Radio Havana Cuba-23 May 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 23 May 2002 . *UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE UNDERWAY IN HAVANA *IBERO-AMERICAN GATHERING ON WOMEN AND COMMUNICATIONS WRAPS UP *ARGENTINE PRESIDENT THREATENS TO RESIGN IF IMF DEMANDS NOT MET *AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS ISRAELI TREATMENT IS PALESTINIAN DETAINEES *IN GERMANY, BUSH TRIES TO CALM ALLIES OVER MILITARY PLANS AGAINST IRAQ *BRAZIL: SECOND OFFICER SENTENCED IN GROUND-BREAKING HUMAN RIGHTS CASE *US STATE DEPT. SAYS US INSISTS ON GIVING AID TO COLOMBIAN COUNTERINSURGENCY *EUROPEAN RACISM WATCHDOG GROUP REPORTS INCREASE IN ANTI-MUSLIM SENTIMENTS Viewpoint: *SUNDAY'S ELECTIONS IN COLOMBIA: VOTING IN A VIOLENCE-RIDDEN NATION . *UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, May 23 (RHC)-- An International Conference on the United Nations, Civil Society and the Manager is underway in the Cuban capital with the participation of representatives from non-governmental organizations, UN officials and numerous ambassadors to the island. The forum -- sponsored by the Cuban United Nations Association, the National Association of Economists and Accountants and the World Economy Research Center -- is meeting here in Havana until tomorrow, Friday. Participants include delegates from Mexico, Britain, Spain and the United States. Among the topics being debated in workshops and roundtable discussions: the United Nations and NGOs; the Manager, Financial Organizations and Multilateral Economic Organizations; Economic Development and Cooperation; and the United Nations of the 21st Century. Abelardo Moreno, Cuba's Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations, told delegates that the United Nations is now a reflection of the present world -- different from when it was founded after the Second World War in 1945. Moreno stressed that, no matter what changes have taken place, the United Nation's main character has not been modified. The Cuban deputy foreign minister said the UN is still an inter-governmental organization, in which the member nations answer to an international treaty signed by sovereign states. He said the role of non-governmental organizations that work with the United Nations should be to reduce conflicts and rivalries, practice equality and pursue human solidarity. Other delegates to the International Conference on the United Nations agreed that it is important to establish networks of both South and North non-governmental organizations -- where cooperation will be the driving force to create a better world. *IBERO-AMERICAN GATHERING ON WOMEN AND COMMUNICATIONS WRAPS UP Havana, May 23 (RHC)-- The 5th Ibero-American Encounter on Women and Communications concluded today in the Cuban capital. More than 200 delegates from 15 countries took part in the event, which was co-sponsored by the Regional Cultural Office of the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Federation of Democratic Women. Over the past three days, participants at the meeting debated issues related to communications and globalization. Workshops and panel discussions also examined other aspects of communications and women's issues -- including reproductive health, violence against women and sexist terminology in language. A journalist from Spain, Teresa Jiménez, presented a paper entitled "The Stolen Letter" -- taken from a literary piece by Edgar Allan Poe. Jiménez argued that the media has a major responsibility in relation to the ideological uses of language, in which sexist references are often subtle and seemingly natural. She emphasized that Poe's text exemplifies, like few others, the domination of men in culture while women are to supposed to be passive and quiet. The Spanish journalist said that the media should be in the forefront of change, using language as a tool of equality -- returning stolen words, identity and culture to women. Another Spanish delegate, Juan Alfredo Bellon, raised the topic of Lexicon and Ideology at the event. According to Bellon, in its use of linguistics, the media reflects sexist themes, sanctioned by the daily use of language. He pointed out that politicians and other public figures sometimes use language that discriminates against women in their official speeches and the written press and electronic media reproduce the same terminology. During the three-day conference, delegates had the opportunity to exchange ideas with other women from around the world, as well as visit local neighborhood committees of the Federation of Cuban Women. Among the countries represented with delegations at the 5th Ibero-American Encounter on Women and Communications: Spain, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Argentina and Mexico. For the first time this year, women delegates from the African continent took part in the Ibero-American event -- demonstrating the international importance being given to the issue of women and communications. *ARGENTINE PRESIDENT THREATENS TO RESIGN IF IMF DEMANDS NOT MET Buenos Aires, May 23 (RHC) -- Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde has threatened to resign if Parliament doesn't speed up approval of International Monetary Fund demands. At the top of the Duhalde-IMF agenda is repeal of the Economic Subversion Law, established almost 30 years ago to prosecute corrupt corporate executives and bankers. But when the legislation last year began targeting firms and executives from the United States and European countries suspected of involvement in massive capital flight from Argentina, the IMF suddenly began to oppose it on the alleged grounds that it discourages investment. The law was recently modified in a Senate session that local media outlets called "scandalous," but was later held up in the lower house amid protests that included the unfurling of an American flag by an opposition legislator who demanded to know which colors will be hoisted in Parliament - the US's or Argentina's. At the same time, only seven of the country's 24 provinces have signed a drastic spending cutback measure also demanded by the IMF. Provincial governors, facing sustained protests by public workers whose salaries go unpaid for months at a time, fear that an already explosive situation would become chaotic and ungovernable if they adhere to the IMF shock program. The Argentine president's threat to resign came upon his return empty-handed from the European Union-Latin America Summit in Madrid, Spain, where EU leaders told him they could provide no assistance until the IMF gives the green light. *AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS ISRAELI TREATMENT IS PALESTINIAN DETAINEES London, May 23 (RHC) -- Amnesty International has charged that the more than 8500 Palestinians arrested by Israeli occupation troops in the last three months are detained in cruel, inhuman and humiliating conditions. In London, the human rights organization presented a document containing the testimony of several Palestinians who were arrested without charges, humiliated for days and prevented from seeing legal counsel or their families. One former prisoner, Majdi Shehadeh, narrated that prisoners are handcuffed and forced to sit on a stone floor, denied meals and doused with water when they complain of being thirsty. Amnesty International said it found that many Palestinians pass their first 24 hours in detention blindfolded, on their knees, without access to toilets and without blankets to protect themselves from the cold. According to the organization, the Israeli army can hold a suspect up to 18 days without contact with a lawyer, judge or family members, and that an arrest can be extended to 90 days if a military judge believes it's convenient. In related news, Israel's Supreme Court has denied a petition from 41 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip seeking to prevent Israeli troops from demolishing their homes. In this case, the Israeli army gave the Palestinians 48 hours to appeal the demolition order, though in most cases residents of homes to be demolished -- for allegedly having been constructed illegally -- are given no notice. The demolitions have continued non-stop despite the international criticism of Israel last January when occupation troops in Gaza leveled 73 Palestinian homes in one night, leaving 5000 people without roofs over their heads. *IN GERMANY, BUSH TRIES TO CALM ALLIES OVER MILITARY PLANS AGAINST IRAQ Berlin, May 23 (RHC) -- Wrapping up his visit to Germany, US President George W. Bush tried to calm his European allies regarding Washington's plans concerning Iraq. In a joint press conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Bush said that at the moment there were no plans on the table to launch a military operation against Baghdad. He nevertheless kept alive the war rhetoric by stating that Iraq represents a threat to the United States, Europe and "all of civilization" that must be dealt with. In a previous speech before the German Parliament, or Bundestag, Bush made a call to fight terrorism without quarter, sparking unease among center-left and Green legislators -- four of whom abandoned the building after they were prevented from unfurling an anti-war banner. The US president also stated that ignoring a terrorist threat is unforgivable, leading some observers to point to the controversy on Capitol Hill over whether Bush himself ignored abundant terrorist warnings leading up to September 11. Following Wednesday's renewed call by leading Democrats to set up an independent investigative commission to find out exactly what Bush knew and when before the attacks against the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, on Thursday the US leader said he would oppose such an investigation. Citing national security concerns, and saying the US is at war, Bush insisted that any probe stay within the jurisdiction of the congressional intelligence committees. But critics have pointed out that these committees would allow the White House to keep numerous documents secret. *BRAZIL: SECOND OFFICER SENTENCED IN GROUND-BREAKING HUMAN RIGHTS CASE Brasilia, May 23 (RHC) -- A second high-ranking Brazilian military police officer has been sentenced in what is being called an emblematic human rights trial. Major Jose Maria de Oliveira was condemned to 158 years for the 1996 massacre of 19 Landless Movement activists in the Amazon state of Pará. The ruling follows a 228-year prison sentence dictated last week against Colonel Mario Colares Pantoja. Of the three highest-ranking officers charged, a military police captain was absolved due to lack of evidence, while close to 150 lower-ranking officers and conscripts must still face trial. This is the second court proceeding in the case, following a 1999 acquittal in a military court that sparked so much outrage in Brazil and abroad that authorities annulled the trial and transferred it to civilian jurisdiction. Controversy continues, however, as both Oliveira and Pantoja have been allowed to remain free during their appeals. At the same time, the Brazilian Landless Movement has boycotted the trial proceedings, insisting that there will only be true justice if charges are also brought against high-ranking government officials in Pará. *US STATE DEPT. SAYS US INSISTS ON GIVING AID TO COLOMBIAN COUNTERINSURGENCY Bogotá, May 23 (RHC) -- Washington has not desisted from efforts to authorize Colombia's use of anti-drug aid in the war with leftist guerrillas, according to a high-ranking state department official. According to local media outlets in Colombia, Phillip Chicola - an advisor to Undersecretary of State Otto Reich - believes that the US Congress will approve such a move within two months. The Colombian government news agency ANCOL asked Chicola about the US government's recently highly criticized certification of Colombia's human rights record, though the state department official only vaguely responded that Washington believes there is a serious effort in that direction. In late April, US lawmakers seeking to boost military aid for the Colombian government's war with leftist rebels temporarily failed to tie the conflict to the war on terrorism. In a new move at that time to convince skeptical legislators, the Republican-controlled committee had claimed that the Irish Republican Army has "well-established" ties with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces insurgency, which includes teaching the rebels the tactics of "urban terrorism." The allegation was based on the arrest in Colombia last August of three Irish nationals who Colombian authorities claim were connected with the IRA and were training the rebels in the use of explosives. But officials from both the State Department and the Drug Enforcement Agency admitted that they had no direct proof. The controversy in Congress has not only focused on a possible greater US involvement in Colombia's civil war, but also on what some perceive as a lack of results in the war on drugs in spite of the hundreds of millions earmarked for Colombia, as well as a lack of a clear vision regarding US foreign policy with respect to the Andean nation. *EUROPEAN RACISM WATCHDOG GROUP REPORTS INCREASE IN ANTI-MUSLIM SENTIMENTS Brussels, May 23 (RHC) -- Aggressions against Muslims in the European Union since September 11 are on the rise, according to a new report released Wednesday in Brussels. The European Racism and Xenophobia Observatory report, however, affirmed that the "Islamaphobia" in the European Union was a prejudice that had remained dormant during years and was only detonated by the September 11 events. The racism watchdog group asserted that these sentiments are the result of a lack of action on the part of European authorities in adequately dealing with human prejudices in societies that are fast becoming multicultural. Members of the organization stated that if Europe takes initiatives when there are ethnic tensions in other parts of the world, it should also straighten up its own house. The European Racism and Xenophobia Observatory found, nevertheless, that most of the aggressions against Muslims are verbal, not physical, with Arab women suffering the brunt. They are particularly targeted for their "hiyab," the scarf covering the heads of Muslim women that has become the most visible objects of hatred. Viewpoint: *SUNDAY'S ELECTIONS IN COLOMBIA: VOTING IN A VIOLENCE-RIDDEN NATION The extraordinary tension boiling over in Colombia since the Andres Pastrana government chose the military option in the internal armed conflict that has gripped the nation for the last 38 years is certainly the determining factor in presidential elections set for Sunday. Of the eleven candidates, only four have a realistic chance of being elected. All the contenders for the presidency are campaigning in the midst of true war of public opinion polls that insist that ultra conservative, Alvaro Uribe will be the next resident of Colombia's presidential palace. Though Uribe's supporters -- among them, according to Newsweek magazine, members of paramilitary groups and drug cartels -- claim their candidate will win in the first vote, a second round will most likely need to be called for three weeks later. But no matter who wins, that person will be facing three daunting challenges. The first is peace. Despite the fact that it was the centerpiece of Pastrana's electoral campaign, he ended up abandoning the peace negotiations with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC and turning over the demilitarized zone to the army. The zone had been established after long and difficult negotiations to serve as a site for further meetings. >From that moment on, the conflict flared up again. New forms of conflict appeared like the urban struggle, in which paramilitary groups are deeply involved, like in Medellin, where 70 percent of the armed groups are tied to the military. Pastrana also failed to make much progress in the fight against drug trafficking because his policy of eradicating coca plantations through fumigation turned out to be inefficient and counter productive. In the areas where the government managed to destroy prohibited crops, authorities failed to quickly implement crop substitution programs. Nor did they assist local residents with their basic daily needs. That caused resentment and farmers often immediately re-planted the same crops. On the other hand, the huge drug cartels that controlled the trade in the 80's and 90's have been replaced by more than 160 micro organizations that function in different parts of the country. That has made detection and elimination qualitatively more difficult despite the more than a billion dollars and logistical support extended by the United States ostensibly for that purpose. Finally, the Colombian economy continues to plummet. The numbers of poor have risen alarmingly, with 25 million people officially living in poverty. Unemployment rates have soared, as have the cost of living and the foreign debt, while industry and trade stagnate. If anything, Colombian society moved backwards during the present administration. Discontent over the current situation may well be reflected in Sunday's elections by abstentions of the hundreds of thousands of citizens disappointed over the government's failure to meet their basic needs, most importantly, that of security. Hopefully, Election Day will be peaceful. But we doubt that it will bring effective solutions to a country sinking ever deeper into violence with the enthusiastic support of the most reactionary sectors and the mistaken policies of the United States -- which are doing little more than fanning the flames of destabilization and chaos. (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-30307 2002-May-25 02:45:40