Radio Havana Cuba-09 May 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 09 May 2002 . *CUBA ANGRILY REJECTS US CHARGES OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS PRODUCTION *URUGUAY CONFIRMS MENINGITIS B VACCINE TO BE DONATED BY CUBA *EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITIES MEET TO MAP OUT THE ISLAND'S NEXT SCHOOL YEAR *LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CONGRESS ON GERIATRICS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA *CUBAN MUSICIANS TO PERFORM AT INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL IN MONTREAL *AS UN SUMMIT UNFOLDS, US COMMITMENT TO CHILD HEALTH, EDUCATION QUESTIONED *CONTROVERSY IN ARGENTINA AFTER SENATE REPEALS IMF-APPROVED LEGISLATION *ISRAEL RESORTS TO MISINFORMATION AGAINST ARAFAT - BRITISH JOURNALIST *DECLASSIFIED US DOCUMENTS SPARK WIDESPREAD COMMENTARY IN URUGUAY Viewpoint: *BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND TERRORISM: WASHINGTON CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK . *CUBA ANGRILY REJECTS US CHARGES OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS PRODUCTION Havana, May 9 (RHC) -- Cuba has termed as "inflammatory accusations" charges by a US State Department official of alleged biological weapons production programs on the island. The charges came at a recent speech delivered by Undersecretary of State John Bolton before the ultra-right wing Heritage Foundation. Havana has vowed to provide a precise and complete response to the accusation during a live, televised round table discussion Friday evening on national Cuban TV. At least one US newspaper, Florida's Sun Sentinel, noted Wednesday that "without hard evidence, these remarks seem aimed more at appeasing anti-Castro hardliners than protecting US national security" - noting that the accusation came as reactionary Cuban-Americans in Miami and in the US Congress are up in arms over the upcoming visit to Havana of former US President Jimmy Carter. The accusation coincided with a report by the web-based environmental organization Sunshine Project demonstrating with US government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act that the US Armed Forces is pushing for offensive biological weapons development. Noting that Washington has rejected a legally-binding system of United Nations inspections of suspected biological weapons facilities while aggressively accusing other countries of developing these weapons, the Sunshine Project pointed out that while the State Department accuses Cuba of producing technologies of dual use that have both offensive and peaceful applications, the US army is explicitly proposing offensive biological weapons production for one sole purpose. *URUGUAY CONFIRMS MENINGITIS B VACCINE TO BE DONATED BY CUBA Montevideo, May 9 (RHC)-- Uruguayan Public Health Minister Alfonso Varela has confirmed that next month's shipment of Cuban meningitis B vaccine will mark the beginning of a national vaccination campaign. The top Uruguayan health official told reporters in Montevideo that Havana's Carlos J. Finlay Institute has guaranteed that shipments of the vaccine will continue reaching the country, despite the fact that the Uruguayan government recently broke diplomatic relations with the island. Alfonso Varela said that the next shipment of 800,000 doses of the meningitis B vaccine is slated to arrive in early June and will be massively distributed nationwide. Havana previously sent 471,000 doses to Uruguay last month -- in an effort to fight the disease following a government decision to use the Cuban-produced medicine. One baby and two junior high school students had already died of meningitis. The delay in using the medicine was reportedly due to opposition from several Public Health officials who claimed it was ineffective. But research conducted by the Pasteur Institute in France confirmed that the vaccine is indeed effective, convincing Uruguayan government officials to purchase the medicine. When Havana learned that Montevideo was interested in the vaccine, it was decided to send more than one million doses as a donation, free of charge. *EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITIES MEET TO MAP OUT THE ISLAND'S NEXT SCHOOL YEAR Havana, May 9 (RHC)-- Cuba's educational authorities are meeting in Havana to map out the island's next school year. Luis Ignacio Gomez, Cuban Minister of Education, told reporters that the new school year -- which begins in September -- should be the best in many years. Pointing to additional resources and equipment installed in schools across the island -- including television sets, computers and video players -- Cuba's minister of education expressed optimism when referring to the country's academic future. He said that Cuba's solutions to educational challenges have been truly revolutionary, adding that one of the most important goals of the next school year is to raise the quality of education. Cuba's minister of education noted that it is sometimes necessary to break the formal routine in order to make classes more interesting for young people. He said that a special emphasis must be placed on primary education, with the training of more teachers and personnel. *LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN CONGRESS ON GERIATRICS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, May 9 (RHC)-- Nearly 200 experts from 12 countries around the world have gathered at Havana's International Convention Center for the 3rd Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Geriatrics. Participants at the Congress are discussing issues related to aging, common illnesses among the elderly, floral therapy, hypertension, as well as specific surgical operations and treatments. Other workshops on aging are also taking place parallel to the international meeting. Osvaldo Prieto, Director of the Inter-American Center for the Elderly, told reporters that the Congress, which got underway on Wednesday, is dealing with issues that are becoming more important in today's aging world. He said that the planet's population is getting increasingly older -- with new, more advanced medical and technological breakthroughs. Cuban experts note that senior citizens make up 14.3 percent of the island's population. Studies show that by the year 2005, one-quarter of Cuba's population will be over 60-years-old -- as life expectancy, currently at 75 years, continues to grow. *CUBAN MUSICIANS TO PERFORM AT INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL IN MONTREAL Havana, May 9 (RHC)-- A number of outstanding Cuban musicians will perform at next month's International Jazz Festival in Montreal. Chucho Valdes, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Omara Portuondo will join jazz greats from around the world from June 27th through July 7th. Organizers of the annual Montreal Jazz Festival confirmed that among those appearing will be Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden and Wynton Marsalis from the United States; British pop star Peter Gabriel, along with singers Marianne Faithful and Miriam Makeba. The Jazz Festival will feature over 150 performances during the 12-day musical extravaganza. *AS UN SUMMIT UNFOLDS, US COMMITMENT TO CHILD HEALTH, EDUCATION QUESTIONED Washington, May 9 (RHC) -- As the United Nations Children's Summit unfolds, the US government's policy towards American children has come under heavy fire from the country's most prestigious child advocacy organization. The Children's Defense Fund, the CDF, has released a new report entitled "The State of Children in America's Union: A 2002 Action Guide to Leave No Child Behind", considered by many a stinging indictment of President George W. Bush's hypocritical rhetoric in favor of children and the poor. The study assesses how well the Bush administration has kept its promises to "leave no child behind", as the president himself stated with great fanfare last January when he signed the education reform bill and "vowed to make educating every child his number one domestic priority." According to the CDF, the administration's 2003 budget proposed the smallest education increase in the past seven years. The administration, affirms the study, says it is important for families to work and its welfare proposals require more hours of work from poor parents. But its budget will result in 114,000 fewer children in working families getting federal child care assistance despite long child care waiting lists in many states. The Children's Defense Fund noted how since the year 2000 Bush and members of his administration have repeatedly insisted that education is their top priority and poverty is unworthy of a wealthy nation's promise, while at the same time promoting multi-billion dollar tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the rich, and implementing budget choices favoring powerful corporate interests over children's urgent needs when the gap between rich and poor is already at its largest record point in over 30 years. The State of Children in America's Union found that an American child is born into poverty every 43 seconds, and that a child is born without health insurance every minute despite the fact that 90 percent of the nine million uninsured children live in working families. The founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, said "these facts are not acts of God - they are moral and political choices." *CONTROVERSY IN ARGENTINA AFTER SENATE REPEALS IMF-APPROVED LEGISLATION Buenos Aires, May 9 (RHC) -- Argentina's Senate has surprisingly repealed its Economic Subversion Law adopted to prosecute corrupt corporate executives and bankers. The move, demanded by the International Monetary Fund, came at the end of a stormy, shout-filled 10-hour session that saw what is being called the scandalous disruption of traditional political alliances in the ruling party's efforts to ram it through. The repeal must now go to the House of Deputies, where its future is also uncertain. Opposition lawmakers insisted that Congress has signed its own death certificate by guaranteeing impunity for the business sectors that ripped off the country and sent billions of dollars abroad. Argentina's courts have opened judicial processes against close to 50 business tycoons and bankers, among them former US Treasury Secretary David Mulford, as well as bank executives from Spain, Britain and the United States. Though the Economic Subversion Law has been in place since 1974, it came up against stiff opposition from the IMF and Washington last year when Argentinean judges decided to apply the legislation against those suspected of massive capital flight towards mostly US banks. But Washington and the credit institution claim that they oppose it because it discourages investment. The Senate session coincided with unusually harsh criticism of the International Monetary Fund and the US government by former President Raul Alfonsin, calling both a "universal danger" hoping to take control of Argentina. Alfonsin said the so-called sustainable plan demanded by the IMF is nothing more than the condemnation of an entire people to extreme poverty. *ISRAEL RESORTS TO MISINFORMATION AGAINST ARAFAT - BRITISH JOURNALIST London, May 9 (RHC) -- Robert Fisk, columnist for the British news daily The Independent, has affirmed that Israel's so-called Book of Terror designed to prove that Yasser Arafat is a terrorist is riddled with errors, omissions and deliberate misinformation. Writing for The Independent's Thursday edition, Fisk said the dossier presented this week to US President George Bush by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon characterizes Arafat as an evil, scheming warlord funded by Iran and Saudi Arabia. He affirmed, however, that in some cases translations of Palestinian documents allegedly seized by Israeli troops in the West bank have been doctored in an effort to prove Arafat's responsibility for anti-Israeli attacks. Fisk asserted that at least one so-called translation of a Palestinian document posted on the Israeli army's website is a palpable falsehood. He reported that in reality, the documents portray Arafat's military impotence, painting a vivid, pathetic picture of his loss of power within the Palestinian community over the past 12 months and the gradual recruitment of his lieutenants and other followers by Hamas and Islamic Jihad opponents. The original Arab texts, wrote Fisk, suggest that Israel is fighting against men who have long ago passed outside Arafat's control, who are better funded than his Palestinian Authority and whose anti-Israeli attacks can only occasionally be foiled by Arafat's still-loyal intelligence officers. He affirmed that the last thing the documents prove is that Arafat is behind the wave of suicide bombing that continued this week in Israel. *DECLASSIFIED US DOCUMENTS SPARK WIDESPREAD COMMENTARY IN URUGUAY Montevideo, May 9 (RHC) -- Recent revelations that former US President Richard Nixon promoted electoral fraud in Uruguay only surprised the former Uruguayan president who benefited, according to AFP news agency reporting from Montevideo. Ex-President Juan Maria Bordaberry, the Colorado Party candidate who won dirty elections in 1972 just two years before heading an army-supported coup d'etat, was the only political player of the time who denied the revelation. The recently declassified documents reveal that Nixon bragged about promoting electoral fraud in Uruguay with the help of Brazil's military dictatorship at the time. The founder of Uruguay's leftist Broad Front, retired General Liber Seregni - another of the presidential candidates in 1972 - said the documents merely confirm what his organization amply denounced and documented in 1971. Center-right National Party Senator Carlos Julio Pereyra, running as a vice presidential candidate at the time, told AFP that his organization had also denounced the electoral fraud. The National Party, currently in power, announced Thursday amid widespread controversy that its leadership would issue a statement next week. Viewpoint: *BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND TERRORISM: WASHINGTON CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK Undersecretary of State John Bolton's bizzare remarks on Monday relating to Cuba's ability to carry out biological warfare begs the question: Why now and upon what was he basing his accusations? If the United States government has been so sure of Cuba's supposed position relating to biological weapons, why was no action taken against the island long ago? If the United States is demanding that all nations renounce terrorism and abandon weapons of mass destruction why is it focusing its hatred on Cuba when Havana has frequently and publicly denounced terrorism, and by no stretch of anyone's imagination is producing any weapons of mass destruction: biological or otherwise. The Cuban daily newspaper Granma has a website that is visited by more than a million people a month - one of the highest visited news sites in the world. The Florida Cuban-American elite that got Bush elected is calling in the debt. Former US president Jimmy Carter is about to visit the island in a much heralded trip as the highest ranking US official - past or present - ever to have done so since 1959. Washington is piqued that Cuba's friend Hugo Chavez pulled through Venezuela's April 11th CIA-staged coup. It is also upset that it was unable to get an explicit condemnation of the island at the UN Human Rights. It is obsessed by the fact that the rest of the world trades with the island in spite of its extra-territorial legislation banning such trade. These are all reasons enough to fire up the small minds that seek to manufacture base charges against Cuba whenever possible. In short, Washington is raging against Cuba like an angry, illogical bull again. History records that Cuba and its president have been frequently attacked with biological weapons produced in the United States. Almost 21 years to the day, the first African swine fever virus ever to appear in the entire region was detected in Cuba. Six years later a US intelligence agent admitted that it was deliberately introduced to the island to wreak havoc on its food supply. Ten years later, in 1981, a strain of dengue fever not endemic to the region killed 113 people - including 81 children. Three years later a member of the Cuban-American terrorist organization Omega 7 admitted to having introduced what he called "some germs" into the country. Assassination attempts against Fidel Castro have, according to an internal CIA investigation, included coating with killer bacteria a wet suit to be offered to the President, and sending him poisoned cigars. On to the present day. Even as John Bolton was making his completely untenable statements, US biological weapons are being used to destroy coca and opium poppy crops found in South America and Afghanistan. The agents making up these biological weapons have been found to be exceedingly damaging to the environment, affecting indigenous plants and wildlife and damaging ecosystems. These pesticides are also damaging human health. Even as Washington accuses Havana of biological weapons violations, its own armed forces are endeavoring to further develop their biological weaponry. They seek to genetically engineer microbes that attack fuel, plastics and asphalt. Such technology would instantly violate federal and international law. The Bush administration has added to its list of international conventions and protocols that it refuses to sign, one that seeks to create a binding United Nations inspection system of biological weapons facilities. Would this have something to do with the fact that the United States is producing biological weapons of mass destruction? There is little doubt. So the accusations made against Cuba - without any proof - are just a smokescreen to hide Bush's own bio-terrorism plans. The US Undersecretary of State says that Cuba is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and vaccines and that this technology can be redirected toward biological warfare. But where is the proof of such dual biotechnology? One can be certain that if such evidence existed of such a wild accusation then the US would have gleefully produced it. The truth is that Cuba has a system of health and research that shares its results with the rest of the world for purely ethical reasons. It does not have multi-national pharmaceutical corporations producing medicines for massive profits and withholding those life-saving medicines from those who cannot pay, as in the case of AIDS drugs. Such loathsome behavior is the genuine bio-terrorism that plagues our planet. (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-27649 2002-May-11 21:09:45