Radio Havana Cuba-22 May 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 22 May 2002 . *BUSH AND THE TERRORISTS OF MIAMI EMBRACE - GRANMA EDITORIAL *BUSH'S DIATRIBES AGAINST CUBAN REVOLUTION NOTHING NEW - LAGE *NEW BOOK ON YOUNG ITALIAN KILLED IN 1997 HAVANA HOTEL BOMBING *INTERNATIONAL CULINARY FESTIVAL UNDERWAY IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL *PABLO MILANÉS RECEIVES GOLD FOR LATEST CD "PABLO QUERIDO" *US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR ARMS REDUCTION TREATY A SHAM - NRDC *US SENATE COMMITTEE ISSUES FIRST WHITE HOUSE SUBPOENAS IN ENRON SCANDAL *INDIA AND PAKISTAN CLOSER THAN EVER TO ALL-OUT WAR *NEARLY 25% OF WORLD'S MAMMALS FACE EXTINCTION WITHIN 30 YEARS: UN STUDY *Viewpoint: LATIN AMERICAN STREETS ARE TEEMING WITH NOBODIES . *BUSH AND THE TERRORISTS OF MIAMI EMBRACE - GRANMA EDITORIAL Havana, May 22 (RHC)-- Recent accusations and threats against Cuba emanating from Washington demonstrate to what extent the Miami mafia exerts influence in the George W. Bush administration, according to a front-page editorial in the official Cuban news daily Granma. Accusations concerning Cuba's alleged research into biological weapons, President Bush's threatening stick-and-carrot speech on Monday and Washington's inclusion of Cuba as one of seven countries that sponsor terrorism, affirmed the editorial, were hysterically applauded by the mercenaries, embezzlers and terrorists who have sown so much death among the Cuban people during the past 40 years. The editorial called Bush's lies, deceit and slander nothing more than an unprecedented struggle between ignorance and insight, ethics and the absence of principles, honesty and cynicism, the nightmares of the past and the dreams of the future. It wound up affirming that nothing will force Cuba to abandon its righteous causes, and that Cuba will continue as an ally of the American people, or any other peoples, who struggle against terrorism. The official editorial came on the heels of Tuesday evening's televised roundtable discussion, during which panelists recalled that Bush's recent rhetorical and empty anti-Cuba speech was more than anything an expression of gratitude toward his Florida friends whose massive electoral irregularities allowed him to reach the presidency. *BUSH'S DIATRIBES AGAINST CUBAN REVOLUTION NOTHING NEW - LAGE Las Palmas, May 22 (RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage says the speeches U.S. President George W. Bush delivered on Monday in Washington and Miami were nothing new. During the first day of his two-day official visit to the Canary Islands, reporters asked the Cuban vice president about Bush's so-called "Initiative for a New Cuba." Carlos Lage said the U.S. president's diatribes against the Cuban Revolution were just more of the same. Noting that Bush delivered two speeches -- one at the White House and then another upon arriving in Miami -- the Cuban vice president said that Havana "did not expect much from the Bush administration because they came to power thanks to the reactionary Cuban-American lobby in southern Florida." Lage pointed out that the U.S. president was busy raising funds for his little brother, Jeb Bush, who is running for re-election as Florida's governor. Cuba's vice president said that Havana was expecting "absolutely nothing from Bush" because Cuba knows, from first-hand experience, what motivates U.S. foreign policy. He emphasized that "U.S. foreign policy is not based on principles, ethics or justice." Instead, "electoral, economic and other interests" determine Washington's policies toward other nations. Carlos Lage headed the Cuban delegation to the recently concluded Second Summit of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean -- held in Madrid last week. Over the weekend, he began official visits to Spanish autonomous regions, including the Basque Country, where the Cuban delegation spent two days. The Cuban vice president and his accompanying delegation wrapped up their visit to the Canary Islands on Wednesday. *NEW BOOK ON YOUNG ITALIAN KILLED IN 1997 HAVANA HOTEL BOMBING Camagüey, May 22 (RHC)-- A new book has been released about a young Italian who was killed in a terrorist bombing of a Havana hotel in 1997. The book, "El Muchacho del Copacabana" (The Boy from the Copacabana), was written by Cuban journalist Acela Caner. During the launching of the book in Camagüey, the father of Fabio Di Celmo -- Giustino Di Celmo -- said he would never stop denouncing the criminal action that took his young boy away from him. He recalled that his son was a guest at the Copacabana Hotel in the Cuban capital when he was killed by a bomb in September 1997. The bomb had been placed in the hotel lobby by a paid agent of terrorist groups in Miami. Giustino Di Celmo and Acela Caner spoke with reporters following a presentation to students and professors at the University of Camagüey. The book's author explained that "El Muchacho del Copacabana" actually begins with the terrorist bombing at the hotel and works its way back -- narrating facets of the life of young Fabio. She said the explosive device placed at the Copacabana was one of five bombs planted at hotels and tourist facilities in August and September of 1997. A Salvadoran mercenary was arrested and confessed to the crimes -- admitting he was paid by known anti-Cuba terrorists. *INTERNATIONAL CULINARY FESTIVAL UNDERWAY IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, May 22 (RHC)-- The 4th International Culinary Festival is well underway in the Cuban capital. With the slogan "Cuisine as a Source of Health, Culture and Pleasure," 400 delegates from 26 countries are taking part in the Festival, held at Havana's Hotel Nacional. According to Luis Santana, chairman of the organizing committee of the Cuban Culinary Association, 20 local and 16 foreign culinary teams are participating, including chefs from Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Italy, Angola, Panama and the United States. The International Culinary Festival also includes a trade fair, conferences, food tastings, an exchange of recipes and an ecology trip to the outskirts of Havana. Created in 1996, the food festivals are held every two years. For the first time this year, among the participating groups are the Caribbean Medical Association (AMECA) and the Cuban Ministries of Trade, Tourism and Culture. The World Chef Federation's Continental Director for the Americas, Cornelia Patterson, is also in Havana for the International Culinary Festival. *PABLO MILANÉS RECEIVES GOLD FOR LATEST CD "PABLO QUERIDO" Madrid, May 22 (RHC)-- One of Cuba's most popular singer-songwriters, Pablo Milanés, has received a Gold Record for his latest CD entitled "Pablo Querido." The double-CD -- including 20 of his greatest hits, recorded with world-renowned artists -- has sold more than 50,000 copies. Among those who sing with Pablo on his latest CD are: Fito Páez, Milton Nascimiento, Soledad Bravo, Joaquín Sabina, Francisco "Pancho" Céspedes, Alberto Cortéz and Maná -- with an introduction recorded by Gabriel García Márquez. Speaking with reporters in Madrid -- where the Cuban singer is offering eight concert performances -- Pablo Milanés announced that he is preparing to record a second part to "Pablo Querido," with artists from the United States. Already confirmed for his upcoming CD are: Sting, Bob Dylan, Harry Belafonte and Stevie Wonder. Pablo Milanés also said he is planning a tour of the United States, if U.S. authorities grant him a visa to enter the country. *US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR ARMS REDUCTION TREATY A SHAM - NRDC Washington, May 22 (RHC) -- US President George W. Bush's claim that the nuclear weapons reduction agreement with Russia will "liquidate the nuclear legacy of the Cold War" is self-serving political hype, according to the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council, the NRDC. Leading up to the expected fanfare in Moscow when Bush and President Vladimir Putin will sign the deal, Thomas Cochran, director of NRDC's Nuclear Program, affirmed that "the proposed treaty imposes no additional permanent limits on either side's nuclear forces, and does not require the destruction of a single nuclear warhead, missile, silo, bomber or submarine." Cochran called the treaty a "sham" that "will do nothing to make Americans or Russians more secure." NRDC Senior Policy Analyst Christopher Paine stated that "this administration clearly regards nuclear arms control as just another venue for political theatre, designed to grease the skids of Russia's integration into the US-led free market system." Paines recalled that more than 30 years ago, countries with nuclear weapons pledged in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to move toward eliminating their arsenals, but that "regrettably the proposed Bush-Putin treaty offers no way to get there," and instead, "will persuade other countries that they, too, must prepare to live in a nuclear-armed world for the indefinite future." The NRDC pointed out that the treaty likewise contains no limit on the number of warheads that may be kept in storage as a reserve force, does nothing to constrain or eliminate stockpiles of nonstrategic nuclear weapons deliverable by shorter-range systems - such as cruise missiles, battlefield missiles, artillery and tactical aircraft - and imposes no timetable for removing warheads from operational missiles, bombers or submarines. Robert S. Norris, NRDC's nuclear historian, noted that President Bush has already rejected the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty signed by President Clinton and supported by the majority of the world's nations -- including Russia -- and intends to withdraw unilaterally from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in June. Norris said "this treaty is just another example of the Bush administration's desire to maintain the flexibility to use the unusable" as Bush "single-handedly destroys the credibility of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation policies and commitments that preceding administrations worked hard to establish over the last 30 years." *US SENATE COMMITTEE ISSUES FIRST WHITE HOUSE SUBPOENAS IN ENRON SCANDAL Washington, May 22 (RHC) -- A US Senate committee has for the first time subpoenaed the White House in connection with the Enron scandal. The Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs is demanding that the Bush administration turn over documents pertaining to its contacts with the bankrupt energy giant. Committee chair, Senator Joseph Lieberman, said he had no other option. Lieberman said he finally came to the conclusion that his committee has been subjected to systematic obstruction, in the worst of cases, or to a deliberate attempt to delay the investigation, in the best. Enron, which ruined thousands of employees, shareholders and creditors, was the top contributor to Bush's presidential campaign and is believed to have heavily influenced the national energy policy drawn up by a task force headed by Vice President Richard Cheney. In another case involving what is being widely called the Bush administration's penchant for secrecy, leading members of Congress Wednesday continued insisting on the establishment of an independent commission to investigate what the White House knew and when before September 11. In what has been called an affair that continues polarizing political circles on Capitol Hill, Senate majority leader Tom Daschle said the Democrats won't remain silent, that contrary to insinuations by the Bush administration, silence is not patriotism. Daschle said it's not a question of politics, but rather, of national security. The White House partially backed down Tuesday, in an apparent effort to avoid an independent investigation, by showing Congress a segment of the document demonstrating that an FBI agent affirmed two months before September 11 that there were suspicious Arabs taking courses in US flight training schools. *INDIA AND PAKISTAN CLOSER THAN EVER TO ALL-OUT WAR New Delhi, May 22 (RHC) -- India and Pakistan Wednesday came closer than ever to war as Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee told his troops in Kashmir that Islamabad has forced his country into a final battle. Vajpayee arrived Tuesday in the zone of conflict - the dividing line in Kashmir between the nuclear rivals Pakistan and India where hundreds of thousands of soldiers are deployed for a probable fourth war. Tensions flared once again last week when Islamic guerrillas struggling for the secession of the two-thirds of Kashmir under New Delhi's control attacked one of India's military fortresses killing 30 people. Close to one million soldiers are deployed on both sides of the border since last December Muslim rebels assaulted India's federal Parliament building. Twelve people were killed, almost all of them members of India's security forces. Vajpayee's arrival in Kashmir coincided with the assassination of a moderate separatist Muslim leader in the region controlled by India who was at the head of a coalition of 23 separatist organizations. Both sides blame the other. Two Pakistani civilians were killed Wednesday by Indian artillery fire, bringing to 20 the number of people killed during the past six days of artillery and machine-gun duels between the two countries. Since 1947, of the three Indo-Pakistani wars, two were for the control of Kashmir. After the first, the United Nations brokered a ceasefire, dividing the Muslim majority region between Islamabad and New Delhi. Two UN resolutions have since approved a self-determination referendum in Kashmir, which Pakistan accepts but India rejects. A considerable segment of Kashmir's population favors total independence for the region, fed up with being in the middle of the Indo-Pakistani dispute. *NEARLY 25% OF WORLD'S MAMMALS FACE EXTINCTION WITHIN 30 YEARS: UN STUDY New York, May 22 (RHC) -- Almost a quarter of the world's mammals face extinction within 30 years, according to a United Nations study on the state of the global environment released on Wednesday. Scientists who contributed to the report have identified 11,046 species of plants and animals that are endangered. These include 1,130 mammals - 24% of the total - and 12%, or 1,183 species of birds. The list of the critically endangered ranges from the well-publicized, such as the black rhino and Siberian tiger, to the less well known, such as the Amur leopard of Asia, the short-tailed chinchilla of South America and the Philippine eagle. Human activities, notably the destruction of habitats and the introduction of alien species from one part of the world into another, are identified as the main cause of this loss in "biodiversity". The researchers who helped to prepare the Global Environment Outlook-3, or Geo-3, report of the United Nations Environment Program also identify 5,611 species of plants that are facing extinction. They point out that the true figure is likely to be far higher given that only four percent of the known plant species have been properly evaluated. The report, which reviews the past 30 years of environmental degradation as well as looking forward to the next 30 years, affirms that all the factors that have led to the extinction of species in recent decades continue to operate with "ever-increasing" intensity. According to the study, many problems can be rectified if governments implement the treaties and conventions passed since the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 - including the Kyoto protocol on climate change and the Convention on Biodiversity. *Viewpoint: LATIN AMERICAN STREETS ARE TEEMING WITH NOBODIES Officially they don't exist. They don't possess proper identification papers so most governments refuse to acknowledge their very being, while officials turn a blind eye to their burgeoning numbers. Pedestrians and motorists skillfully maneuver around them without really seeing them on every bench and at every intersection. Nevertheless, their numbers are growing incessantly and today they are more than 17 million strong, populating large and small Latin American cities. You'll find them by the hundreds in markets, bus stations, subway exits and in streets and alleys. Mexican historian Daniel Cossio Villegas calls them "Citizen Zero" or nobodies. They are the most defenseless, innocent victims of an unjust system; the most cruel expression of governments' lack of ability to provide the most basic services of housing, health, education, recreation and employment. They are the children of the streets. There are arguments that seek to explain this lamentable urban phenomenon: the breakdown of the family, or the climate of aggression and domestic violence. But the truth is that if we are to discover the causes of the masses of homeless youngsters, we must look at the distorted social and economic structures and the staggering poverty that pervades the region's cities. We must also examine the legacy of colonialism that has produced the marginalization of millions of indigenous peoples who have been excluded both from history and development. Many journalists have written about the existence of children who survive in the streets, abandoned, without any type of social assistance. Today, the streets are filled with youngsters who, rather than playing with their friends, being loved and cared for by their parents and receiving an education, are forced into a brutal daily struggle for existence in the underside of society. The statistics tell a chilling story. 70 percent of these children have consumed or habitually consume some type of drug; 49 out of every 100 are sexually active and 43 percent of those begin sexual activity between the ages of 7 and 14. All of these street children are involved in activities that are dangerous to their physical or psychological well being. The great majority of them are infected with AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases, skin disorders or gastrointestinal and respiratory ills. As if this weren't enough, now a new and even more horrifying phenomenon has begun to appear: "street babies," a new generation of urban nomads, the fruits of the precarious families made in bus stations, dark passageways, markets and terminals, the homes of their child-parents. At this stage one must ask, how long will "citizen zero" have to wait for a legal face? When will governments finally designate a place for him in their projects and budgets? Who will defend the rights of these citizens who do not exist but who work just like we do and who, in many cases, even have families? These youthful dispossessed are ignored by society since they rarely vote and are not socially productive. Soon these street children will be adults, then what claims will they make on a society that has forgotten them? Those are questions that must be asked if we are to rescue our cities from the morass of poverty, violence and hopelessness into which they are rapidly descending. (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-10650 2002-May-22 23:59:29