RHC Weekend-11/12 May 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 11/12 May 2002 . *FORMER US PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER ARRIVES IN CUBA ON SUNDAY *COLOMBIAN SOLIDARITY GROUP LAUNCHES BOOK ON 5 CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS *TWO EUROPEAN NATIONS DENOUNCE UNJUST CONVICTION OF 5 CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS *MORE THAN 100,000 HAVANA RESIDENTS RALLY TO DENOUNCE US ACCUSATIONS *PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF GALICIA PRESENTS TWO CUBAN SCIENCE BOOKS *FOREST FIRE IN THE ZAPATA SWAMP SAID TO BE UNDER CONTROL *UN WILL INVESTIGATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES DESPITE ISRAELI OPPOSITION *US ELDERLY BEGIN TO ORGANIZE AGAINST HIGH PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS . *FORMER US PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER ARRIVES IN CUBA ON SUNDAY Havana, May 11 (RHC)--Former US President Jimmy Carter will arrive in Havana on Sunday morning at the invitation of Cuban President Fidel Castro. Carter, who will be accompanied by his wife Rosalyn, will meet with Cuban government officials and visit centers of economic, scientific, cultural and social interest. In addition, the former US President will have the opportunity to make contact and meet with the Cuban people. His visit will run until May 17. Among some of the outstanding achievements of his administration was the 1977 Torrijos-Carter treaty, which returned the Panama Canal to the people of Panama, the Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel, the Salt II Treaty with the former Soviet Union and the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. *COLOMBIAN SOLIDARITY GROUP LAUNCHES BOOK ON 5 CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS Bogotá, May 11 (RHC)--The Colombian Caribbean House in solidarity with Cuba announced on Saturday the launching of a book entitled "Justice Made in the USA," which denounces the injustice committed against the five Cuban political prisoners in US jails accused of endangering U.S. national security. The solidarity forum said that the official presentation of the book will be held on Thursday in the coastal city of Barranquilla, the 19th of May in Bogotá and finally in Havana in mid-June. The President of Cuba's Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Sergio Corrieri, thanked the Colombian solidarity group for their support of the five Cuban political prisoners. The book points to the lack of evidence presented during the trial convicting the five Cuban political prisoners in Miami. The solidarity group also stresses the struggle of the Cuban people in defense of the island's independence and self-determination. The director of the Colombian weekly magazine Voz, Carlos Lozano, demanded the immediate release of the five Cuban patriots. He said they were condemned and sent to jail for simply defending Cuba against terrorism. *TWO EUROPEAN NATIONS DENOUNCE UNJUST CONVICTION OF 5 CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS Havana, May 11 (RHC)--Two central European countries denounced the US legal system's unjust conviction of the five Cuban political prisoners incarcerated in the U.S. Members of the Association of Slovakian Friendship with Cuba in Bratislava presented a letter to the U.S. embassy in that city, expressing their indignation regarding the unjust trial which took place in Miami against the five: Fernando Gonzalez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez and Ramon Labanino. The letter notes that the five were sentenced for defending Cuba against terrorism and that no evidence of any activity against the United States was presented at the trial. The Slovakian solidarity organization also condemned the continuous support and financing of terrorist groups trained in the United States and the constant media campaign against the island. Meanwhile, the committee of the Czech Cuba Friendship Society of Rumburk expressed its support for the work of the five Cuban patriots unjustly convicted by a Miami court and considered their sentences an extension of Washington's more than 40 years of aggression against Cuba. *MORE THAN 100,000 HAVANA RESIDENTS RALLY TO DENOUNCE US ACCUSATIONS Havana, May 11 (RHC)--With the presence of Cuban President Fidel Castro, more than 100,000 Cubans gathered Saturday morning in the Havana municipality of Regla to denounce the accusations made by the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, John Bolton, that Cuba is producing biological weapons. One of the speakers during this morning's rally in Regla said that the Cuban people have been the victims of Washington's own biological war during different U.S. administrations. Cuban President Fidel Castro said Friday night at Havana's Convention Center that Washington's accusations that the island is producing offensive biological weapons are complete lies. There were national and foreign press present during the Cuban president's statements. Demanding proof of its allegations, the leader of the Cuban Revolution said that Washington cannot come up with such proof because it simply does not exist. *PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF GALICIA PRESENTS TWO CUBAN SCIENCE BOOKS Santiago de Compostela, May 11 (RHC)--The President of the government of Galicia, Spain, Manuel Fraga, presented in Santiago de Compostela, two Cuban books on science. Together with the author of the two books -- Dr. Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart -- Fraga reiterated his opposition to Washington's continued blockade against the island and stressed the need to open the doors to Cuba. The President of the Galician government pointed out the importance of the two books entitled: "Cuba, Awakening in the Third Millennium" and "Science, Innovation and Future," both by Dr. Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart. Diaz-Balart presented an analysis on Cuba's advances in the scientific field and expressed optimism about the island's future, which he said is the result of Cuba's policies of sustainable development. *FOREST FIRE IN THE ZAPATA SWAMP SAID TO BE UNDER CONTROL Matanzas, May 11 (RHC)--A forest fire that began several weeks ago in the Zapata Swamp, located on the southern coast of the island, is now under control, according to the fire-fighters in the region. The head of the Forest Rangers in the region, Azel Castro, explained that vestiges of the fire still remain and that completely extinguishing the blaze now depends on the climatic conditions of the coming days. With a territorial extension of almost 5000 square kilometers, the Zapata Swam -- the largest wetlands in the Caribbean -- is the refuge of thousands of animal species, many of them endemic to the island, as well as important flora and of the natural beauty unique to our geographical region. *UN WILL INVESTIGATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES DESPITE ISRAELI OPPOSITION Havana, May 11 (RHC)--In spite of strong opposition from Israel, the United Nations will be carrying out an investigation into the human rights abuses that occurred in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced yesterday that a report will be compiled on not only Jenin but also on other Palestinian cities occupied by the Israeli Defense Force recently. Gross human rights abuses have been reported from every area taken by Israeli soldiers across the West Bank. The New York based Human Rights Watch has accused Tel Aviv of war crimes in its attack on Jenin, saying civilians were "killed wilfully or unlawfully". Although the figures of the dead are not as high as previously feared, of the 52 Palestinians so far known dead, half of them have been proved to be non-combatant civilians. Some of the victims were denied medical assistance and bled to death. International debate over what really happened in Jenin continues. Every aspect of infrastructure -- water, electricity, sewage, roads, schools, and telephones -- has been very severely damaged. Doctors and nurses were targeted and so many homes deliberately damaged or demolished for no reason at all that a full quarter of the population of Jenin is now homeless. Primary and high school classrooms were deliberately smashed up with one instance of faeces splattered across the walls accompanied by crude and threatening graffiti scrawled in Arabic. Amnesty International reported "unlawful killings, destruction of property and arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment" by the Israeli Defense Forces. Meanwhile, the last Palestinians trapped in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem for 39 days have been allowed to leave -- some to the Gaza Strip, some of the armed militia to exile on the island of Cyprus, others to go home. Clergy who had been present during the Israeli siege said that the Palestinians who had sought refuge in the church had carried out no wanton destruction of Christianity's holiest site and said they had not been held against their will by armed Palestinians as Tel Aviv had reported. Palestinian authorities are now concerned that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is turning his gaze toward the Gaza Strip in response to a bomb that killed 15 people in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. As the presidents of Egypt and Syria met Saturday to discuss this possibility of an attack on the Palestinian territory, Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak said that an Israeli incursion into Gaza would be very dangerous. The two leaders will be joined by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah who recently met with Bush. The Crown Prince responded to Bush's representation of Sharon as "a man of peace" by commenting that he didn't think that even Sharon believed that. *US ELDERLY BEGIN TO ORGANIZE AGAINST HIGH PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS Havana, May 11 (RHC)--The New York Times is reporting that United States senior citizens are increasing up in arms over the high cost of prescription drugs and want something done about it before the upcoming November legislative elections. The anger is especially great along the Canadian border, reports the Times, because US citizens are able to compare prices with their Canadian counterparts and they are not happy. Many have begun doing what they call "drug runs" to Canada rather than shell out the much higher prices US pharmaceuticals demand. Drug costs in the US rose 17% last year and almost 19% the year before. One senior citizen reported to the New York Times that he has neighbors that alternate purchasing their medication: the husband goes without for one month so his wife can buy her prescription. The following month they reverse the order. In Maine, the report continues, groups periodically organize buying trips across the border. Organizers of one such trip said their last run saved 25 people a total of $18,000. A Maine law passed by the state legislature that sought to force drug companies to reduce their prices, has fallen foul of industry lobbyists that have prevented the new law from taking effect in legal challenges that have reached the United States Supreme Court. However where Maine might fail other states are taking up the challenge and federal legislature is expected to be introduced before the November elections on overhauling the pricing of drugs. The issue, say observers, is highly politically charged -- with the powerful senior citizen voting lobby standing off against the equally powerful pharmaceutical corporations. (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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