Radio Havana Cuba-05 March 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 05 March 2002 . *CUBAN TOURISM HOLDS ITS OWN, DESPITE DIFFICULT YEAR *CUBA CREATES MORE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES *4th INTERNATIONAL SEA FAIR GETS UNDERWAY IN CIENFUEGOS *ISRAEL OPPOSITION LEADER: PALESTINIAN DRIVE FOR INDEPENDENCE CAN'T BE STOPPED *US MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM TESTS A FRAUD, CHARGES SCIENTIST *JOURNALIST UNCOVERS MEDIA DISINFORMATION MOVE AGAINST VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ *US, EU ON COLLISION COURSE OVER WASHINGTON'S STEEL PROTECTIONISM *GUATEMALA: MASSACRE SITES FORENSIC WORKERS GET DEATH THREATS Viewpoint: *INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO IGNORE PLIGHT OF PALESTINIAN PEOPLE . *CUBAN TOURISM HOLDS ITS OWN, DESPITE DIFFICULT YEAR Havana, March 5 (RHC)--Despite the fact that 2001 was a very difficult year for tourism around the world, there was no significant decrease for the sector in Cuba. According to Jose Luis Rodriguez, Minister of Economy and Planning, the situation worsened following the tragic events of September 11th in the United States and the serious damage caused by Hurricane Michelle in November. He said that Cuba's tourism sector was able to survive and hold its own despite a very negative situation for the industry. During a meeting to review last year's activities at the Ministry of Tourism, Jose Luis Rodriguez noted that among the achievements was the reduction of costs without adversely affecting the island's tourism. The Cuban minister of economy and planning also emphasized that 67.2 percent of all products used in hotels and other tourism facilities are produced nationally -- making it unnecessary to spend hard currency on products imported from foreign countries, such as furniture and other equipment. While it is difficult to predict exactly how tourism will fare this year, the Cuban official said that two of the priorities for 2002 would be in the area of energy conservation and reducing operational expenses. Jose Luis Rodriguez also announced new programs to advertise and promote Cuba as an international tourist destination, along with vastly improving the island's hotel network. Concerning the damage caused by Hurricane Mitchell -- the worst storm to hit the island in more than 50 years -- Cuba's economy and planning minister noted that clean-up operations began immediately and areas affected by the hurricane were quickly repaired. Although Cuba was unable to achieve the stated goal of two million visitors in 2001, the island's tourism sector is encouraged that this year will be a marked improvement over last. *CUBA CREATES MORE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Manzanillo, March 5 (RHC)--Unemployment in Cuba dropped from 5.4 percent to 4.1 percent over the last year. According to Vice President Carlos Lage, the reduction in the jobless rate was due in large part to more employment opportunities in the eastern provinces. Speaking with reporters in Manzanillo, located in Granma Province, Lage said that the goal for this year is to reduce unemployment even more -- to less than 3.5 percent. The Cuban vice president noted that 4000 new jobs could be created in Manzanillo alone, taking into account recent initiatives proposed by local authorities. He recalled that the government made significant investments in area industries, but that with the onset of the Special Period -- the severe economic crisis provoked by the collapse of the Soviet Union more than ten years ago -- many industries were forced to shut down. Carlos Lage toured a number of important economic facilities during his visit to Manzanillo and stopped to talk with workers and other area residents. He stressed the importance of creating new employment opportunities and classes to train young people who are looking for work. The Cuban vice president said that there are currently more than 70,000 young people enrolled in job training courses across the island. *4th INTERNATIONAL SEA FAIR GETS UNDERWAY IN CIENFUEGOS Cienfuegos, March 5 (RHC)--The 4th International Sea Fair is underway in Cienfuegos, located on the south-central coast of the island. Organizers of the event -- which runs through Friday, the 8th -- noted that the Sea Fair features an excellent opportunity for multilateral contacts among local and foreign participants. The Sea Fair also provides an exhibition site to display sea products and services, demonstrate new marine technology as well as promote commercial opportunities in the Cuban market. A special workshop on environmental protection will be held during the Fair. Participants will also take part in discussions about the development of the fishing industry worldwide as well as off the coasts of Cuba. At the conclusion of the international fair on Friday, the Friends of the Sea Fiesta will begin in Cienfuegos. The celebration will run through the weekend and includes boating and fishing competitions. *ISRAEL OPPOSITION LEADER: PALESTINIAN DRIVE FOR INDEPENDENCE CAN'T BE STOPPED Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Paris, March 5 (RHC)--As Palestinians and Israelis continue vowing tit for tat in an endless spiral of violence, Israeli opposition leader Iosi Sarid has asserted that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will not be able to eliminate the Palestinian people's aspiration for independence nor their determination to struggle to achieve it. The leader of the Israeli Parliament's Meretz pacifist faction insisted that the military option has failed. Sarid Tuesday told local media outlets that Sharon, his defense minister and his armed forces chief are people with primitive reflexes, and only thin in terms of an eye for an eye. The statement coincides with another from Islamic Jihad leader Sheikh Abdala Shami, who said this his forces are going to penetrate deeper and deeper into Israel to unleash what he called painful responses to Tel Aviv's aggression in occupied territory. Noting that the Israeli prime minister has insisted that attacks by Palestinian militants will only spark greater losses among their ranks, Shami said his forces have no problem with sacrificing their lives as martyrs. Both statements came as Israel stepped up the use of F-16 fighter- bombers and helicopter gunships to bombard installations of the Palestinian National Authority and refugee camps, and Palestinian militants opened fire at a bachelor party at a Tel Aviv restaurant - killing at least three Israelis and wounding up to 20 others - and a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in the Israeli town of Afula, killing one Israeli and wounding some 10 others. Tens of thousands of Palestinians turned out in the Gaza Strip to swear bloody revenge after Israeli tanks Monday fired on two cars in the Al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah, hilling the wife of a militant Hamas leader and three of her children - also claiming the lives of another child and teenager. French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin also termed as a failure the Israeli prime minister's policies, asserting that Sharon is in large part responsible for sowing "absolute desperation" among the Palestinian population without offering security for Israelis. *US MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM TESTS A FRAUD, CHARGES SCIENTIST Havana, March 5 (RHC)--The US General Accounting Office Tuesday released reports confirming a scheme involving the Pentagon, defense contractors Boeing and TRW, and the respected Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in which missile defense study results were exaggerated to attract billions of government dollars for the nation's questionable missile defense program. Analysis of the proposed US missile defense technology was flawed at best, say critics, and blatantly false at worst. The General Accounting Office investigation was carried out after a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is known by its acronym MIT, complained about a missile sensor study that he said was tantamount to a well-orchestrated fraud. Theodore Postol, who works at the Institute as a physicist is a frequent critic of the Pentagon's missile defense plans. He has not only condemned the sensor report but also accused MIT's president of knowing all about its flaws. The US daily, the Boston Globe, reports that the General Accounting Office, or GAO, found that the sensor, which distinguishes decoys from real missiles, was less than the "success" it was called by Boeing and TRW. It had, in fact, failed important aspects of its testing but was nevertheless given funding to go ahead - to the tune of billions of dollars. The Bush administration wants to spend an additional $238 billion on the sensor program, alerts the Globe. It appears that the sensor malfunctions to such a degree that it detects warheads where none exist. Yet the Pentagon and MIT gave it top marks after they had reviewed the defense contractor's findings. The sensor accuracy is crucial because it would only have one chance to hit a real missile among many decoys, say experts. The US Congress requested the GAO investigation after Postol sent a report to the White House alleging that both Boeing and TRW distorted the results of the sensor tests. He had been able to correctly analyze raw data sent to him by a former employee of TRW who was fired because she had questioned the effectiveness of the sensor in its ability to detect decoys. However critical the GAO report is, say Washington observers, it took two long years to complete, falls short of publishing recommendations and many of its findings are buried in its text in highly technical language. The political pressures are evident, reports the Boston Globe. US President George Bush withdrew from the 30 year old Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty last year in a move that was condemned by the rest of the world. Instead, he said at the time, his nation would construct for itself a highly effective missile defense system. Such a system went against the very core of the ABM Treaty. The feasibility of the missile defense system has enormous political ramifications for Bush, say observers, who based part of his electoral campaign on its creation, and is especially exposed in the area of national defense after the September 11th attacks. *JOURNALIST UNCOVERS MEDIA DISINFORMATION MOVE AGAINST VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ Caracas, March 5 (RHC)--The director of the French news weekly "Le Monde Diplomatique" has accused prominent Venezuelan media outlets of mounting a disinformation campaign against President Hugo Chavez. Ignacio Ramonet Tuesday denied having granted an interview to the local "El Nacional" in which he is reported to have harshly criticized Chavez. He called the alleged interview a gross media hoax in a letter to the Venezuelan on-line magazine "Venezuela Analitica," which published the interview that was reproduced by the country's "El Nacional" news daily. "El Nacional" claimed that it had been duped, while Ramonet said his support of the Venezuelan president is well known, and that that support has not changed. The interview, first published Sunday, was carried out by alleged Mexican journalist Emiliano Payaris, who admitted that it was a scam. Payaris said he intentionally made up the story to prove that Latin American media outlets report information without rigorously verifying its authenticity. He asked where did the lack of credibility lie, in those who make up stories or in those who carelessly publish them. On several occasions recently Chavez has accused Venezuela's mainstream media outlets of mounting a disinformation campaign slandering his person and his administration. *US, EU ON COLLISION COURSE OVER WASHINGTON'S STEEL PROTECTIONISM Washington, Brussels, March 5 (RHC)--In the so-called free trade era, the United States and the European Union are on a collision course over anti-free trade measures to be adopted by Washington. President George W. Bush was poised today to announce protectionist measures against steel imports to the US, imposing tariffs of up to 30 percent. The EU has warned that it will have no choice but to react. Bush's campaign promise to save the country's ailing steel industry - affected by increasingly cheaper imports - gave Republicans their first victory in the state of Virginia in 16 years, as well as five important electoral votes for the presidency. Tens of thousands of US steel workers have lost their jobs as a result of cheap imports, and according to "The Washington Post," Bush's move is electoral - with his eyes on the political weight and number of votes that the steel industry and its unions represent for next November's legislative elections. Republicans and Democrats will be fighting for control of the House of Representatives. Analysts are warning, however, that the imposition of tariffs could also spark trade wars with countries like Brazil and Russia, and could result in the case being taken to the World Trade Organization. Mexico and Canada will be exempt from the tariffs due to the North American Free Trade Agreement, while countries like Argentina, Thailand and Turkey will be exempt due to their relatively small share of US steel imports. But other countries that will be affected, besides Brazil and Russia, are Japan, China, South Korea and Ukraine. The steel industry and its labor unions don't want any exemptions. The European Union has accused the United States of failing to enhance its steel industry with productive investment to lower costs, as Europe has done. *GUATEMALA: MASSACRE SITES FORENSIC WORKERS GET DEATH THREATS Guatemala City, March 5 (RHC)--A forensic team excavating the remains of Guatemala's massacre victims during the country's civil war has received anonymous death threats. The Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation said Monday it had received a letter urging it to halt excavations immediately. The scientists said the threats were addressed to 11 people specifically. The group has been excavating clandestine cemeteries, looking for the remains of 200,000 people forcibly disappeared by successive Guatemalan military dictatorships and several civilian governments between 1960 and 1996. The foundation filed a complaint to the government on Monday, prompting Interior Minister Eduardo Arevalo to promise to provide extra security for the group's headquarters in Guatemala City. Since 1992, the Forensic Anthropology Foundation has excavated 191 clandestine cemeteries throughout the country, uncovering more than 2,000 massacre victims, in an effort to identify corpses, give them proper burials and find clues to bring the perpetrators to justice. There have been an increasing number of death threats against human rights groups in Guatemala in the past few years. Some of these groups hope to take former military commanders to court on charges of genocide, including General Efrain Rios Montt -- Guatemala's military ruler from 1982 to 1983, and currently presiding over Congress. Viewpoint: *INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO IGNORE PLIGHT OF PALESTINIAN PEOPLE What better way to characterize Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon than in his own words. On Monday upon learning that his troops had killed a woman and her three children, along with two other minors, Sharon commented that the Palestinians should be prepared to receive even tougher blows, which would come from everywhere. It seems that for Ariel Sharon, the death of 34 year-old Busha, and her children Aziza 14, 13 year-old Nana and Mohammed who was just 10, as well as two other youngsters, one 16 and the other 4, was not the least bit important. What's more, he has threatened that others will suffer the same fate. He stated that his forces would continue attacking the Palestinian people in their own territory. And it seems that women and children are military objectives in the war of extermination that Tel Aviv is waging against its neighbors. His declared policy of selective assassinations of Palestinian leaders appears not to be enough, nor the destruction of the homes of the families of combatants, nor air raids that inevitably claim innocent lives. Sharon and his government are now attempting to satisfy their thirst for blood and suffering with a massive military offensive. It is distressing to see how weak the international outcry has been as these crimes against humanity are committed with impunity, the rights of an entire people being violated without a word from those who so harshly judge others for the mere "crime" of not thinking as they do. Just a few timid declarations from some European governments, who want to save the pureness of their souls, but no decisive actions to stop what has become a true holocaust, but this time perpetrated by those who were the last century's victims. It's best not to even mention Washington. We all know about its support for the Israeli government, which by the way, kills civilians with U.S. made helicopters, planes and missiles sold to Israel without restrictions as to use. One would think that Europe, still experiencing guilt over the massacre committed by Nazi Germany, would see to it that Tel Aviv would be kept from committing those same crimes against the Palestinians. The rest of the planet lacks the power to decisively influence decisions in the United Nations and its Security Council, since most countries don't have the right of veto and barely have the right to a vote. Those countries are often held hostage by economic and political pressures exerted on them by the powerful nations and can do little more than assume the pitiful role of mute spectators of the undeclared war. In this difficult situation it is important for those of us who can still raise our voices and who are willing to make ourselves heard to reclaim the sense of historic responsibility to humanity. It is the only way we can make sure that our children never live with the weight of the guilt of another avoidable tragedy. (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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