Radio Havana Cuba-14 May 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 14 May 2002 . *FORMER US PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER SPEAKS TO THE NATION OF CUBA *CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY WELCOMES POWELL'S CLARIFICATION ON BIOTERRORISM CHARGES *WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA IS A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW *NEW BOOK BY CUBAN JOURNALIST PUBLISHED IN SPAIN *FIRST LATIN AMERICAN ENCOUNTER OF DEAF WOMEN UNDERWAY IN HAVANA *INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL UNDERWAY IN HAVANA *US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR ARMS ACCORD MADE POSSIBLE BY MOSCOW'S CONCESSION: ANALYSTS *COLOMBIAN ARMY AGAIN ACCUSED OF SHARING BED WITH RIGHT-WING PARAMILITARIES *WASHINGTON POST SLAMS BUSH'S FARM SUBSIDIES AS "WASTEFUL CORPORATE WELFARE TO BRIBE A FEW VOTERS" Viewpoint: *TAKING CARE OF THE PAST FOR THE SAKE OF A BETTER FUTURE . *FORMER US PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER SPEAKS TO THE NATION OF CUBA Havana, May 14 (RHC)-Former US president Jimmy Carter addressed the nation of Cuba tonight in a 20 minute speech in Spanish. Speaking from the University of Havana principal lecture hall, Carter said that he very much appreciated the invitation to visit Cuba where Fidel Castro had made it clear he could speak with anyone he pleased, criticize when he saw fit and feel at liberty to express himself on any issue. He said it was a great honor to address the people of Cuba and recalled the history of the island in relation to the US which, said Carter, sought an independent Cuba but not totally. He added that the time had come for a change in the manner in which both governments speak to each other and avoid the old obsolete animosity. Addressing some of the issues relating to civil liberties, the former US president said that he hoped to see more freedom of expression and association in Cuba but that there were plenty of civil liberties violated in his own country. He mentioned the large number of people incarcerated in US prisons and the death penalty imposed most harshly on those who are poor, black or mentally ill. In a question and answer period after his address, Jimmy Carter was asked by a student who objected to his highlighting of what Carter referred to as civil rights violations if he considered the poverty and injustice that existed in other so-called democracies to be part of the democratic system. He answered that he had dedicated his life to promoting human rights and that he had seen a tremendous demonstration of human rights in Cuba - such as the right to universal health care and education. These, he said, are great achievements. However, he said, he wished there was more possibility for Cubans to openly criticize their government and to organize. Responding to criticisms by Jimmy Carter that Cuba lacked free elections, the vice-deacon of the Faculty of Law at the University of Havana responded that his country held elections every 5 years in which its president, Fidel Castro, had to be reelected to the National Assembly like everyone else. Commenting on a referendum request named after a much loved figure in Cuban history and which is to be presented to the National Assembly seeking changes in the Cuban system of government, the law professor said that he was insulted by the use of the name for such an obviously US born attempt to damage the social gains of the Cuban revolution. Carter responded that there was no evidence that the project had originated in US and called for open debate, asking for its entire content to be published in Granma newspaper. He ended by saying that he would do his best to end the economic blockade of Cuba by his country. Many of those present who are aware of the methods used by the United States government to undermine Havana - including the recent accusations of bioterrorism now refuted by the US Secretary of State - sought to illuminate the former US president on the history of US aggression and subversion toward Cuba. Finally a medal was presented to Jimmy Cater who then went off with Fidel Castro to a baseball game at Havana's Latinamericano Stadium. *CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY WELCOMES POWELL'S CLARIFICATION ON BIOTERRORISM CHARGES Havana, May 14 (RHC)-- Cuba's foreign ministry has welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's clarification concerning charges of bioterrorism leveled at Havana. In a front-page statement published Tuesday in the Cuban news daily Granma, the Cuban foreign ministry affirmed that Powell's retraction is equivalent to recognizing that Under Secretary of State John Bolton lied when he recently asserted that Washington believes that Cuba is at least carrying out limited offensive biological weapons research and development, and that Cuba has provided dual use technology for the production of these weapons to so-called "rogue" nations. The official statement highlights reports by the Notimex, Reuters, EFE, ANSA and DPA news agencies concerning Powell's statement that the US government believes Cuba "has a capacity to carry out this type of research," but that Washington "didn't say Cuba actually has these types of weapons." Numerous news agencies also noted that the Secretary of State declined to comment on Cuba's alleged exportation of this technology to other countries. The flurry of news reports followed public statements in Havana by visiting former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, expressing his conviction that Cuba is not involved in this type of research or production and that in several meetings with U.S. officials before his visit, he was specifically told that Washington has no evidence to that effect. Also referring to the barrage of recent reports regarding Washington's addition of Cuba, Libya and Syria to its "axis of evil" list, Cuba's foreign ministry affirmed that Bolton irresponsibly and cynically unleashed a volley of gross lies and threats. The official statement termed as "monstrously unjust" using the scientific capacity of a small, underdeveloped and blockaded nation -- created not only for the health needs of its people, but for those of other peoples as well -- to accuse it of posing a threat to the United States. Meanwhile, during the third day of his visit, Carter toured the Los Cocos AIDS sanatorium on the outskirts of Havana, where he was briefed on the institution's prevention program and spoke with some of the more than 300 patients there. He took the opportunity to praise Cuba's achievements in the fight against AIDS, as well as Havana's recent offer to the United Nations to provide medical personnel to fight the disease in developing countries with financing from the industrialized North. Manuel Santín, National Director of Epidemiology at the Cuban Health Ministry, explained that since the first appearance of AIDS in Cuba in 1986, a prevention program was put in place that has allowed Cuba to maintain the lowest AIDS infection rate in Latin America -- 27.82 per one million inhabitants. Only less than one percent of AIDS cases in Cuba are the result of mother-to-child transmission. *WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA IS A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Pinar del Rio, May 14 (RHC)-- Washington's blockade against Cuba is a violation of international law and has a tremendous economic effect on the region. Peter Gellert, Coordinator of the Mexican Movement in Solidarity with Cuba, emphasized that the U.S. blockade also violates the sovereignty of other nations. Speaking with reporters in Pinar del Rio, the Mexican solidarity leader explained that companies which have partnerships with U.S. transnationals are prohibited from doing business with the island. Peter Gellert also noted that Washington's economic and commercial blockade tries to prevent the entry into Cuba of any product manufactured in the United States or containing U.S.-made materials from a third country. Pressured by extraterritorial legislation -- such as the Torricelli and Helms-Burton Laws -- many Mexican firms are unable to acquire Cuban products. Gellert said that some Cuban-made medicines are hard to come by in Mexico because U.S. pharmaceutical giants prohibit their importation. The coordinator of the Mexican Movement in Solidarity with Cuba told reporters that international lending agencies have been instructed not to grant credit to Cuba, in an effort by Washington to specifically cut off the island from purchasing much needed food and medicine from the U.S. or other countries. Peter Gellert, a long-time social activist and leader of the Mexican solidarity organization, is also Radio Havana Cuba's correspondent in Mexico City. *NEW BOOK BY CUBAN JOURNALIST PUBLISHED IN SPAIN Madrid, May 14 (RHC)-- The book El Mérito es Vivir (The Feat is to Live), by well-known Cuban journalist Luís Báez, went on sale in bookstores across Madrid on Monday. Published by the Spanish La Buganville Publishing House, the new, 248-page book takes an in-depth look at plans and actions on the part of the U.S. government to try to destroy the Cuban Revolution and kill its leader, President Fidel Castro. In words of introduction to the Spanish edition, Cuban researcher and intellectual Rolando Rodríguez highlights among the book's values that of demonstrating that U.S. hostility towards the Cuban Revolution began even before it was declared socialist. The desire for true independence and a sovereign discourse were enough to unleash the U.S. imperial arrogance, asserts Rodríguez. According to documents from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, as early as 1956, Washington recruited a messenger for the rebel forces during the struggle against the Batista dictatorship with one objective: to assassinate Fidel Castro. Clearing demonstrating that Washington has long had an obsession with physically eliminating the leader of the Cuban Revolution, the book contains interviews with several CIA agents and is based on information obtained from U.S. sources that has become public with the passage of time. The author reminds readers that, regardless of political affiliations and ideas, nothing could justify assassination, hostility and bullying. *FIRST LATIN AMERICAN ENCOUNTER OF DEAF WOMEN UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, May 14 (RHC)-- The First Latin American Encounter of Deaf Women got underway on Tuesday in the Cuban capital. Delegates from around the region are discussing issues such as education, communications, health care and sexuality -- with special reports by experts in hearing loss and deafness. According to organizers of the meeting, women from Latin America will examine the advances made by Cuba in relation to deafness and exchange ideas on ways to overcome the obstacles to hearing-impaired persons, with a particular emphasis on women. The event -- which runs through Thursday, the 16th -- is being hosted by the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC). *INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, May 14 (RHC)-- The 11th International Guitar Festival and Contest is well underway at Havana's Amadeo Roldan Theater. Workshops on the guitar and special concert presentations have entertained festival-goers over the past several days. One of the personalities from Mexico taking part in the event is Luther Abel García. He told reporters that such a festival can only take place in Cuba -- "where there is a deeply-rooted school of guitar and the support of a society that favors the arts." The 11th International Guitar Festival and Contest winds up on Saturday, May 18th. *US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR ARMS ACCORD MADE POSSIBLE BY MOSCOW'S CONCESSION: ANALYSTS Moscow, Washington, May 14 (RHC)-- Nationalist lawmakers in Russia have accused the Kremlin of once again allowing too many concessions in the nuclear weapons control agreement reached with Washington. But even moderate Russian legislators are affirming that the accord is insufficient. Nationalist legislator Alexei Mitrofanov said the U.S. government's plans for a space-based anti-missile system should prompt Russia to increase its nuclear arsenal. Many observers believed that Washington's insistence on its Star Wars program would prevent any nuclear weapons accord with Russia. Mitrofanov stated that as the U.S. builds a shield, Russia breaks its sword. Other analysts, including the Washington and Moscow correspondents of the British news daily The Guardian, affirmed that the US's only concession was to dignify the outcome of bilateral negotiations with an internationally legally binding treaty that will outlive both presidents - but that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made one concession after another. Correspondents Ian Traynor and Julian Borger, in reference to American troop presence in ex-Soviet states, and the U.S. pulling out of the 30-year-old ABM treaty with Moscow, wrote that Putin has spent much of the past eight months putting on a brave face while seeking to play an extremely weak hand as shrewdly as possible. They noted that the White House made it clear that it was agreeing to no more than the strategic cuts it had planned to make anyway. At the same time, the U.S. news daily The Boston Globe noted Tuesday that even as the United States and Russia prepare to dramatically reduce their arsenals of deployable nuclear arms, Washington is considering the development of a new class of smaller battlefield nuclear bombs -- sparking fears that it may undercut its own efforts to reduce the spread or use of nuclear weapons. *COLOMBIAN ARMY AGAIN ACCUSED OF SHARING BED WITH RIGHT-WING PARAMILITARIES Bogotá, May 14 (RHC)-- The Colombian army has again been accused of collaborating with right wing paramilitary death squads in connection with the recent deaths of 119 civilians caught in rebel-paramilitary cross-fire. The director of the office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Swedish Anders Kompass, has charged that an army brigade in the northwestern Chocó Department has close ties to paramilitaries who were recently engaged in a fierce battle with members of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces insurgency. Kompass stated Monday that he listened to denunciations from residents of two towns where the fighting took place who affirm that the paramilitaries are still in the area under the army's protection and that as a result they fear another attack by leftist guerrillas. Residents reportedly told the UN official that paramilitaries have looted abandoned homes in order to acquire civilian clothes to blend in with the local population without being detected. President Andres Pastrana, amid controversy, announced Tuesday that he would investigate. Last Sunday, several Colombian newspapers published an open letter from residents of one of the towns denouncing the armed forces-paramilitary connection. Leftist rebels accepted partial responsibility for the civilian casualties, but affirmed that the paramilitaries used them as human shields at gunpoint. The guerrillas also charged that the army and government have allowed the paramilitaries to control the region, noting that the first Colombian soldiers didn't even reach the two towns until five days after the fighting was over. *WASHINGTON POST SLAMS BUSH'S FARM SUBSIDIES AS "WASTEFUL CORPORATE WELFARE TO BRIBE A FEW VOTERS" Washington, May 14 (RHC)-- The Washington Post has slammed President George W. Bush's farm subsidies bill as proponents of free trade and fair trade alike decry the legislation they say will hurt poor farmers around the world. In one of its lead editorials Tuesday, the Post called the bill "a wasteful corporate welfare measure that penalizes taxpayers and the world's poorest people in order to bribe a few voters." Noting that Bush expressed satisfaction at the bill's passing, the editorial said his statement suggests that "he is either dishonest or utterly ignorant of what he has just done". It expressed disbelief that Bush could claim that the bill reduces government interference in the market, charging that its signing put the votes of farm states that could tip the balance in the midterm elections ahead of policy or principle. The Washington Post editorial wound up calling on its readers to remember Bush's 190 million dollars in subsidies when over the next few months the administration says there is no new money for welfare mothers or health care or low-income housing. Meanwhile, Neil Ritchie -- national organizer with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy -- stated that any amount of money put into the hands of American farmers leaves other farmers around the world at a disadvantage. World Bank data reportedly indicates that cotton exporters in West and Central Africa would see their revenues swell by 250 million dollars per year if the United States -- the world's biggest cotton producer -- stopped subsidizing domestic production. The NGO Oxfam International recently called U.S. farm subsidies a blatant form of protectionism worth one-fourth of total U.S. farm output. Viewpoint: *TAKING CARE OF THE PAST FOR THE SAKE OF A BETTER FUTURE Despite severe scarcities, Cubans have never stopped restoration works of historic sites in Old Havana -- an area in the Cuban capital with many buildings that have been around for some 500 years, constructed during Spanish colonial rule over Cuba. Thanks to long-standing restoration efforts, visitors to Old Havana can now appreciate these majestic, colonial-style buildings. On the occasion of the visit to Cuba of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the mainstream media, television networks and photo-journalists from prestigious (and not so prestigious) newspapers the world over have been snapping shots of more than 200 buildings -- of a total of 4000 included in the restoration efforts. The former U.S. president, himself, toured some of those historic sites and learned about plans to include other areas in the restoration program as soon as material conditions allow. Although the vast majority of foreign tourists arriving to the Cuban capital fall in love with Old Havana -- attracted to this four square-kilometer area and often shopping or seeking lodging there -- the revenues obtained are not enough to complete such a difficult and costly restoration endeavor in a short period of time. The restoration work being undertaken in Old Havana means rescuing Cuban history, but it is also a social endeavor, given the thousands of residents in this area who are determined to preserve their link to the colonial-style environment without renouncing the comfort of modern life. Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal is the mastermind and the main promoter of these restoration programs. For several years now, he has devoted most of his time and work to guide hundreds of professionals, construction workers and artists in this major effort, without evicting area residents as is the common practice in any capitalist society. Together with the restored buildings, the large street lamps that illuminate the neighborhood and the horse-drawn carriages that once again journey the cobblestone streets of Old Havana, Leal has put in place several community works. Among social facilities that have been restored are public libraries, maternity clinics and drugstores, as well as special centers for the elderly and disabled children. All of these facilities have been equipped with state-of-the-art technology and highly skilled personnel, who have the task of educating and improving the health of the area residents. Those who visit Old Havana today will still find crowded housing conditions, what we here in Cuba call "solares," which contrast greatly with nearby, already-restored buildings. This is the reality of the oldest area in the Cuban capital, where architects, construction workers, artists and residents are determined to continue in their efforts to rescue the historic memory of this small portion of Cuban territory, without paying any attention to the cameras of indiscreet photographers. (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-28563 2002-May-15 06:40:59