RHC Weekend-30/31 March 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 30/31 March 2002 . *CUBA IS EXPERIENCING A CULTURAL EXPLOSION - FIDEL *ISRAELI TROOPS SURROUND REMAINS OF ARAFAT'S HEADQUARTERS *INFLUENTIAL US NEWSPAPERS CRITICAL OF US ROLE IN MIDDLE EAST *MIAMI GROUP DEMANDS CHANGE IN US POLICY ON CUBA *PROTESTS IN LONDON AGAINST PLANS TO ATTACK IRAQ *PEACE ACCORDS SIGNED IN ANGOLA . *CUBA IS EXPERIENCING A CULTURAL EXPLOSION - FIDEL Havana, March 30 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro spoke at the Open Tribune held Saturday in the eastern Cuban province of Granma. The demonstration was also attended by 25 thousand Granma's residents as well as top government officials. In a speech that extended for a little over an hour, Fidel Castro focused on several cultural and social development programs currently being implemented in Cuba's remote mountain areas. The Cuban President told the nearly 25,000 local residents who gathered to listen to him that he felt proud of what he described as "the social explosion that is taking place in Cuba," through programs that include computer education in rural zones. He cautioned, however, that dangers still lie ahead for Cuba, and said that the Unites States has not ceased trying to destroy Cuba. At the event, participants protested against the brutal and continuous United States pressures to impose an anti-Cuban resolution at the Geneva-based Human Rights Commission of the United Nations. Demonstrators strongly demanded the release of the five Cuban patriots, unfairly detained for an alleged attempt against U.S. National Security. In addition, they condemned the unethical mechanisms of the Panamanian Government in order to exonerate terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and his accomplices of any criminal culpability. *ISRAELI TROOPS SURROUND REMAINS OF ARAFAT'S HEADQUARTERS Ramallah, March 30 (RHC)--An intense gun battle erupted early Saturday between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters holed up inside an office building in the heart of Ramallah, while Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remained under siege in his compound in the West Bank city with Israeli tanks just feet from his office. The Palestinian leader is reportedly completely isolated from the world without electricity, telephone, water or food after armored bulldozers on Friday smashed through the walls of his compound and engaged in room-to-room combat with Palestinian security forces. There are reports of wounded Palestinians inside the compound who cannot be rescued because Israeli troops refuse to allow ambulances access to the area. Just outside Ramallah, in al Bireh, Israeli forces rounded up hundreds of Palestinian males between the ages of 15 and 45 for questioning. About 260 men were taken into a nearby school for questioning. The Spanish news agency EFE reports that the same thing occurred in the center of Ramallah and that the city's Central Hospital was invaded by Israeli troops looking for "terrorists." Observers said that the city, which is under a curfew, has Israeli sharpshooters posted on buildings, some 150 tanks patrolling the streets and entire neighborhoods are without water, electricity, and radio broadcasts. Residents complained to the Spanish news agency that the Israeli army is violating the most elementary human rights and international conventions and had arrested two Red Crescent Society workers in an ambulance. They said that in order for ambulances to get to the injured, the Israelis require that a call be made each time to Geneva for authorization. According to a member of a local peace organization who wished to remain anonymous, arrested Palestinians are being used as human shields by Israeli troops to gain entrance into Palestinian homes. Meanwhile, the bodies of five Palestinians, four in military-style uniforms, were found shot to death in a building in downtown Ramallah on Saturday. CNN's Michael Holmes went to the scene before the bodies were removed and said hundreds of shell casings from M-16s, the weapon of choice for the Israeli army, littered the floor. Al Jazeerah news agency reported that the five had been executed "in cold blood" by shots fired at point blank range. Sporadic gunfire was continuing outside Arafat's headquarters, a day after Israeli troops stormed the compound, fighting room-to-room and arresting dozens of Palestinians inside. At least seven Palestinians and two Israelis -- one an officer -- were killed. Though the UN Security Council adopted a resolution early Saturday demanding Israel withdraw from Palestinian areas, including Ramallah, Tel Aviv rejected the resolution, claiming that the Palestinians are responsible for the Israeli attacks. Meanwhile, in Gaza more than 50,000 Palestinians demonstrated today in support of Yasser Arafat. The demonstrators gathered in front of the Palestine Authority Parliament in the capital of the Gaza Strip, autonomous Palestinian territory, which is also cut off and surrounded by the Israeli Army. The crowd called on the Arab nations to unite against the occupation, for the United States to place more pressure on the government of Ariel Sharon and for the lifting of the military circle around Gaza and the West Bank. French anti-globalization leader Francois Jose Bove made an urgent call today from Ramallah for an "international protection force for the Palestinian people" and criticized the lack of action on the part of European governments. Later the French political activist entered the building along with several others and met with the embattled Palestinian leader for twenty minutes. *INFLUENTIAL US NEWSPAPERS CRITICAL OF US ROLE IN MIDDLE EAST Washington, March 30 (RHC)--The two most influential daily newspapers in the United States today questioned the effectiveness of the use of Israeli force against the actions of the Palestinians and said that the White House must take a more critical stance against Israeli aggression. The Washington Post and the New York Times both agree that the military offensive ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has only served to increase the violence and hostility between Palestinians and Israelis. The Post insists on the necessity to put a stop to the armed incursion. It goes on that the isolation of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his headquarters in Ramallah has made it impossible to heed any calls from the United States -- the so-called mediator in the conflict -- for moderate action. The newspaper pointed out that it is difficult to imagine how Arafat can bring about a cease-fire when units of the Israeli army are conducting destructive operations in refugee camps. The New York Times is critical of Israeli tactics in the Gaza Strip and Jordan, and pointed out that the motive behind the invasion of Yasser Arafat's headquarters was to humiliate the Palestinian leader and isolate him from the Arab network. *MIAMI GROUP DEMANDS CHANGE IN US POLICY ON CUBA Miami, March 30 (RHC)--Critics of the US blockade against Cuba held a meeting in Miami on Friday to demand a change in US policy toward Cuba. Around 300 community leaders, academics and former diplomats attended the meeting in the Coral Gables Hotel in the suburbs of Miami. The one-day conference was organized by different groups to discuss whether the time has come to put an end to the 42-year-old blockade against Cuba. The director of the Cuba Policy Foundation, Sally Grooms Cowell, said that the meeting has put an end to the myth that there is a monolith of power in the south of Florida. The former US ambassador to Trinidad emphasized that the US could earn more than a billion dollars annually if they could sell their agricultural products to the Cuba. Wayne Smith, former chief of the US Interests Section in Cuba, told the press that the majority of the US citizens were looking for a change; they want to travel to Cuba and they have the constitutional right to do so. The conference was also attended by members of the US congress who are part of a bipartisan initiative to bring about change. Arizona republican Congressman, Jeff Flake confirmed that the majority of the House of Representatives supports the elimination of the prohibition on US travel to Cuba and that the same thing could happen in the Senate. Democratic congressman for Massachusetts Bill Delahunt pointed out that it is inconsistent that his fellow country people cannot visit their nearest Caribbean neighbor but can go to Iran and North Korea, which, together with Iraq, are considered by Bush to be the "axis of evil." Extreme right-wing anti-Cuba activists protested outside the hotel during the Miami meeting. *PROTESTS IN LONDON AGAINST PLANS TO ATTACK IRAQ London, March 30 (ANSA)--Thousands gathered on Saturday in downtown London to protest what they termed the "war-mongering" actions of the Tony Blair government and to condemn British support for US plans to attack Iraq as part of Washington's war against terrorism. Under the slogan of "Don't Start a War," the rally was organized by the anti-war group CND. It began at Hyde Park, and then moved on to Trafalgar Square, in the heart of the British capital. The peaceful demonstration was triggered by a recent announcement by the British government that it would side with the United States in a planned military attack against Baghdad. At the rally, Nigel Chamberlain, a spokesperson for CND, demanded that Britain use what he described as the British government's close relationship with the United States not to promote war, but to seek peaceful solutions. The anti-war activist said the protest was also against plans by the George W. Bush administration and Tony Blair to go ahead with the so-called Star Wars program, whose introduction, he said, would provide Washington with a missile defense shield that would allow it to launch nuclear weapons without fear of reprisal. Demonstrators said their message was for Tony Blair, to make him listen to Parliament, and to the electorate -- both of which, they said, are opposed to war. *PEACE ACCORDS SIGNED IN ANGOLA Luanda, March 30 (RHC)--The head of the Angolan Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Geraldo Nunda, has formally announced the "end of hostilities" after signing a ceasefire agreement with the UNITA rebels. National Angolan radio reported that after the signing on Saturday afternoon in Luena, eastern Angola, UNITA representative General Abreu Kamorteiro said that he was convinced that the agreement will definitively re-establish peace in the war-torn nation. Military sources say that the accord will reactivate the Lusaka protocols of l994 and deal basically with the de-mobilization of the UNITA militias and the organization's reintegration into the Angolan Armed Forces. Observers says the signing of a formal peace accord was made possible by the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in combat on February 22. Some 800,000 Angolans have died in the nearly three decades of civil war which displaced four million. (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-3323 2002-Mar-31 17:36:00