Radio Havana Cuba-06 May 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 06 May 2002 . *HAVANA´S AMBASSADOR TO MONTEVIDEO RETURNS HOME *WIFE OF RENE GONZALEZ DENIED VISA TO VISIT HER HUSBAND *PETITION CAMPAIGN TO FREE THE FIVE JAILED POLITICAL PRISONERS IN U.S. *CUBAN REPRESENTATIVES AT UNITED NATIONS PREPARE FOR CHILDREN'S SUMMIT *LEFTIST FORCES IN FRANCE SUCCESSFULLY MOBILIZE AGAINST THE ULTRA RIGHT *MEMBERS OF VENEZUELAN MILITARY PROVIDED COUP-PLOTTERS WITH WEAPONS: GENERAL *WASHINGTON REFUSES TO RATIFY TREATY ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT *US AGRO SUBSIDIES A CLEAR EXAMPLE OF HYPOCRISY - NOBEL ECONOMICS LAUREATE *CHOMSKY VOLUME CRITICAL OF US POLICY A BEST-SELLER Viewpoint: *A TORTURER OR A PILFERER? THE CHOICE FOR THE FRENCH ON SUNDAY . *HAVANA´S AMBASSADOR TO MONTEVIDEO RETURNS HOME Havana, May 6 (RHC)-- Cuba's ambassador to Uruguay returned home Monday morning and was met at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport by Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and other high-ranking government officials. Joaquín Alvarez Portela was declared persona non-grata when Uruguay broke diplomatic relations with Cuba on April 23rd. The Uruguayan government's decision came after Montevideo sponsored an anti-Cuba resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission on behalf of the United States. On Saturday, more than 10,000 Uruguayans rallied in downtown Montevideo in a massive farewell ceremony for the island's ambassador. Following the rally, a huge car caravan accompanied the Cuban diplomat to the capital's international airport. Speaking at a brief ceremony in Havana this morning, Cuba's foreign minister welcomed home the ambassador to Montevideo "on behalf of Fidel and the entire Cuban people." Felipe Perez Roque said that the Cuban diplomat's mission was "constructive and selfless," noting that Alvarez Portela worked hard to maintain official ties with the Uruguayan government, which were eventually broken by Montevideo -- not Havana. Referring to Cuba's donation of meningitis B vaccine, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque affirmed that the shipment would arrive in Montevideo as scheduled, despite the fact that Uruguay now has no diplomatic relations with Cuba. *WIFE OF RENE GONZALEZ DENIED VISA TO VISIT HER HUSBAND Havana, May 6 (RHC)-- The wife and five-year-old daughter of Rene González -- one of the five Cuban political prisoners being held in the United States -- have been denied visas to enter the U.S. and visit him. In a front-page story in this morning's edition of the newspaper Trabajadores, Parliament President Ricardo Alarcón said the U.S. State Department refused the visas on April 23rd. As a result, Rene's wife, Olga Salanueva, and their little daughter Ivette have been denied permission to visit him in prison. The president of the island's National Assembly of People's Power said that Rene and the other political prisoners -- convicted of allegedly endangering the national security of the United States -- are being systematically denied their right to visit with family members. In the case of Rene's daughter -- who was born in the United States and, consequently, has U.S. citizenship -- she has only seen her father once since he was arrested in 1998. *PETITION CAMPAIGN TO FREE THE FIVE JAILED POLITICAL PRISONERS IN U.S. San Francisco, May 6 (RHC)-- Solidarity activists in the United States are circulating a petition calling on the White House to free the five Cuban political prisoners, currently serving sentences for trying to prevent terrorist attacks against the island. In statements to Prensa Latina News Agency, Alicia Jrapko, a member of the California Committee to Free the Five, said that her group has collected thousands of signatures so far. The solidarity activist said that the petition calls on U.S. President George W. Bush to immediately release Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero and Rene González. Alicia Jrapko noted that during a recent demonstration in San Francisco, the Committee to Free the Five distributed thousands of flyers and a member of the committee spoke to a rally about the situation of the Cubans held prisoner in the United States. She said that reaction has been good, but since there is little or no news coverage in the mainstream media, many people do not know about the case. She said the vast majority of people in the U.S., once they know the facts, will support the demand for their release from prison. *CUBAN REPRESENTATIVES AT UNITED NATIONS PREPARE FOR CHILDREN'S SUMMIT New York, May 6 (RHC)-- Cuban representatives at the United Nations are preparing for the World Children's Summit, which will be held in New York from Wednesday through Friday, May 8th through the 10th. Leading the island's delegation is Vilma Espin, President of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC). On Sunday, 350 youngsters from around the world began meeting under the auspices of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The young people are debating issues that will be presented at the Summit when it officially gets underway on Wednesday. Vilma Espin told delegates that Cuba will highlight the importance given to children by the Revolution. She noted that the island's young people are given the opportunity to go to school in order to study and prepare themselves for the future, rather than being forced to work in the streets in order to survive. The president of the Federation of Cuban Women reminded those accredited to the meeting that two-thirds of the world's population live in poverty, many of whom are women and children. Vilma Espin said the Cuban Revolution gives special priority to its young people, to the extent that children are often referred to as 'Cuba's most privileged class. *LEFTIST FORCES IN FRANCE SUCCESSFULLY MOBILIZE AGAINST THE ULTRA RIGHT Paris, May 6 (RHC)-- Leftist forces in France were successful in massively mobilizing behind a right wing candidate to prevent a good showing by the ultra right. Jacques Chirac took more than 82 percent of the vote in the run-off election against Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the xenophobic National Front party. Nevertheless, Le Pen showed his strength in southeastern France, where he garnered between 24 and 30 percent of the vote in several departments, and even reached close to 40 percent in the city of Marignane and over 32 percent in Vitrolles. While many officials of the European Union expressed satisfaction and relief over Chirac's victory, some called for reflection on the need to confront intolerance. The European Parliament's Green Party termed as worrisome that a racist and anti-Semitic political organization is capable of gathering almost 6 million votes. The French news daily Le Soir wrote that this isn't the moment for celebration - that European society has never been so disoriented due to the loss of values and reference points. It affirmed that ultra right sentiment in France is real - just as real as in several European countries where the extreme right has installed itself and is growing - and will not die with this defeat. Le Pen received 600,000 more votes than he did in the first round. *MEMBERS OF VENEZUELAN MILITARY PROVIDED COUP-PLOTTERS WITH WEAPONS: GENERAL Caracas, May 6 (RHC)-- A Venezuelan Armed Forces general has affirmed that military officers who supported the attempted coup against President Hugo Chavez had been distributing weapons to civilians for the past 2 years. In an interview with the local news daily El Universal, General Raul Baduel said there are aerial videos demonstrating that the opposition march against Chavez on April 11 was organized in a military fashion, with some participants even carrying assault rifles. As a Venezuelan legislative commission continues investigating the events surrounding the attempted coup, evidence is accumulating that refutes the right wing opposition's insistence that the rebellion was in response to a massacre of civilians perpetrated by Chavez supporters. At the same time, Washington remains on the defensive concerning its role in the overthrow of a constitutionally-elected president, with Secretary of State Colin Powell again denying on Sunday that the US government had anything to do with those events. And one of the US officials implicated in expressing support for the coup leaders, Undersecretary of State Otto Reich, is now claiming that Cuba was involved. Reich has a long history of aiding coups and known terrorists, including the aid he provided to Cuban-American terrorist Orlando Bosch when he was Washington's ambassador in Venezuela. *WASHINGTON REFUSES TO RATIFY TREATY ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT Washington, May 6 (RHC)-- As expected, Washington has announced its intention to not ratify a treaty on the creation of the International Criminal Court. The former Clinton administration had adhered to what's known as the 1998 Rome Accord - designed to bring to justice persons accused of crimes against humanity - though US lawmakers expressed doubts due to the possibility that members of the US armed forces participating in military operations abroad could be charged. Secretary of State Colin Powell also expressed concern over the possible charges that could be brought against American political leaders and diplomats. A group of 23 human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, said Washington's decision places the George W. Bush administration in the difficult position of seeking support abroad for its war on terrorism while opposing an institution specifically created to prosecute those types of crimes. Thus far, 66 countries have ratified the treaty, 6 more than necessary for its establishment - expected to occur on July 1, and to begin functions early next year in The Hague. Observers believe that Washington's rejection of the treaty will open yet another front of friction with its European allies. *US AGRO SUBSIDIES A CLEAR EXAMPLE OF HYPOCRISY - NOBEL ECONOMICS LAUREATE Paris, May 6 (RHC)-- The agro subsidies approved last week by the US Congress constitute a clear example of Washington's "hypocrisy" regarding the free trade hype, according to Nobel Economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz. Stiglitz told the French news daily La Tribune that the sum total of agriculture subsidies in the United States surpasses the gross domestic products of all of sub-Saharan Africa - noting that countries of the South have no possibility of competing in those conditions. The American economist also took the opportunity to again jab at the International Monetary Fund, blaming the multilateral institution for the dramatic situation in Argentina. According to Stiglitz, had Argentina followed all IMF recommendations, that situation would be much worse. Noting that the lending institution continues committing the same mistakes despite recognizing their harmful consequences, the Nobel laureate said it's difficult to imagine any real change as long as Washington maintains its veto power within the IMF. *CHOMSKY VOLUME CRITICAL OF US POLICY A BEST-SELLER New York, May 6 (RHC)-- A book by writer and US foreign policy critic Noam Chomsky accusing Washington of being a "terrorist state" has surprisingly been included on the list of best-sellers in the major news dailies, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe. The book "September 11" - published just a few weeks after the attack against New York's Twin Towers - even surprised its small publishing house, the Seven Stories Press. Chomsky calls the September 11 attacks "a horrible atrocity," but affirmed that the United States cannot be considered an innocent victim unless Americans ignore their past and the past of the US's allies. The leftist intellectual cited numerous passages from that past, including Washington's terrorist actions in Central America, its support of former Indonesian dictator General Suharto and its complicity in Israeli atrocities committed against the Palestinians. With 115,000 copies sold, and published in 22 countries, Chomsky asserted over the weekend that September 11 has made people think about problems they hadn't thought of, and that his book helps people engaged in that process. The book's success comes on the heels of another surprising best-seller by activist and journalist Michael Moore, entitled "Stupid White Men", which calls President George W. Bush the "thief-in-chief, a trespasser on federal land, a squatter at the Oval Office." Viewpoint: *A TORTURER OR A PILFERER? THE CHOICE FOR THE FRENCH ON SUNDAY Sunday's second round presidential vote against French extreme right wing leader Jean-Marie le Pen brought out the highest number of voters in the 44 years of France's Fifth Republic, with some 82% of the nation's eligible voters casting their ballot in favor of rightist incumbent Jacques Chirac. The choice was a major dilemma for the Left that represents the majority of the French electorate: vote against a proven torturer during the Algerian War, or for a pilferer of city funds when he was Mayor of Paris. The pilferer got the votes and another seven years in the presidency not because he had popular support but because the torturer was so racist, so fascist, that people felt they had no choice but to cast a vote against such a man. However, rather sit back now and say it's done the right thing - which many would argue it has not - those of the Left who voted for Chirac now need to focus on turning out in the same numbers for the legislative elections scheduled for the 9th and 16th of June. The Right may have succeeded in the presidency but the legislature is sure to have a majority Left coalition running it if the voters turn out as they did on Sunday. And turn out they should, for if the Left and the moderate Right find themselves with equal representation in the House of Deputies, the extreme right could carry much power in any tie-break. The National Front already has 15% of the deputies in the House. This can be substantially reduced if French voters take action now. There also needs to be more awareness behind the reasons for Le Pen's remarkable gains. Some areas of France voted as high as 30% for him in an atmosphere of immigrant hating and racism - specifically against Arabs. How have so many voters become so alienated and angry? The complacency of previous mostly center left governments for the nation's myriad social problems has provided much ammunition for the Right. The people of France have just shown how disgusted they are with the policies of the ultra fascist right wing. Now they must follow this up with a firm vote to rein in the center right as personified by Jacques Chirac who's Washington sponsored economic policies are just as dangerous for the poor and the marginalized as were Jean Marie le Pen's hateful rhetoric. (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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