Radio Havana Cuba-03 June 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 03 June 2002 . *NEW HOUSES FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE MICHELLE DEDICATED IN VILLA CLARA *REGIONAL TECHNICAL CONFERENCE OF INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT WORKERS ASSOCIATION MEETS IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL *CUBA-GRENADA JOINT COMMISSION CONCLUDES MEETING IN ST. GEORGES *CUBA, UN STRIVE TO INCREASE ANIMAL PROTEIN INTAKE FOR CUBANS *PAKISTAN, INDIA TONE DOWN RHETORIC BUT STILL SEEM CLOSE TO WAR *CIA TRACKED TWO 9-11 HIJACKERS 18 MONTHS BEFORE ATTACKS, REVEALS NEWSWEEK *FOR THE FIRST TIME, BUSH ADMINISTRATION ACKNOWLEDGES GLOBAL WARMING *US ACCUSED OF BLOCKING INTERNATIONAL SANITATION PLAN *UN AGAIN ACCUSES DONORS OF RENEGING ON PLEDGES FOR AFGHANISTAN *ISRAELI ARMY QUIETLY TAKING OVER MORE PALESTINIAN LAND IN WEST BANK *Viewpooint: WALLS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE... . *NEW HOUSES FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE MICHELLE DEDICATED IN VILLA CLARA Santo Domingo, June 3 (RHC)-- New houses for victims of last November's Hurricane Michelle were dedicated in the province of Villa Clara over the weekend. In the town of Santo Domingo, 15 new homeowners were presented with the keys to their residences -- built to replace those destroyed by the strongest hurricane to hit the island in 50 years. According to Alexis Falero, president of the local government in Villa Clara, more than 400 housing units will be finished before the end of August and given to victims of Hurricane Michelle. He also reported that in Villa Clara alone, more than 27,000 homes have already been repaired of the 38,000 that were damaged -- representing a completion of 72 percent. The Cuban government has promised to replace all homes destroyed and repair housing damaged by the hurricane by November 4th -- the first anniversary of the storm. *REGIONAL TECHNICAL CONFERENCE OF INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT WORKERS ASSOCIATION MEETS IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL *Havana, June 3 (RHC)-- Cuba will present its experiences in airport security to participants attending the 7th Regional Technical Conference of the International Air Transport Workers Association (IATA), which began on Monday here in Havana. Over 40 foreign participants, representatives of 15 airlines and international organizations -- including the International Civil Aviation Organization (OACI) -- are meeting at the Melia Habana Hotel through Wednesday, June 5th. Cubana Airlines's Operational Vice President Manuel Espinosa told reporters that the IATA conference will analyze technical topics in the field. Espinosa said that special attention will be given to airport security, new control and air traffic systems, new airline routes, transport and use of the airline. The work sessions are being attended by Caribbean and Latin American regional directors of infrastructure and other IATA and OACI leaders, as well as U.S. and Latin American operations directors and manufacturers of airliners, like Boeing. The vice president of operations at Cubana Airlines noted that Havana did not have to establish new airport controls after the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States -- emphasizing that Cuba has maintained strict and professional control of airport security for four decades, defending itself against foreign aggression. Manuel Espinosa said that Cuba's civilian airliners were allowed to fly U.S. corridors and operate at Canadian airports, "demonstrating the confidence in our control system." *CUBA-GRENADA JOINT COMMISSION CONCLUDES MEETING IN ST. GEORGES St. George's, June 3 (RHC)-- Cuba and Grenada have concluded a meeting of a joint commission, reviewing progress in bilateral ties. Grenadian Health Minister Clariste Modeste and Cuban Deputy Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration Ernesto Santi signed the final statement. They also signed a cultural accord to extend and develop relations in this important area. The bilateral meeting was attended by Granadian Foreign Affairs Minister Elvin Minrod and other high-ranking government ministers, along with members of the Cuban delegation. During their stay in Grenada, the Cuban delegation met with Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and reported discussing topics of common interest. The Grenadian prime minister sent greetings to the Cuban people, especially to President Fidel Castro, and thanked Cuba for its support in recently restoring the capital's hospital. The delegation also met with Chamber of Commerce and other business representatives, as well as with Cuban doctors and teachers offering their services in Grenada. *CUBA, UN STRIVE TO INCREASE ANIMAL PROTEIN INTAKE FOR CUBANS Havana, June 3 (RHC)-- At the Mampostón reservoir, southeast of the Cuban capital, a research center supported by the United Nations Development Program strives to increase the production of fresh water fish -- despite fewer ocean catches and the general decline of fisheries in the Caribbean Sea. Inaugurated in 1995, the Mampostón Center received initial support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for the installation of a laboratory to conduct research on feeding formulas that would avoid the use of expensive, imported fishmeal. Scientists led by Professor Sergio Toledo devised alternate, innovative formulas -- using cheaper, indigenous products that produced the same results as the traditional formulas. In 2001, the UNDP agreed to support the Center with an additional 200,000 dollars, half of which would be used to train scientists and experts on fresh-water fish feeding techniques. The other half would finance a plant for the industrial production of feeding formulas. Half-way through project implementation, scores of experts have already been trained at Mampostón, while new fish farms are being completed in western, central and eastern Cuba. The Center runs a small processing plant that supplies fish filets to major Havana hospitals and to the nearby municipality of San Jose de las Lajas. UNDP is also helping boost urban vegetable production in eastern Cuba, in addition to promoting other food production initiatives through the "Human Development Program at the Local Level," a decentralized, sustainable development initiative that receives support from several European nations and regions. *PAKISTAN, INDIA TONE DOWN RHETORIC BUT STILL SEEM CLOSE TO WAR Islamabad, New Delhi, June 3 (RHC)-- India and Pakistan have begun to tone down the rhetoric of nuclear war, but observers believe the two nations are still close to engaging in all-out conflict. Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee continued to reject proposals for face-to-face talks with Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf, despite the presence of both leaders at a regional summit in central Asia. Vajpayee has ruled out direct talks until India obtains proof that Pakistan had stopped incursions into the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed territory of Kashmir. Over the weekend, Musharraf said that no sane person would contemplate the prospect of nuclear war, with India applauding what it called the Pakistani leader's realization that "only the insane" would consider such an option. Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount on Pakistan amid stepped up criticism of Islamabad's alleged aid to terrorists. On the eve of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian and Pakistani leaders, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov accused Islamabad of continuing to allow the infiltration of armed terrorists and extremists into India. And the latest edition of the US's Newsweek magazine reported Sunday that Pakistan appears to be sheltering some Taliban and Al Qaida forces in its territory while allowing US forces to hunt down others, asserting that top Taliban leaders recently attended the funeral of a former anti-Soviet guerrilla fighter under the watchful eye of a Pakistani intelligence officer who allowed them to leave unmolested. Newsweek asserted that other Taliban and Al Qaida leaders were living comfortably in cities such as Quetta and Peshawar. *CIA TRACKED TWO 9-11 HIJACKERS 18 MONTHS BEFORE ATTACKS, REVEALS NEWSWEEK Washington, June 3 (RHC)-- As the US Congress gears up to determine who knew what and when before September 11, Newsweek magazine has asserted that the CIA spotted as potential terrorists two of the hijackers who crashed a plane into the Pentagon 18 months before the attacks. Newsweek called the revelation "the most puzzling, and devastating, intelligence failure" in the period before the attacks. In its new issue released Sunday, the magazine reported that US intelligence spotted both men at an Al Qaida summit in January 2000, tracked at least one of them as he flew to Los Angeles - and then did nothing with the information. The agency reportedly did not tell either immigration officials or the FBI about the movements of the two men that could have been easily monitored since they lived openly and apparently under their real names in the United States. The Newsweek article coincided with a report in the Boston Globe taking note of the FBI's shifting versions on the missed September 11 warnings. The newspaper highlighted the FBI's initial affirmation, right after the attacks, that with some form of warning the bureau might have been able to take preventive action, comparing this position to FBI director Robert Mueller's recent claim that even if a tip on suspected terrorists taking flight training in US territory had been acted on the attacks would almost certainly have still occurred. Meanwhile, the House and Senate intelligence panels plan to meet jointly behind closed doors on Tuesday, and on Thursday expect to hear in public session from Coleen Rowley, the Minneapolis FBI agent who has charged that bureau headquarters mishandled the investigation of an alleged terrorist now linked to the attacks. *FOR THE FIRST TIME, BUSH ADMINISTRATION ACKNOWLEDGES GLOBAL WARMING Washington, June 3 (RHC)-- The George W. Bush administration has for the first time admitted to the far-reaching effects of global warming, though without proposing any major shift in the administration's policy, according to The New York Times. In what the Times called a stark shift for the Bush administration, the United States sent a climate report to the United Nations detailing specific and far-reaching effects that it says global warming will inflict on the American environment, admitting that climate changes will have ever-lasting negative effects on unique wild places and wildlife. In the report, the administration for the first time mostly blames human actions for global warming, saying that the main culprit is the burning of fossil fuels that send heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It admits that over the next few decades the United States will "very likely" see, for example, the disruption of snow-fed water supplies, more stifling heat waves and the permanent disappearance of Rocky Mountain meadows and coastal marshes. But the report recommends adapting to the changes instead of proposing rapid reductions in greenhouse gases to limit warming. The New York Times noted that the document, entitled "US Climate Action Report 2002," presents a sharp contrast to previous Bush administration statements on climate change - which have always emphasized the need for much more research. The report in fact puts substantial distance between the administration and companies and trade groups that continue to run publicity and lobbying campaigns questioning the validity of the science pointing to damaging results of global warming. According to the Times, the distancing could be an effort to rebuild Bush's environmental credentials after a bruising stretch of defeats on stances that favor energy production over conservation - notably the failure to win a Senate vote opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploratory oil drilling. *US ACCUSED OF BLOCKING INTERNATIONAL SANITATION PLAN Bali, Indonesia, June 3 (RHC)-- The United States is blocking an international plan to halve the number of people, two-fifths of the planet's population, who have no sanitation, according to the British news daily The Independent. Some 2.4 billion people lack even a bucket for their wastes, and this is one of the main causes of world disease. The Independent reported that the clash over sanitation between Washington, on the one hand, and Europe and developing countries, on the other, is occurring at the preparatory meeting in Indonesia leading up to the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the United Nations, the incidence of some illnesses and death could drop by as much as 75 percent if adequate clean water and sanitation were provided. The clash over sanitation is only one of a range of issues holding up an agreement on a plan of action to present to the summit. Oil producing countries are opposing a plan to halve the number of people, currently two billion, without any modern sources of energy, mainly by tapping into renewable sources. And the US, Canada, Japan and Australia are objecting to European proposals to make energy consumption in developed countries more environmentally friendly. Non-governmental organizations participating in the preparatory gathering have already accused industrialized nations of blocking efforts to enforce corporate accountability and responsibility. Many fear that if the Bali conference fails to reach agreement it will be hard for the Johannesburg summit to succeed - and the best chance of tackling world poverty in two decades will be lost for the indefinite future. *UN AGAIN ACCUSES DONORS OF RENEGING ON PLEDGES FOR AFGHANISTAN Kabul, June 3 (RHC)-- The United Nations has again accused international donors of failing to live up to their pledges for Afghanistan, with the short fall running into hundreds of millions of dollars. The UN envoy for recovery, relief and reconstruction, Nigel Fisher, said the World Bank trust fund for Afghanistan's interim administration had only received 45 million of the 400 million dollar budget needed to run the government. Close to four billion 500 million dollars in aid over five years was pledged at a donors' conference in Tokyo in January, but Fisher said the 526 million received since then fell "well below aspirations." The UN official also asserted that even 10 times the amount pledged would not be enough to repair the damage from 23 years of war, prevent hunger, and house hundreds of thousands of returning refugees. The International Organization of Migration, which has repatriated over 250,000 people, on Sunday indefinitely suspended transport for returning refugees due to lack of funds. The UN's World Food Program, which is feeding nine million Afghans facing starvation after years of drought, has also run short of food. Fisher said food assistance to civil servants, designed to keep the government running smoothly, may be cut back in coming weeks. *ISRAELI ARMY QUIETLY TAKING OVER MORE PALESTINIAN LAND IN WEST BANK Salfit, West Bank, June 3 (RHC)-- The Israeli army is quietly taking over West Bank land privately owned by Palestinians, according to an Associated Press report from the West Bank town of Salfit. AP reported that Israel claims that the land takeovers constitute a temporary move to protect its citizens from Palestinian militants, but that Palestinians - mindful that similar tactics were once used to establish Jewish settlements - fear they will never get their land back. According to Israeli military documents, copies of which were obtained by AP, some of the land seized is in areas where officials want to build a fortified fence to keep Palestinian militants from entering Israel. Other documents indicate that Israel is trying to create buffers between Jewish enclaves and Palestinian towns deep within the West Bank, including the town of Salfit, which is surrounded by 17 large and small settlements. Critics say the scattered and, in some cases, sizable seizures could carve up the West Bank in a way that would make it difficult for the Palestinians to create a viable state on land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War. West of Jenin, the Palestinian city that has produced more than 20 suicide bombers, an additional 27 square miles of land was taken. South of the Palestinian town of Tulkarem, 3 square miles was taken. The two patches, both close to the border with Israel, constitute just over one percent of the entire West Bank. But aside from the buffer areas, some confiscations have recently occurred deeper inside the West Bank, according to copies of documents provided by Palestinian officials and lawyers, and verified by the Israeli army. Such is the case in Salfit, where one Palestinian's 15 acres were seized and his olive groves and apple orchards uprooted by bulldozers. The AP story coincided with Israel's announcement of a new Jewish settlement on confiscated Arab lands in occupied East Jerusalem. *Viewpooint: WALLS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE... The weekend assassination of Honduran member of parliament and former Minister of Economics, Reginaldo Panting, who had been kidnapped for ransom, is a brutal reminder of the fact that Honduras has become one of the most violent nations in Latin America, second only to El Salvador and Colombia. Honduras is also one of the poorest nations of the region with a full 80% of its inhabitants living below the poverty line - the situation made worse by the terrible catastrophe of Hurricane Mitch two years ago. The United States converted this impoverished country into its principal base of operations during its wars against the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua and its support of the civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala. Scores of U.S. soldiers were stationed in Honduras and brought with them violence, corruption and prostitution, creating more misery than had existed in the country before their arrival. Once they had left, the economic void created by their absence was left unfilled and caused the social ills that have led to a violence that is far more dangerous than during the war. As with El Salvador and Guatemala, kidnapping has become the best way to earn quick money with sufficient proof to indicate that many of the gangs that operate in Central America do so from within Honduras. Assaults on banks, businesses, and agencies of all kinds occur with regularity and it's hard to find a Honduran citizen who has not been a victim to an assault or robbery. Indeed, the nation's president, Ricardo Maduro, in office since the 27th January, has suffered himself, with his own son killed in a kidnapping attempt. Maduro has declared war on those that perpetrate such crimes but Honduras will not be able to win this kind of war with increased armory and personnel, but rather with an assault on the root causes of the nation's poverty. The desperation that drives many manifests itself in daily violence and a willingness to take extreme measures to relieve extreme circumstances. Only by providing assistance to the millions who live in desperate poverty, can Maduro's government hope to reduce its rising crime rate. And supporting U.S. style economic measures is not the way to go. Offering people dignity and a future via education and job training is a beginning, but the phenomenal imbalance between the rich and poor in Honduras must also be addressed - and supporting the coming disastrous Washington-inspired Free Trade Area of the Americas is not the way to do it, for many more will be condemned to unemployment, desperation and crime as a result. More police in the streets does not signify there will be fewer criminals. For every new police officer there are some 20,000 malnourished Hondurans waiting in the wings to cross over to crime, and the nation's terrible violence will continue until those with money and power begin to understand this simple and terrible formula and do something about it. (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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