By Daniel Schweimler in Havana.
BBC News Online. Monday, 2 April, 2001,
04:28 GMT 05:28 UK
Cuban President Fidel Castro has welcomed delegates to the 105th meeting of
the Inter-parliamentary Union - the world organisation of parliaments - which
has opened in the capital Havana.
Mr Castro used his speech to criticise the US for not sending a delegation,
saying American politicians were missing a good chance to find out what the rest
of the world was thinking.
The week-long meeting aims to cover a whole range of subjects, including
women's issues, human rights and the situation in the Middle East.
Away from the main conference hall, delegates are also expected to be
discussing bilateral relations between North and South Korea and the situation
in Angola.
1,400 parliamentarians from more than 120 countries are at the conference,
the one notable absence being the United States.
The Interparliamentary Union, or IPU, is the world organisation of
parliaments of sovereign States.
Working for peace
Its aim, according to its news release, is to work for peace and
co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative
democracy - and it always has plenty of work.
At this conference in Havana, the delegates will try to bring North and
South Korea closer together and get all those involved in the conflict in Angola
to talk to one another.
They also aim to look at the conflicts in the Middle East, Cyprus and the
Great Lakes area of Africa.
A special meeting of women parliamentarians is on the agenda, while the
IPU's committee on human rights will look at the continuing abuses of human
rights in over 30 countries, including Argentina, Colombia and Honduras.
Enthusiastic hosts
The IPU's president, Najma Heptuallah, said the non-attendance of US
politicians had nothing to do with Washington's differences with Cuba; the US
had not attended any IPU conference since 1994.
Mrs Heptuallah also said that she was perfectly happy that Cuba fulfilled
the organisation's criteria for a democratic country.
Every country, she said, depending on its needs and requirements, will adopt
the kind of democracy it wants to adopt. | 