. Israeli troops also arrested about 20 people in house-to-house sweeps and imposed a general curfew on the 45,000 residents of Tulkarm. In the past year, Israeli troops and tanks have encircled and besieged virtually every West Bank town and taken over neighborhoods for days or weeks. But they never before occupied an entire town as they did with Tulkarm, located northeast of Tel Aviv. In size and scope, the pre-dawn assault on the town was among Israel's largest military operations in the Palestinian territories since the war of 1967. With dozens of Israeli tanks and armored vehicles, helicopter gunships and large numbers of infantry, resistance was described as scattered. Two Palestinians were killed and nine wounded; there were no Israeli casualties. Officials in Tel Aviv claim that Tulkarm was a launching pad for a number of recent terrorist attacks. Troops began withdrawing after occupying the town for a little more than 30 hours -- but observers noted that the military occupation represents a new and dangerous escalation in Israeli violence against the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestine National Authority, called the occupation of Tulkarm "the crossing of all red lines" and a "vicious aggression." Just before dawn on Tuesday, Israeli tanks entered a neighborhood in the West Bank town of Nablus. Preliminary reports say that at least five Palestinians were killed. A Palestinian security official said Tel Aviv informed him that the Nablus raid would be "limited in scope." In recent interviews and statements, high-ranking Israeli army officers, government officials and military analysts have suggested that Tel Aviv was preparing raids into Palestinian territories that would be more far-reaching in depth and duration than those before. Some even say that Israel is planning to re-occupy all the territories they took over during the war of '67. One top military official, who requested anonymity, told reporters "at the end of the day, we'll find ourselves controlling all of the territories." In Tulkarm, where tanks were situated throughout the town and troops took up positions in strategically located apartment buildings, local officials said townspeople were shocked. All major roads in the town were off-limits to Palestinians and Israeli troops warned people to stay indoors. A member of the Palestinian parliament from Tulkarm, Hassan Khreisha, stated: "We didn't see deployments like this even in the 1967 war when Israel fought against three Arab countries," emphasizing that this constitutes "a reoccupation of Palestinian territories." Inside Israel, dissenting voices are being drowned out by those calling for revenge against Palestinian attacks. One opposition lawmaker in Tel Aviv, Zahava Gal-On from the Meretz Party, warned that going back to the time of complete occupation of Palestinian territories was very dangerous. She recalled that Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon began with promises of "a limited incursion." Gal-On noted that, in the end, Israeli troops stayed in Lebanon for 18 years. *AFGHAN VICTIMS OF US BOMBINGS DEMAND COMPENSATION Kabul, January 22 (RHC)-- Afghan victims of U.S. bombings are demanding compensation and a group of Americans who lost family members in the September 11th terrorist attacks are coming to their aid. Victims of the attacks in New York and Washington handed over compensation claims to U.S. officials in Kabul on Tuesday -- calling on the United States to take responsibility for the damage inflicted on the people of Afghanistan. The presentation of the demands was the culmination of an eight-day visit to Afghanistan by a group of four Americans who lost family members when terrorists crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Kelly Campbell, whose brother-in-law Craig Amundson was killed in the Pentagon attack, said the group had met dozens of Afghan victims since they arrived in the country. She told reporters that they had met with people who have lost their loved ones to the U.S. bombing and talked with children who have lost their arms or legs to U.S. cluster bombs. Campbell said people's lives have been destroyed and that she believed her government should give them compensation. Among those making a claim was Harafa Ahmad, who lost eight members of her family when her home was hit by a bomb on November 7th. She told reporters she had arrived on her own at the gates of the U.S. embassy but had been turned away by officials, adding -- in her words: "They treated me like a beggar." The head of Global Exchange, a U.S.-based NGO that organized the visit, Medea Benjamin, handed over claims from 12 families to the commanding officer of the U.S. Marines in Kabul, Captain Ferral Sullivan. She said there had been precedents in Lebanon, Grenada and Panama for Washington paying compensation to families of civilians killed in U.S. bombing campaigns. Benjamin said the Afghan families believe they are also innocent victims of September 11th and have nowhere else to turn. She said one study had indicated that at least 4000 civilians were killed in the bombings, which are still continuing, but believed this figure was vastly underestimated. *US WARPLANES HIT IRAQ... AGAIN Baghdad, January 22 (RHC)-- U.S. warplanes attacked areas in southern Iraq on Monday, in what Washington says were "hostile threats" against flights patrolling the region. The air raid was yet another in a long series of attacks against Iraqi forces that have taken place since 1992, when the United States established so-called "no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq. Baghdad insists that the zones are a violation of its national sovereignty. While other measures against Iraq have been pushed through the United Nations Security Council by Washington, the "no-fly" zones were unilaterally declared by the United States and have no international recognition. U.S. and British planes frequently attack positions in northern and southern Iraq, claiming that their surveillance flights are being threatened. *WASHINGTON FACES GROWING CRITICISM OVER TREATMENT OF PRISONERS London, January 22 (RHC)-- The United States is apparently losing support for its war on terrorism over its treatment of Taliban prisoners. According to reports from the British press, while protests about the treatment of prisoners taken to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo have not made headlines in the U.S., many allies are seriously questioning Washington's actions. While British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been restrained about making any comment, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has publicly criticized the treatment of Taliban prisoners. Another senior British official, who asked not be identified, said that until the question of Guantánamo is sorted out once and for all, the issue will damage Blair's new, special relationship with U.S. President George W. Bush. The British media reveals that the main question centers on the definition of a prisoner of war. While the Geneva Convention of 1949 is clear, U.S. authorities are not -- choosing to call them "unlawful combatants." According to the Geneva Convention, a prisoner of war is only obliged to give name, rank and serial number, but news reports are saying that the United States plans full-scale interrogations. There is also the question of military tribunals, which Washington is planning to use to try those charged with engaging in international terrorism. The British press points out that no decision has been made on where or when such tribunals will take place, but that it is generally believed there would be no right to appeal and that the ultimate penalty would be execution by firing squad. The Guardian of London recently published an article with the headline: "We Will Not Tolerate the Abuse of War Prisoners" -- noting that "Guantánamo could be where America and Europe part company." The article contends that for Washington, "Camp X-Ray is plainly an extension of the war." The captives are not called prisoners of war, but are held under rules of war defined by the United States. Furthermore, the prisoners are kept off U.S. territory and outside the reach of the Geneva Conventions, "so they can be treated the way American generals and politicians rather than American lawyers want to treat them: without fundamental rights or international protection. A number of human rights groups have also criticized U.S. treatment of its prisoners -- including the United Nations Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International -- charging humiliating, inhumane and degrading treatment. *PERUVIAN SUPREME COURT HEARS APPEAL OF LORI BERENSON Lima, January 22 (RHC)-- Attorneys for imprisoned U.S. citizen Lori Berenson are asking Peru's Supreme Court to overturn her 20-year prison sentence on charges of terrorism. According to Berenson's lawyer, Jose Luis Sandoval, the Peruvian court could confirm the sentence, reduce it, annul it and order a retrial or set her free. Following brief arguments from defense and prosecution attorneys Tuesday morning in Lima, the court began deliberations and has up to 15 days to reach a decision. The 32-year-old U.S. activist was given a life sentence by a Peruvian military court in 1996 -- accused of working with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). A civilian court tried her last June and changed her sentence to 20 years. Lori Berenson -- considered a political prisoner by many human rights groups -- was moved last month to a jail in northern Peru for what officials called disciplinary reasons, and was not in Lima for the appeal hearing. Lori's father, Mark Berenson, told reporters that he was holding out hope for a fair appeal. While noting that his daughter's attorneys will only have a few minutes to argue the lower court's decision before Peru's highest tribunal, Mark Berenson said he hoped the court would carefully consider the evidence "and find Lori innocent of all charges against her." *Viewpoint: BUSH CELEBRATES FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE U.S. President George W. Bush has completed his first year at the helm of the nation, in a situation that was unimaginable when he took office last January 20. The terrorist attacks against the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington opened the way for the new president to lead a so-called, international anti-terrorist coalition, which has re-enforced the US's world domination. The response to the tragic, unjustified acts of September 11th, were not only aimed at those who committed the crimes, but were also used to re-enforce the international role of the world 's only superpower. In reality, only one nation -- the United States -- boasts the unrivaled military and economic might to act in practically any manner it wishes. The United States has always been convinced that its society represents the best and most advanced and now, regarding the events of September 11th, the White House has claimed that all the other peoples of the world hate them because they are jealous. Without questioning the simplicity of that explanation, the Bush government took it upon itself to announce and then order a war to be unleashed against Afghanistan, ostensibly to flesh out Saudi Osama Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda group and the Taliban regime, who, they said, were responsible for the attacks. It was a unilateral and capricious action that had little to do with true international cooperation meant to eliminate the roots of terrorism. Of course those actions couldn't be considered surprising considering that the during the year 2001 Bush had demonstrated his brand of ultra-conservative politics regarding the Middle East, Korea, Colombia, the environment and the so-called anti-missile shield. The president, who has just completed a year in the White House, is the same person who rejected the Kyoto Protocol on climatic change to reduce noxious gas emissions and the same man who opposed moving towards détente between the two Koreas. Bush also nixed the Treaty against Nuclear Testing and pulled the United States out of a conference on expanding the Convention on Biological Weapons. Towards the end of the year, Bush said goodbye to the ABM Treaty signed with the former Soviet Union in l972 and considered by Moscow and Europe as the cornerstone of arms control. Support for ultra rightwing Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, placed the White House in an uncomfortable position with the Arab world, because of its supposed role as "mediator" in peace negotiations. Before the end of the year 2001, Bush organized another network of military bases in Asia, in addition to sending in troops to Afghanistan for who knows how long. International experts agree that the basic question over the next two or three decades will be the manner in which the United States handles the power it now wields. Bush interpreted the actions of September 11th as a license to universally extend US influence and forge a New World Order. After completing a year on the throne, he must truly feel on top of the world. (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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