Radio Havana Cuba-07 March 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 07 March 2002 . *DELEGATION FROM CHURCH WORLD SERVICE WRAPS UP VISIT TO CUBA *MORE THAN 400 JOINT VENTURES DO BUSINESS IN CUBA *PAN-AMERICAN CONGRESS ON CHILD PSYCHIATRY CONTINUES IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL *ESPERANTO CONGRESS GETS UNDERWAY ON FRIDAY *US LAWMAKERS APPROVE STEPPED-UP MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN COLOMBIA'S CIVIL WAR *ISRAEL CONTINUES ATTACKS, DESPITE RARE CRITICISM IN WASHINGTON *EU MOVES QUICKLY TO CHALLENGE US STEEL PROTECTIONISM AT WTO *SHELL OIL FACES TRIAL IN US COURT OVER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NIGERIA *Viewpoint: A DISCREDITED JUDGE . *DELEGATION FROM CHURCH WORLD SERVICE WRAPS UP VISIT TO CUBA Havana, March 7 (RHC)--A high-level delegation from the Church World Service (CWS) has just wrapped up a five-day visit to Cuba. In addition to visits to churches, schools and hospitals, members of the delegation attended the inauguration of the 40th General Assembly of the Cuban Council of Churches, underway in Havana. During a news conference in the Cuban capital before returning home, Reverend John McCullough, Executive Secretary of the U.S.-based humanitarian organization, told reporters that he was very impressed with Cuba's public health system and the island's urban agricultural program. And, pointing to Cuba's achievements in the area of sustainable development, the head of Church World Service said his organization would help fund similar programs in the future. Members of the delegation said they were extremely impressed with Cuba's attention to disabled children, noting that the island's special schools were well-organized, with competent personnel and scientific teaching methods that can be compared to those in highly-developed countries. Church World Service -- with humanitarian aid programs in some 80 countries around the globe -- is a member of the National Council of Churches, with headquarters in Washington, DC. The National Council of Churches played an important role in the return to Cuba of Elian Gonzalez, following his kidnapping by distant relatives in Miami. *MORE THAN 400 JOINT VENTURES DO BUSINESS IN CUBA Cienfuegos, March 7 (RHC)--As of the end of February, 402 joint ventures are doing business in Cuba. According to Cuba's Deputy Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Ernesto Senti, among the leading investors in economic enterprises on the island is the European Union, particularly Spain. Speaking with delegates to the 4th International Sea Fair, currently underway in Cienfuegos, the deputy minister of foreign investment said that Europe accounts for 52 percent of all joint ventures on the island -- of which 104 are based in Spain. Canada, with 70 companies, is the country with the second largest number of firms doing business with Cuba -- while Italy weighs in with 57 joint ventures. Ernesto Senti said that France, Mexico, Britain, China and Germany also have partnerships with Cuba. Economic areas with the most foreign investment include tourism, basic industry, biotechnology, agriculture and fishing. To date, Cuba has signed 60 reciprocal promotion and protection accords with 69 countries -- in addition to a general agreement with member nations of CARICOM. The Cuban deputy minister of foreign investment and economic cooperation noted that among the factors that favor doing business in Cuba are security and confidence in the country's political stability, the island's ideal geographical location and Cuba's membership in international economic integration organizations. Observers pointed out that Cuba has successfully managed to overcome Washington's constant, extraterritorial pressures against foreign companies to not invest in Cuba -- a specific target of the infamous Helms-Burton Law. *PAN-AMERICAN CONGRESS ON CHILD PSYCHIATRY CONTINUES IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, March 7 (RHC)--The Pan-American Congress on Child Psychiatry continues in the Cuban capital, with the participation of more than 500 specialists from some 20 countries. Among those attending the event are delegates from Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain, France and Germany. The meeting is taking place at Havana's International Convention Center and runs through tomorrow, Friday. Among the goals: establishing multilateral cooperation in areas dealing with children and adolescents. Experts in the field of child psychiatry are also discussing the negative influence of violence in culture and the media. *ESPERANTO CONGRESS GETS UNDERWAY ON FRIDAY Havana, March 7 (RHC)--The Fourth Congress of the Cuban Association of Esperanto gets underway tomorrow, Friday, here in Havana. The organization, founded in 1979, is affiliated with the Universal Association. Esperanto is an international language developed in 1887 by a Polish physician, Dr. Luis Lazaro Zamenhof. Consisting of "root words" derived from Latin, Greek and the Romance and Germanic languages, Esperanto was created to enable people of different linguistic backgrounds to communicate more easily and with less misunderstanding. The language first appeared in Cuba in 1905 and is kept alive by a number of publications and cultural events held on the island. A weekly broadcast in Esperanto can be heard over the international frequencies of Radio Havana Cuba -- one of the few radio stations in the world that transmits in the language. *US LAWMAKERS APPROVE STEPPED-UP MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN COLOMBIA'S CIVIL WAR Washington, March 7 (RHC)--In what is being called a significant shift in the US legislature, Congress has approved a proposal that could expand US military involvement in Colombia. Amid the intensification of Colombia's civil war following the collapse of the rebel-government peace process, the House of Representatives approved late Wednesday a non-binding resolution inviting the Bush administration to allow greater US involvement. Speaking in testimony before a House committee before the vote, Secretary of State Colin Powell clamored for a change in US legislation that restricts military aid to the Colombian government's war with leftist guerrillas. In recent days, Bush administration officials have been lobbying for greater involvement in Colombia's civil war. Last Tuesday, Southern Command chief, General Gary Speer, affirmed that Colombia lacks the resources to successfully confront the guerrillas and drug trafficking. Also in recent days, some critics of the Colombian Army have asserted that it's time to consider counterinsurgency support, including Senator Patrick Leahy - who has long pressured the Colombian military to curb abuses. In recent statements to prominent US newspapers, Leahy spoke of the possibility that American troops will have to be on the front lines against the insurgency. Some observers are asserting, nevertheless, that the debate could still be intense, with some US lawmakers still insisting in the Vietnam syndrome - noting that the US's involvement in that conflict also began with the deployment on the front lines of battle of American military advisers. *ISRAEL CONTINUES ATTACKS, DESPITE RARE CRITICISM IN WASHINGTON Washington, Jerusalem, March 7 (RHC)--Israeli troops Thursday continued stepping up bloody and devastating attacks in occupied Palestinian territories, despite Washington's rare criticism of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies. In one West Bank town, 50 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles entered blasting away one day after US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Sharon should "take a hard look at his policies and see whether they will work." Powell expressed doubt that Sharon could resolve the problem by killing as many Palestinians as he could - though critics of Washington's Middle East policy are noting that the Secretary of State's criticism was far from a denunciation. Sharon's office responded with the now customary claim to Israel's right to defend itself, as the prime minister's popularity continues to slide. The BBC's correspondent in Jerusalem reported Wednesday that as casualties mount on both sides, the first serious calls are now being made on the Sharon government to resign. In what has been called a scathing commentary, the Israeli news daily "Yediot Ahronot" wrote that "the house is on fire, and in Jerusalem sit a bunch of politicians known as the government" - calling it "the most failing government the country has known at one of the hardest times the country has known." The news daily "Maariv," condemning the government's failure to make Israel more secure, affirmed that a government that does not fulfill this elementary obligation loses its moral right to govern. And while many Israelis want to see their country adopt an even tougher approach against the Palestinians, many more want Israeli troops to pull out. A new survey published Thursday in Israeli media outlets revealed that 52 percent of Israelis are in favor of a Saudi peace initiative based on a full withdrawal from occupied territories in exchange for diplomatic recognition of Israel from the Arab world, while only 30 percent called for all-out war and the re-conquest of Palestinian territories. *EU MOVES QUICKLY TO CHALLENGE US STEEL PROTECTIONISM AT WTO Brussels, London, Washington, March 7 (RHC)--The European Union has quickly moved to present a formal complaint in the World Trade Organization against Washington's protectionist measures in the steel industry. According to analysts, the WTO is facing THE biggest trade conflict in its history due to the enormous interests involved and the possibility of a worldwide chain reaction of protectionist repercussions. Foreign powers are already beginning to band together against the United States. According to European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, the 15-nation block is already coordinating with other steel producers, including China, Japan and South Korea, to seek WTO condemnation. On Wednesday, Lamy said that the international market isn't the Wild West, where everyone acts as he pleases - reflecting the widespread European displeasure with what they view as the unbridled unilateralism of the Bush administration. Also in London, British Trade and Industry Minister Patricia Hewitt asked why should developing countries heed the call of western nations to free and open markets when the US closes its domestic market to address a problem of the US industry's own making. Britain's normally pro-American "Daily Telegraph," reflecting the unanimous condemnation of the steel decision in the British press, wrote that the tariff decision makes a mockery of America's claims to be a champion of free trade. In the US, the Thursday edition of "The Washington Post" recalled that six weeks ago at the Organization of American States headquarters, President Bush called on the assembled diplomats to step up the fight for economic liberalization around the world, challenging those who would "hold out the false comfort of protectionism." But despite the criticism and out-right anger, the fight in the World Trade Organization will probably take between a year and 18 months, which will give Bush plenty of time to reap the political benefits of his anti-free trade decision in next November's legislative elections. Afterwards, say observers, Washington will likely make sufficient concessions to appease its adversaries and avoid a WTO condemnation. *SHELL OIL FACES TRIAL IN US COURT OVER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NIGERIA Washington, March 7 (RHC)--What is being called a ground-breaking lawsuit in a US federal court against a major multinational oil corporation accused of complicity in serious human rights abuse in Nigeria has passed a major judicial hurdle and moved a big step closer to trial. The OneWorld alternative news web site has reported that US Federal Judge Kimba Wood this week denied a motion brought by Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Company to dismiss the case filed by the families of renowned Nigerian writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other activists of the Ogoni ethnic group who were hanged by the Nigerian military government in 1995. As a result, plaintiffs can now reportedly move to "discovery," which will allow them to gather evidence that may help them prove charges that Shell cooperated with the military government in the persecution and eventual execution of the Ogoni activists. The Ogoni case was the first of several of its kind. Suits have been filed against Exxon-Mobil by people from Indonesia's Aceh province, against Unocal by members of ethnic minorities in Myanmar, against Chevron-Texaco by other Nigerian groups, and against Texaco by Ecuadoran indigenous communities. Following numerous twists and turns in the Shell case, Judge Wood not only ruled that the case could proceed on the basis of two US anti-torture statutes, but she also permitted another claim to proceed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act - known as RICO. Judge Wood also found that the facts of the case as alleged by the plaintiffs could constitute crimes against humanity under the definition of the 1998 Rome Treaty on the creation of an International Criminal Court. In his last statement to the Nigerian military tribunal that condemned him to death, Saro-Wiwa warned that Shell would come to regret its actions. *Viewpoint: A DISCREDITED JUDGE The angry responses came quickly to the publication of a U.S. report on the world's human rights situation. As it does every year, assuming the role of virtual supreme magistrate judging the entire world, the United States drafts voluminous documents that supposedly contain the last word on respect for human rights around the world. Vietnam, Chile, Iran and Venezuela, among others, expressed varying degrees of indignation over Washington's latest attempt to judge the internal situations of, this time 195 countries. The ridiculously long list demonstrates that the White House uses its embassies not only for diplomatic missions, but also for carrying out its own self-serving investigations. Governments ask who ordained the United States with the competence to evaluate the state of human rights in other countries? Many recall the sad record of civil rights in the United States and the economic and racial inequalities. Despite its mosaic of ethnic groups, the specter of racism persists in U.S. society, as evidenced in a report issued by California's Attorney General. The study reveals that most of the acts of violence registered in the year 2000 were the result of racial differences. According to the official report, racial differences, beliefs or sexual preference motivated 63 per cent of the cases tried in California criminal courts. On the other hand, the U.S. National Network of the Rights of Immigrants and Refugees also issued a report. It states that abuses against immigrants are growing daily committed by officials, bosses and neighbors. Unofficial reports estimate that some 43 per cent of working-age African Americans are unemployed, despite official figures that attempt to demonstrate the contrary. What's more, studies show that an African American has three times fewer chances of finding work than a white person. The life expectancy of African Americans in the New York neighborhood of Harlem is just 40 years and, though the high number of deaths by firearms plays a part, so does the malnutrition and social abandonment experienced by 12 per cent of that racial group. The jails are filled with these people. Currently the United States boasts 1.7 million prisoners, more than half of them African Americans and other minorities. Internationally, U.S. administrations are notorious for their unscrupulous and inconsistent behavior. How can a nation that ordered bombing and food drops on Afghanistan and which protects known terrorists like Cuban-born Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles, pass judgment on the policies of other nations? It is unfortunate that some countries that this time received the blessing of the U.S. report are being pressured to demonstrate their gratitude, tacitly admitting the role of the United States as international judge. It is interesting to note that this latest United States report comes out as U.S. scientists are working together with their Vietnamese colleagues to try and cure the damage caused by the chemical war unleashed by Washington on the Southeast Asian nation. And finally we wish to point out that while unemployment is sharply rising around the world, Cuba, a country that is always harshly dealt with in Washington's annual human rights report, is actually working effectively to lower that rate. In 2001 the island created 195,625 new permanent jobs, reducing the jobless rate to 4.1 per cent, half of what it was six years ago. Most of the new positions are in urban agriculture, which has also helped to feed the nation. In addition, thousands of young people are being given the opportunity to be trained as social workers that are needed to make sure no one in Cuba is excluded from society. In Cuba, unlike the United States, a job is considered to be a human right. Those are things Washington conveniently ignores as it arrogantly passes judgment on others, especially those who refuse to be bullied into thinking as they do. (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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