Radio Havana Cuba-31 May 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 31 May 2002 . *US PUBLIC FED LIES ABOUT FIVE CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS *CUBA IS AN EXAMPLE OF INDEPENDENCE AND DIGNITY *MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND PLANNING ANNOUNCES PRICE ADJUSTMENTS ON CERTAIN PRODUCTS *ITALIAN FILM EXHIBIT TRAVELS TO CENTRAL CUBA *PAKISTAN COMING UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE TO STOP CROSS-BORDER TERRORISM *UNDER IMF PRESSURE, ARGENTINE SENATE REPEALS ANTI-CORRUPTION LEGISLATION *USA: SCATHING CRITICISM FOR FBI EXPANDED DOMESTIC SPYING POWERS *FLORIDA'S ELECTION IRREGULARITIES BACK AT THE CENTER OF DEBATE *Viewpoint: RISKY AGREEMENTS . *US PUBLIC FED LIES ABOUT FIVE CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS Miami, May 31 (RHC)-- The U.S. people have been deceived about the five Cuban political prisoners being held in the United States. According to Andrés Gomez, president of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, the five were unjustly tried and convicted for working to prevent terrorist actions against the Cuban people. Andrés Gomez, who is also a member of the National Committee to Free the Five Cuban Prisoners in the U.S., told Granma newspaper that his organization is determined to disseminate the truth about their case -- combating the lies and misinformation spread by U.S. mainstream media. The solidarity activist noted that since their arrest in September 1998, the media "has twisted the facts in order to manipulate U.S. public opinion." Gomez pointed out that most recently, the U.S. media has chosen to totally ignore the case of the Five -- in a deliberate attempt to hide the truth from the public. Expressing confidence in their eventual return to Cuba, Andrés Gomez said that "sooner or later, reason and justice will prevail -- as it did in the case of Elian González." In related news, the Argentine Committee to Free the Five announced in Buenos Aires that committees are now set up around the world -- including Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Peru and Puerto Rico. *CUBA IS AN EXAMPLE OF INDEPENDENCE AND DIGNITY Mexico City, May 31 (RHC)-- Cuba is an example of independence and dignity, according to a leader of the Mexican Movement in Solidarity with Cuba, Jesús Escamilla. Upon receiving the Roque Dalton Medal -- granted by the Cooperation Council of Culture and Science of El Salvador to those who work in favor of solidarity, peace and the defense of human rights -- Jesús Escamilla said that the honor is a recognition of the Cuban people's struggle for social justice. On behalf of the Mexican Movement in Solidarity with Cuba, Escamilla emphasized that the Cuban Revolution helps other peoples without expecting anything in return. As an example, the activist noted that Cuba has granted 200 scholarships to young people from low-income families in Mexico to study at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana. "Cuba has always responded with dignity, independence and solidarity," stated Jesús Escamilla -- adding that any attempt by Washington to annex Cuba would fail due to the island's commitment to sovereignty and self-determination. *MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND PLANNING ANNOUNCES PRICE ADJUSTMENTS ON CERTAIN PRODUCTS Havana, May 31 (RHC)-- The Ministry of Economy and Planning has announced that beginning Monday, June 3rd, prices on certain products will be changed at stores accepting U.S. dollars. An official note from the Ministry, published in this morning's edition of the daily Granma, says that the economic measures are being taken after a thorough examination of prices. The statement also mentions that prices will actually go down on some products considered to be basic necessities -- recalling that the Cuban Revolution has always subsidized staple items -- maintaining low, fixed prices. With circulation of the U.S. dollar legalized in 1993 -- one of the hardest years of the Special Period -- Cuba reorganized it's domestic market and offered products in foreign currency. The official note from the Ministry of Economy and Planning points out that since that time, nearly ten years ago, prices have not significantly changed -- despite the fact that the international financial situation has changed considerably. According to the Ministry of Economy and Planning, the price changes that will take place on Monday are necessary given the current economic conditions in the country. *ITALIAN FILM EXHIBIT TRAVELS TO CENTRAL CUBA Ciego de Avila, May 31 (RHC)-- The 3rd Italian Cinema Exhibit in Cuba is taking place for the first time in Ciego de Avila, with seven films starring outstanding actor Gian Maria Volonte. This year's event pays homage to Volonte, one of the greatest symbols of Italian cinema. Films such as Open Doors (1990), Sacco and Vanzetti (1971), A cada uno lo suyo (1971), Lucky Luciano (1973), Christ Stopped in Eboli (1979), A Simple Story (1991) and A Man to Burn (1962) will be shown this week in Ciego de Avila, located some 260 miles from Havana. *PAKISTAN COMING UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE TO STOP CROSS-BORDER TERRORISM Ottawa, Washington, Islamabad, May 31 (RHC) -- Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf is coming under increasing pressure from Western nations fearing an imminent nuclear war. The foreign ministers of the G8 group of industrialized nations Friday called on Musharraf to adopt concrete measures against terrorist groups infiltrating into the region of Kashmir controlled by India. The joint call published by the Canadian government follows US Secretary of State Colin Powell's surprising affirmation that Musharraf has not complied with his promise to put an end to terrorist infiltrations from Pakistani territory. The affirmation marked a departure from Washington's efforts to bend over backward to defend its new ally in the so-called war on terrorism. Despite increasing pressure from the West, however, analysts agree that Musharraf is trapped by his nation's patriotic and pro-Muslim sentiments with respect to the mostly Hindu India. One Western diplomat is reported to have said that during Musharraf's gathering Thursday with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, the Pakistani leader said India should help him instead of putting a gun to his chest. *UNDER IMF PRESSURE, ARGENTINE SENATE REPEALS ANTI-CORRUPTION LEGISLATION Buenos Aires, May 31 (RHC) -- Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde was successful in goading the Senate into repealing legislation designed to prosecute corrupt foreign creditors and investors - though just barely. After one legislator opposed to the repeal surprisingly walked out of the Senate session, lawmakers came to a 34 to 34 vote tie, which as stipulated in congressional rules was broken by the double vote of the Senate leader. Radical Civic Union Senator Carlos Maestro stated that repeal of the law is merely an effort to "cover the behinds" of the ladies and gentlemen who run the IMF. Ruling party Senator Jorge Yoma, who also opposed the repeal, noted that international financiers are worried about the possibility of being subjected to judicial investigations - terming as "unprecedented" the IMF demand. Radical Senator and former President Raul Alfonsin charged that the IMF pressure was another manifestation of Washington's decision to "imperially" impose its will throughout the world. The opposition has noted, nonetheless, that what has been called Duhalde's "whisker-thin" victory must have left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. Critics are questioning whether the Argentine president has the political muscle to get the country's feuding leadership to go along with other reforms, including draconian spending cutbacks that most of the provinces fear will lead to another all-out social explosion. In related news, American Nobel Economy laureate Joseph Stiglitz has warned Argentina that if it continues to follow IMF recipes, the country's recession will become a depression. In an interview with the economic news daily Valor in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Stiglitz charged that the lending institution will bring more poverty and misery to the Argentine people in its insistence on further reductions in public spending. He said many people believe that this is a deliberate policy to make Argentines suffer, but that whether or not this is true, what is certain is that the IMF has not learned the lesson from Asia's economic crisis: that fiscal retraction only aggravates economic recession. The Nobel Prize winner, in Brazil to promote his new book "Globalization and its Discontented," stated that Argentina needs money to invest in revitalizing its productive apparatus and creating jobs, but that this will not be the objective of any IMF loan. He said the credit institution will only loan Argentina the money it needs to resume payments to its creditors at the IMF, the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank. Stiglitz said the IMF accusation that Argentina spent too much is totally false. He said there was only a 3 percent gap in Argentina's public deficit with relation to its Gross Domestic Product, which, he added, would have allowed the South American nation to qualify for membership in the European Union. *USA: SCATHING CRITICISM FOR FBI EXPANDED DOMESTIC SPYING POWERS Washington, May 31 (RHC) -- Civil libertarians, some members of Congress and other critics are blasting the George W. Bush administration's granting of broad domestic spying powers to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Attorney General John Ashcroft Thursday freed the FBI to visit Internet sites, libraries, churches and political organizations, ostensibly as part of an effort to prevent terrorist attacks - which has been called yet another erosion of constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism. Ashcroft said nothing in the guidelines would permit the FBI to routinely build files on people or organizations, but critics are disputing that affirmation. Margaret Ratner, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, said that spying on religious and political organizations is not only unconstitutional, but that history suggests that the FBI won't stop at passive information gathering. Stringent guidelines on FBI activities were put in place in the 1970s because of the FBI's domestic surveillance of prominent Americans, including civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., and revelations of the agency's illegal Counterintelligence Program - known as COINTELPRO - used to disrupt organizations like the Black Panther Party and frame their members on trumped up charges. The American Civil Liberties Union said the new guidelines demonstrate the Attorney General's seemingly insatiable appetite for new powers that will do little to make Americans safer but will inevitably make them less free. ACLU Director Laura Murphy said the government is rewarding failure, in reference to the FBI's prior knowledge of, but incapacity to prevent, the September 11 attacks. And the new guidelines put an end to the requirement that law enforcement agencies have at least a scintilla of evidence, or even a hunch, of a crime before engaging in investigative activities. Representative John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, stated that "the administration's continued defiance of constitutional safeguards seems to have no end in sight." Jason Erb, governmental affairs director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said "we cannot win the war on terrorism by turning the clock back to the days when the FBI infiltrated groups and harassed individuals engaged in constitutionally protected political dissent." *FLORIDA'S ELECTION IRREGULARITIES BACK AT THE CENTER OF DEBATE Washington, May 31 (RHC) -- Voter irregularities and disenfranchisement in Florida during the US's 2000 presidential election is back at the center of debate following the Justice Department's rapidly shrinking allegations of election deficiencies. Approximately two weeks ago the Justice Department's civil rights chief told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he intended to file lawsuits against three Florida counties, charging in at least one instance "disparate treatment of minority votes." But after the news swept across Florida, shaking up Governor Jeb Bush during his re-election bid, the same Justice official hastened to assure the Judiciary Committee this week that the investigation had turned up no evidence of intentional discrimination, and that the "deficiencies" could not have made a crucial difference in the close presidential race. But according to Florida's Sun Sentinel news daily's Thursday edition and the Friday edition of The Washington Post, some Democrats cried foul, with Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson saying that the Justice Department's drawing of a political conclusion seemed very suspicious. North Carolina Democratic Senator John Edwards said he was "deeply concerned that the department apparently has chosen not to address the critical issues in Florida, the widespread purges of voters and the poor voting equipment that heavily affected African-American communities." Also this week, the Long Island, New York newspaper Newsday noted that none of the Justice Department's announced investigations involved Duval County, where of 27,000 votes that were thrown out, two-fifths were from just three voting districts that are predominantly black. Newsday reported that none involved the infamous statewide purge of alleged felons from voting rolls that was so flawed that even some county officials and a corrections department worker found their names listed as "felons" to be blocked from the voting booth. Critics have questioned the lack of a criminal investigation into former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who hired the firm that produced the controversial list of mostly African-American voters to be considered for purging. But Newsday reported that a broad voting-rights lawsuit brought by the NAACP and other public-interest groups that charges Harris and other state officials with allowing election practices and policies to disenfranchise thousands of African-Americans in Florida is moving ahead and has survived efforts to get it dismissed because no judge has found it lacking in merit. *Viewpoint: RISKY AGREEMENTS In less than a week, Russia has made major moves towards the West. Though the actions could be considered an effort to erase the last vestiges of the Cold War, it also reveals the blatant disadvantage of Moscow's new role. On May 25 the presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin and George Bush of the United States, signed an agreement in Moscow for the reduction of their respective nuclear arsenals. Later NATO and Russia came together in an alliance and finally, the European Union met with the Russian president to define future relations. Though the Russian government worked hard for favorable terms in the various negotiations and meetings, it failed to assuage questions and criticisms. Critics of the nuclear accord express serious concern over Moscow's excessive reductions, which they say, are not reciprocated by the United States. The accord provides for a drastic two-thirds reduction in the arsenals of each side, which are currently estimated at some six thousand nuclear warheads. But the United States has no intention of destroying any more of those weapons of mass destruction then it had planned to before the agreement. Rather than destroy any more, Washington will stockpile many of its warheads in case it decides it needs them in the future. And the United States has the resources to maintain the warheads as long as it wishes. Moscow, on the other hand, with its plethora of well-known financial problems, will be unable to do the same and will be forced to definitively retire a large number of weapons, substantially unbalancing the balance of power. NATO officials admitted in Rome that the organization has serious reservations about Russia. The NATO-Russia Counsel created in the Italian capital, enrolls Russia in an organization that in l999 ordered the bombing of Yugoslavia and aggressively extended its sphere of influence well beyond European borders. Russian Defense Minister, Serguei Ivanov admitted the possibility that his country would participate in future operations using military force in crisis situations, but noted that no joint maneuvers are in the pipeline. To complete its "westernization," Moscow organized a meeting with the European Union troika, in which the Kremlin's collaborators promised that they would recognize Russia as possessing a market economy, an indispensable prerequisite for accessing various commercial prerogatives. Nevertheless, the West has not laid out the red carpet to Russia. Critics of this accelerated cozying up to the West recall that during the 1990's, the United States, Europe and Canada promised villas and castles to the Kremlin as rewards for dissolving the Soviet Union and adhering to capitalism, but the investments never quite materialized. Nothing indicates that the enthusiasm of the recent commitments will do anything to reduce the serious disagreements over Kaleningrad, a Russian enclave in the Baltic, which will end up completely surrounded by the European Union after the incorporation of Poland and Lithuania. In that context, it should come as no surprise that the Russian press would exhibit little faith in the latest change of fortune initiated by Putin aimed at aligning his nation with the West. Neither should it be a surprise that some would express skepticism over the announced rewards and would point out that the US Senate has done nothing to eliminate the Jackson-Vanik amendment restricting trade with Moscow. Nor do the agreements made between the United States and Russia exempt Russia from the consequences of the unilateral policies of the Bush administration or foresee the opening of the preferential economic treaty so much desired by the Putin government. Though Moscow may be celebrating today over its "new" relationship with the West, in the future it could well find itself hostage to the NATO agreement. (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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