Radio Havana Cuba-25 January 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 25 January 2002 . *ILLINOIS GOVERNOR MEETS WITH CUBAN PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVES *US UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MEET THEIR CUBAN COUNTERPARTS *CUBAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORTS GOOD RESULTS IN 2001 *SECOND PART OF ENGLISH-LANGUAGE COURSE AIRS ON CUBAN TELEVISION *THE WHITE HOUSE CONSIDERS CUTTING OFF PALESTINIAN LEADER YASSER ARAFAT *WASHINGTON BLOCKS DRIVE FOR INCREASED AID TO WORLD'S POOREST COUNTRIES *DEATH TOLL FROM AIDS COULD SURPASS 14th CENTURY BUBONIC PLAGUE *FORMER ARGENTINE PRESIDENT CARLOS MENEM FACES BRIBERY INVESTIGATION . *ILLINOIS GOVERNOR MEETS WITH CUBAN PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVES Havana, January 25 (RHC)--Illinois Governor George Ryan met with executives from Cuban pharmaceutical companies shortly after his arrival in the Cuban capital, Thursday afternoon. Ryan is heading a delegation comprised of business executives from various U.S. pharmaceutical companies, among them: Medline Management, Ferris Manufacturing Corp., JDR International and the 21st Century Healthcare Management. These U.S. firms have long promoted bilateral talks with their Cuban counterparts to identify future business opportunities. Cuban companies engaged in the bilateral talks are MediCuba and FarmaCuba. The governor of Illinois expressed his interest in finding out about the possibilities of selling U.S. medicines to Cuba and called for normal, stable trade relations between the two nations. The Director of the North America Office at Cuba's Ministry of Commerce, Marilu B. Hamel, expressed the willingness of the Cuban companies to develop mutually beneficial ties with their U.S. counterparts in a climate of mutual respect without any restrictions or limitations. During his visit, the governor of Illinois will participate in an International Radiology Congress in the world famous Varadero beach resort, located in Central Matanzas province. *US UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MEET THEIR CUBAN COUNTERPARTS Matanzas, January 25 (RHC)--A visiting delegation of students and professors from the University of Pittsburgh participated in a cultural event on Thursday evening with their Cuban counterparts from the Camilo Cienfuegos University in central Matanzas province. The visitors donated books and computers to the Cuban educational institution. Dr. Max Brandt, who is heading the delegation from the University of Pittsburgh, stressed the significance of this type of exchange, for it allows young people from a U.S. to learn firsthand about Cuba and the its people. Also on Thursday, the U.S. visitors traveled to Varadero, where they enjoyed the natural beauty and countless recreation facilities of the world famous beach resort. The U.S. students also visited places of historical and cultural interest in Playa Giron, including the site where the headquarters of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces was located during the CIA-backed 1961 Bay of Pigs mercenary invasion. The U.S. visitors arrived in Havana on Thursday morning on board the cruiser Universe Explorer. They are on a tour of various nations as part of the program Semester at Sea of the University of Pittsburgh, which for six consecutive occasions has included Cuba in the ship's itinerary. While traveling on the Universe Explorer, students on the educational program take normal semester classes, which are combined with other activities relevant to the countries they visit. *CUBAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORTS GOOD RESULTS IN 2001 Havana, January 25 (RHC)--The President of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Luis Carricarte, praised the exceptionally good results obtained by that institution in 2001 in the organization of international fairs, exhibitions and business missions to Cuba. During a press conference in Havana, Carricarte announced that last year alone, over 100 companies joined the Cuban Chamber of Commerce. The president of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce said that the institution's priorities for this year include support for increased exports and substitute imports, specialized professional programs to train associate members and strengthened cooperation with similar institutions from around the world. *SECOND PART OF ENGLISH-LANGUAGE COURSE AIRS ON CUBAN TELEVISION Havana, January 25 (RHC)--Beginning Monday, January 28th, Cuban television's educational project -- University for All -- will begin the live broadcasts of the second part of an English-language course. The 80-hour course will be taught by professors of English from the Foreign Language School at the University of Havana and will be broadcast at three different times every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. To complement the TV classes, a special 32-page tabloid with questions and exercises will be on sale at newsstands across the island -- at a cost of only two Cuban pesos. Other courses taught so far as part of the University for All include Geography, History, Dance, Fine Arts, Writing Techniques and the recently concluded first part of a French language course. University for All, implemented by the Cuban government, is aimed at upgrading the educational level of the entire Cuban people. It's inspired by the thoughts of Cuba's National Hero José Martí that "people can only be free when their sons and daughters are well educated." *THE WHITE HOUSE CONSIDERS CUTTING OFF PALESTINIAN LEADER YASSER ARAFAT Washington, January 25 (RHC)--Reports from Washington indicate that White House officials are considering severing ties with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Political analysts expressed concern that such a move could push the Middle East into an unprecedented bloodbath. According to this morning's edition of The Washington Post, some administration officials, particularly those close to Vice President Richard Cheney, want to see the United States break its ties with Arafat because of a recent arms shipment intercepted in the Red Sea earlier this month by Israeli commandos. Others in the Bush administration are wary of slamming the door on Arafat, concerned that this could end all U.S. efforts to broker a peaceful solution in the Middle East. The debate on whether or not to continue recognizing Yasser Arafat comes at a time when the White House has already been shifting its position in recent weeks, with U.S. officials less willing to publicly criticize Israel for killing prominent Arabs and invading Palestinian areas. Even State Department officials, who have long argued for U.S. involvement in peacemaking, are reportedly so skeptical about staying on with Arafat that they may end the mission of special envoy Anthony C. Zinni. The U.S. envoy returned from his latest round of Middle East talks three weeks ago and was scheduled to go back to the region last week. That trip was put on hold while the overall policy was reviewed. According to Robert Satloff from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the debate within the Bush administration over Arafat is now between "hard-liners and harder-liners." Other observers noted that a series of administrations in the White House have tried to appear unbiased, but that Washington's foreign policy has always been clearly and unequivocally on the side of Tel Aviv. *WASHINGTON BLOCKS DRIVE FOR INCREASED AID TO WORLD'S POOREST COUNTRIES London, January 25 (RHC)--The U.S. government is blocking an international drive led by Britain to increase aid for the world's poorest countries. According to the daily Guardian of London, Washington is already one of the least generous donors -- despite having the world's largest economy -- devoting just 0.1 percent of its national output to international aid. The newspaper reports that with less than two months to go before a crucial UN summit on global poverty in Monterrey, Mexico, U.S. officials are trying to water-down a draft declaration which calls for rich countries to raise the amount they spend on helping the nearly three billion people who live on less than two dollars a day. The conference, which is strongly backed by Britain's finance minister, Gordon Brown, has been called to discuss ways of helping poor countries reduce poverty, cut infant mortality and provide universal primary education. But the U.S. is seeking to delete any mention of the internationally agreed development goals and of the suggestion that rich countries should meet the UN target of spending 0.7 percent of national income on aid. Aid agencies attending preparations in New York this week for the Monterrey summit report that U.S. officials have described the 0.7 percent target as an "outdated concept," and that they are pressing for it to be dropped from the final declaration. The Guardian of London has published a story saying that Britain and other, more generous donors had hoped that the renewed U.S. interest in multilateral action during the war on Afghanistan would help bring about a change of heart regarding aid within the Bush administration. In a speech in Washington last month, Gordon Brown called on the world's richest countries to double their spending on aid as part of a global "Marshall Plan" for reconstructing not only Afghanistan but also the entire developing world. But instead of discussing increased aid budgets, Washington wants the conference slated for Monterrey to focus on how poor countries can improve their own economic performance through further market liberalization. Observers state that rather than increasing economic activity, neo-liberal policies have only brought more poverty to an already underdeveloped world. *DEATH TOLL FROM AIDS COULD SURPASS 14th CENTURY BUBONIC PLAGUE London, January 25 (RHC)--AIDS will soon surpass the Bubonic Plague as the world's worst pandemic if the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS do not get life-prolonging drugs. According to a leading medical magazine in London, AIDS has already killed 25 million people since the early 1980s and an estimated 14,000 people are infected each day with the HIV virus, which destroys the immune system. The report -- published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal -- says that without antiretroviral drugs, most people living with HIV/AIDS will die, pushing the death toll beyond the 40 million killed by the Bubonic Plague, also known as Black Death, which ravaged Asia and Europe during the 14th century. Peter Lamptey, president of the U.S.-based NGO Family Health International AIDS Institute, said that unless access to treatment is improved in the next 10 to 15 years, as many as 65 million could die from the disease. He pointed out that 95 percent of new infections are in the world's poorest countries, where life-prolonging drugs are not available to most sufferers. The illness has decreased life expectancy, increased infant mortality and orphaned millions of children -- particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than 28 million HIV/AIDS victims. In a review of the latest information on AIDS, Lamptey said a lack of international and national commitment, inadequate resources and stigma and discrimination were stalling efforts to control the pandemic. David Berwick, president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, Massachusetts, praised pharmaceutical companies that have slashed the prices of anti-AIDS drugs, but said it was not enough. Quoted in the British Medical Journal, he said that "the initial acts of generosity only set the stage for what the world really needs: a dramatic, unprecedented and unequivocal decision by the boards and executives of several important pharmaceutical companies to make their anti-HIV drugs free." *FORMER ARGENTINE PRESIDENT CARLOS MENEM FACES BRIBERY INVESTIGATION Paris, January 25 (RHC)--Swiss and Argentine officials are investigating an allegation that former Argentine President Carlos Menem received a 10 million dollar bribe from Iranian agents to cover up Tehran's alleged role in a terrorist bombing in Buenos Aires in 1994. Swiss judicial authorities opened an inquiry in Geneva last week based on a request from Buenos Aires, investigating a car-bomb attack that killed 85 people at a Jewish community center. Last October, Swiss authorities froze nearly 10 million dollars in two bank accounts allegedly linked to Menem during a separate Argentine investigation of an international arms trafficking ring. Now, a judge in Geneva is following up on testimony by an Iranian spy who told investigators that Menem was paid 10 million dollars -- deposited in a Swiss bank -- in exchange for a promise to say there was no proof against Iran in the terrorist attack. According to investigators, one frozen account is in a Geneva bank in the name of Menem's daughter and former wife. The other account bears the name of a company allegedly linked to Menem and judicial authorities are checking to see if the former Argentine president had additional Swiss accounts. The discovery of the Swiss accounts comes after years of accusations that Carlos Menem and his inner circle made millions from kickbacks and arms and drug trafficking. The former president has repeatedly denied such charges. But the allegation that Menem helped engineer a cover-up in the 1994 attack on a Jewish community center speeds the downfall of the former leader, who recently announced that he would run for president again in 2003. Menem's 1989-99 presidency was filled with scandals and neo-liberal, free-market transformations that endeared him to the United States. However, with a skyrocketing debt and after selling virtually all State-owned enterprises, the Argentine economy collapsed in recent months. Although Argentina's Supreme Court ordered his release from house arrest in the arms case late last year, Carlos Menem remains the target of corruption probes and public condemnation in a crisis-torn country governed by his archenemy, newly installed President Eduardo Duhalde. The Jewish community center case was part of a brutal feud between Menem and Duhalde that began in 1996 when Duhalde was governor of Buenos Aires province and a presidential hopeful determined to thwart Menem's designs on a third term. Many observers saw the federal indictment of police officers from Duhalde's province as terrorist accomplices as a political ambush by the Menem administration. Political observers say that with a money trail to follow in Swiss banks, judicial authorities should have no problem linking the former president to the new bribery charges. The witness first testified in Germany in 1998, revealing that Iranian agents masterminded the bombing in Buenos Aires, but said he had information he would withhold until Menem left power. Soon after Menem stepped down, the witness testified again, this time in Mexico. He told interrogators about the alleged bribe in Switzerland, saying Iranian operatives paid ten million dollars either directly to Menem or someone close to him. (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-31911 2002-Jan-25 20:47:28