Radio Havana Cuba-15 May 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 15 May 2002 . *US BLOCKADE OF CUBA PREVENTS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BILATERAL TRADE *INTERNATIONAL PSYCHIATRY CONGRESS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA *USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES ON AGENDA AT UPCOMING REGIONAL MEETING IN CUBA *PABLO MILANES RECEIVES LATINO PRIZE AT MUSIC AWARDS IN SPAIN *WASHINGTON AGAIN ON THE DEFENSIVE OVER US ROLE IN ATTEMPTED CARACAS COUP *CHILEAN JUDGE RE-ENACTS DICTATORSHIP'S MURDER OF AMERICAN JOURNALIST *US SENATE SIDELINES WHITE HOUSE APPEAL FOR "FAST TRACK" TRADE POWERS *PERUVIAN GOVERNMENT DEFENDS SOLDIERS SUSPECTED OF EXECUTING LEFTIST REBELS *SAUDI PRINCE ABDULLAH SAYS GEORGE W. BUSH "NOBLE BUT IGNORANT" Viewpoint: *WASHINGTON TO THE REST OF THE WORLD: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO . *US BLOCKADE OF CUBA PREVENTS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BILATERAL TRADE Havana, May 15 (RHC)-- Washington's economic and commercial blockade of Cuba prevents multi-million dollar trade between the two nations. Speaking at a news conference in Havana, Pedro Alvarez, Director of the Cuban Enterprise for Food Imports (ALIMPORT), announced that Havana has purchased over 100 million dollars in food and agricultural products from the United States since December. The head of Cuba's import company pointed out that there have been problems in making these purchases, due to delays in obtaining travel licenses and visas from Washington for Cuban experts to explore the U.S. market. Pedro Alvarez said that he and others have been formally invited to the United States by congressional representatives and agro-business executives, but have had difficulty getting the green light from the U.S. government. For the first time in more than 40 years, Washington authorized the purchase of food and medicine following the devastation of Hurricane Michelle last November. Conditions were placed on the exception to Washington's blockade of Cuba: purchases could only be made in cash, without the possibility of obtaining credit. The president of ALIMPORT said that Cuba is holding talks with leading U.S. food companies, whose representatives have recently visited the island to explore business opportunities. Alvarez noted that Cuban authorities hope to purchase more food items from the United States in the future, pointing out that such commercial transactions are beneficial to both countries. *INTERNATIONAL PSYCHIATRY CONGRESS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, May 15 (RHC)-- More than 500 delegates from around the world are gathered here in the Cuban capital for the International Congress Psicocimeq 2002. Psychiatrists, doctors and experts in the field of psychology are analyzing the most recent advances in clinical psychiatry and psychology. Mental health professionals from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, Canada and the United States are meeting at Havana's International Convention Center to debate a wide range of issues -- including childhood problems, schizophrenia, autism, alcoholism, societal violence and depression. Organizers of the international psychiatry congress said the agenda includes workshops, roundtable discussions, conferences and lectures -- with the aim of establishing ties based on scientific strategies and psychological diagnosis. *USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES ON AGENDA AT UPCOMING REGIONAL MEETING IN CUBA Havana, May 15 (RHC)-- Sustainable use of natural resources is one of the main topics to be discussed by experts later this month in Cuba at the Regional Conference on Mountain Ranges. Representatives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other UN agencies have already confirmed their attendance at the conference, which will be held from May 29th through the 31st in Las Terrazas, located in the Sierra del Rosario biosphere reserve, in the western province of Pinar del Rio. According to the organizing committee of the regional meeting, delegates will meet in three commissions, in which they discuss the challenge of achieving the harmonious development of mountain ranges, from all points of view: productive, economic, social and environmental. The upcoming conference will also provide an opportunity to exchange experiences on the world's ecosystems. Observers noted that Cuba gives priority to its mountain ranges, pointing to the Turquino-Manati Plan, in effect since 1987. The Plan promotes multi-sector participation, with the aim of improving the quality of life of nearly 700,000 people living in those areas. *PABLO MILANES RECEIVES LATINO PRIZE AT MUSIC AWARDS IN SPAIN Madrid, May 15 (RHC)-- Top Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés has received the Latino Prize in Madrid, presented to him personally by the president of the Academy of Music Arts and Sciences, Luis Cobos. During a concert performance at the Municipal Palace of Congresses in the Spanish capital, Pablo Milanés expressed his appreciation for the prize. The Latino Prize is one of the special awards given during the sixth edition of Spain's Music Prize. Singer Alejandro Sanz walked away with three prizes; Maria Bonet and Estrella Morente for the title track of "Juana la Loca" received another two; while the M-Clan Boys, who were nominated for five prizes, were given just one. The names of the winners of the Billboard Latin Prizes were also announced: Mexicans Juan Gabriel and Cristian Castro, Puerto Rican Marc Anthony and French-Spanish artist Manu Chao. *WASHINGTON AGAIN ON THE DEFENSIVE OVER US ROLE IN ATTEMPTED CARACAS COUP Caracas, May 15 (RHC)-- The George W. Bush administration is back on the defensive over its reaction to the attempted right wing coup in Venezuela as some US legislators demand clarification. Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of a key Senate subcommittee and long-time critic of US policy in Latin America has requested a state department inquiry, sparking another round of denials by US officials that Washington condoned the temporary overthrow of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez recently told the BBC that he has proof of US military involvement in the April events, including evidence of the presence of two high-ranking American army officers meeting with the coup leaders after he had been placed under arrest. On Tuesday, the US embassy in Caracas, however, again rejected the accusations, though admitting - after an original denial - that two US military officers WERE in the army base used as headquarters by the coup leaders. An embassy press release claimed that the two officers were there on the eve of the coup, but not afterwards, on April 12, as denounced by sources close to the Venezuelan government investigation. The embassy also denied the presence of any US military vessels in Venezuelan territorial waters during the coup. Senator Dodd has accused the White House of maintaining silence during the illegal overthrow of a constitutional government. The Bush administration's first reaction, expressed by White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, is that Chavez had brought it on himself, while the US ambassador in Caracas, Charles Shapiro, referred to events surrounding Chavez's arrest as "an extraordinary day." And major newspapers in the United States, including the New York Times, reported that there was evident glee in the White House when the Venezuelan president was forcefully removed from office -- and evident disappointment when he was restored to office by hundreds of thousands of supporters and loyal military units. *CHILEAN JUDGE RE-ENACTS DICTATORSHIP'S MURDER OF AMERICAN JOURNALIST Santiago de Chile, May 15 (RHC)-- A judge in Chile has been re-enacting the execution of an American journalist shortly after the bloody Pinochet coup in 1973, which became the basis of the film "Missing." Judge Juan Guzman is presiding over the investigation into the slaying of journalist Charles Horman at Santiago de Chile's National Stadium, which was converted into a vast concentration camp. Guzman last year was authorized by the Supreme Court to submit a questionnaire to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and other American retired officials as part of his probe into Horman's death. The 17 questions sent to the United States through diplomatic channels have yet to be answered. They center on the knowledge Kissinger and other U.S. authorities may have had of Horman's slaying. Guzman began investigating Horman's death after the filmmaker's widow, Joyce Horman, filed a criminal lawsuit in Chile against Pinochet. Horman's attorney, Sergio Corvalan, stated Tuesday that witnesses were able to provide key information on what happened at the stadium, including the questioning and torture systems and its internal organization. Among the witnesses was Adam Schecsh, now an academic at the University of Wisconsin, who also was detained at the stadium shortly after Pinochet seized power. Schecsh and his wife were detained in the stadium for eight days beginning Sept. 14, 1973. The civilian government that succeeded Pinochet determined that at least 48 people were executed at the stadium, though Guzman's investigation is expected to reveal many more. Tuesday's reenactment also was attended by Frederick D. Purdy, the American consul in Santiago at the time. Purdy lives in Santiago and could face charges in the case. A friend of Horman's, Mark Cooper, has testified that Purdy refused to help American citizens arrested by Chilean dictatorship officials. Horman had denounced CIA participation in the destabilization and then overthrow of constitutionally-elected President Salvador Allende. *US SENATE SIDELINES WHITE HOUSE APPEAL FOR "FAST TRACK" TRADE POWERS Washington, May 15 (RHC)-- The US Senate has temporarily brushed aside the on-going White House appeal for "fast track" trade negotiating power as a new study affirms that provisions in the legislation could cost American taxpayers billions of dollars and threaten many of the US's public health and safety laws. The Senate voted Tuesday to retain its right to not just approve or reject, but also to amend future trade deals. But while Senators argued against any trade deal that would weaken protections against subsidies and so-called foreign dumping, the organization Taxpayers for Common Sense warned that fast track would set the stage for unprecedented legal protections for foreign investors against local, state and federal laws that could cost taxpayers 32 billion dollars in financial liabilities. The organization's executive director, Joe Theissen, said the legislation provides foreign corporations more legal rights than provided to Americans. A number of organizations are pointing to the pending lawsuit for one billion dollars filed by the Canadian Methanex Corporation under the North American Free Trade Agreement on the grounds that a California public health law that bans the use of a gasoline additive found to contaminate drinking water will cut into the firm's future profits. Taxpayers for Common Sense noted that there has already been more than 3 billion dollars in lawsuits filed under the NAFTA investor-protection provisions. *PERUVIAN GOVERNMENT DEFENDS SOLDIERS SUSPECTED OF EXECUTING LEFTIST REBELS Lima, May 15 (RHC)-- The government of Peru has criticized arrest warrants issued for military officers believed to have summarily executed leftist rebels in a hostage standoff five years ago. A Peruvian judge, at the request of the district attorney's office, issued the warrants Tuesday against 12 high-ranking officers who took part in a raid to release more than 70 hostages held by 14 Tupac Amaru guerrillas at the Japanese embassy in Lima. An investigation indicates that seven of the rebels were executed after they had given up and laid down their weapons. The court has heard testimony from hostages and soldiers and last year exhumed the rebels' bodies, though no official results from the exhumations have been announced and no charges have been brought. District attorney Richard Saavedra said he wanted to be sure that the military officers did not try to leave the country during the on-going investigation. Peruvian Justice Minister Fernando Olivera and Defense Minister Aurelio Loret de Mola protested the arrest orders Tuesday after one of the officers, a retired general, was detained. *SAUDI PRINCE ABDULLAH SAYS GEORGE W. BUSH "NOBLE BUT IGNORANT" Riyadh, May 15 (RHC)-- News agencies are reporting that Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Abdullah has regally skewered US President George W. Bush as a man so ignorant about the Middle East and the suffering of the Palestinians that he needed several hours to bring him up to speed. When the prince visited the presidential ranch in Texas last month, the two men spent five hours together, far longer than expected. According to White House spokespersons, this was an indication of how well they got along. But Prince Abdullah said the time was spent coaching the president on political realities. The prince told the Saudi newspaper Okaz that Bush "is the type of person who goes to sleep at 9:30 p.m. after watching the national news" while reading only "a few lines" about world politics in the morning. The prince's shaft, however, was said to be concealed in a velvet glove of compliments for his host, who, he said, has noble qualities. Viewpoint: *WASHINGTON TO THE REST OF THE WORLD: DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO The Montagues and Capulets are once again on the brink of war, this time because the United States -- the sacred temple of neo-liberalism -- has hoisted the banners of protectionism, completely contradicting the free market ideas that Washington is always trying to impose on everyone else. It appears that the prophets of neo-liberalism -- the same ones that constantly preach the doctrine of fully opening national markets to foreign competitors -- plagued with blackmail and all kinds of pressures, have passed a law in the United States that runs contrary to what Washington is pushing around the world. In what constitutes further evidence of Washington's total indifference to international commitments, the White House has turned into law a text approved by Congress, which grants 190 billion dollars in subsidies to U.S. agricultural producers over the next 10 years. As occurred recently in the steel sector, when Washington imposed stronger protectionism by raising import taxes, now it's the U.S. agro-industry that violates any principle ruling free competition, since the large sums of money received from their government put them in a far better position to place their products on the world market, particularly with regard to Third World nations. For Washington, neo-liberalism is wonderful as long as it does not interfere with U.S. national interests. Otherwise, any U.S. commitment to contribute to the commercial development of less fortunate nations simply turns into mere rhetoric. Washington has long insisted that the solution to development problems of the Third World has nothing to do with increased foreign aid, but rather the nations' capacity to sell more. In fact, it would be extremely hard for farmers in small, Central American nations to compete with their powerful neighbor to the North, taking into account that farmers south of the Rio Grande usually lack the technology and resources that their competitors have to spare. And, as if this were not enough, U.S. agricultural producers receive far more money from their government, which makes competition almost impossible. Washington's definition of free trade and competition would almost be funny, if it weren't so serious. The new protectionist law should serve as an excellent lesson for those who still believe in the alleged fairness of the U.S.-proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, the FTAA, or any other project "Made in the USA" to advance Washington's hegemonic dreams. The European Union and member states of the Cairns Group have strongly criticized the new U.S. protectionist law, which they charge violates the foundations upon which the World Trade Organization was created. The Cairns Group, made up of a number of mainly exporter nations, was created in 1986 in the Australian city with the same name, to confront what was then called the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT. We'll have to wait and see whether Washington can calm down the protests with promises of future negotiations, which would only take place after the November legislative elections in the United States. Analysts insist that approval of the new law, as occurred with a similar one in the steel industry, has purely electoral purposes to gain votes for both Republicans and Democrats, regardless of the scandal it generates outside U.S. borders. It is clear that the position of U.S. authorities hardly varies from one administration to the other. When international commitments interfere with national business interests, it's: "Do as I say, not as I do." Who can really doubt that Washington has no friends, only interests. (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-13217 2002-May-16 00:38:04