Yahoo!, march 23, 2000
Boycott May Be Affecting Cuba Women
By Naomi Koppel, Associated Press Writer.
GENEVA, 24 (AP) - The U.S. economic boycott of Cuba may be affecting the human rights situation of Cuban women and even leading to domestic violence, a United Nations expert said in a report released today.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, a U.N. expert on violence against women, said the sanctions ``have a significant impact on the social and economic situation of Cuban women'' and called on Washington to lift the boycott.
Coomaraswamy added that women have generally done well since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, although she expressed concerns about some laws and attitudes.
The Sri Lankan investigator, who visited Cuba for six days last June, said she was the first U.N. human rights specialist allowed to go there by the Cuban government.
In her 26-page report to the 53-nation Human Rights Commission, she said she hoped the visit would help future cooperation.
Coomaraswamy said the U.S. embargo has led to a lack of medicines in hospitals and that women were suffering hardships at home which could lead to domestic violence.
There was no immediate response from U.S. officials, but Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told the commission Thursday that Cuba continues to ``suppress dissent, deny free speech, outlaw free assembly, and harass human rights advocates and others who seek independence of action and
thought.''
U.N. rights experts have consistently criticized the U.S. embargo while at the same time criticizing the human rights situation in Cuba.
In her report, Coomaraswamy said that although the United Nations had often expressed concerns about Cuba's rights record, the revolution had been a ``turning point'' for women.
Women represent 58 percent of university graduates and 60 percent of judges are female. In some fields, such as medicine, authorities are considering setting university quota for men.
``Women's liberation has progressed in the professional sphere, in urban life and in rural areas,'' she said.
But she expressed concern about women suffering domestic violence and said she did not believe claims that there was no sexual harassment in the workplace.
She also called on the government to dismantle ``rehabilitation centers'' where prostitutes can be sent for up to four years even though prostitution is not illegal.
Last year the Human Rights Commission narrowly voted to voice concern ``at the continued violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba, such as freedom of expression, association and assembly and rights associated with the administration of justice.''
The Czech Republic and Poland have drafted a similar resolution for this year's meeting.
Helms OKs Sales to Cuba
By Philip Brasher, AP Farm Writer.
WASHINGTON, 24 (AP) - One of Cuban President Fidel Castro's toughest critics, North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, has dropped his opposition to allowing sales of U.S. food and medicine to Cuba.
With Helms' backing, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Thursday to license such sales so long as they are not subsidized by the Agriculture Department. That prohibition will protect U.S. ``moral and national security interests,'' said Helms, the panel's Republican chairman.
The committee's action opens a new congressional battle over whether to ease the Cuban embargo, which dates back four decades.
The Cuba provision was included in a foreign assistance bill that also authorizes $600 million in debt relief to developing countries and $300 million in aid for victims of the African AIDS epidemic. The legislation was approved on a voice vote.
The foreign debt relief would come from the sale of gold held by the International Monetary Fund. The Treasury Department is required to ensure that the assistance isn't misused.
The legislation also authorizes $50 million to support opponents of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
In addition to permitting Cuban sales, the legislation would prohibit the president from including food and medicine in future embargoes of other countries without congressional approval.
So long as such sales aren't subsidized, ``every dollar these countries spend on American farm products is a dollar they cannot spend on terror and repression,'' said Helms.
Farm groups and agribusinesses are behind the move to ease the Cuban embargo. They have been clamoring to move a glut of grain that has depressed commodity prices for three years in a row and want to remove all barriers to food exports.
The Senate inserted a similar Cuba measure in an agricultural spending bill last year, but the provision was later killed at the insistence of House Republican leaders.
``America's farmers should not be used as pawns in foreign policy disputes,'' said Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., who sponsored the Cuba provision. ``The only people hurt by food embargoes are U.S. farmers and innocent citizens of other countries.
The Clinton administration decided last summer to allow sales of food and medicine to three other countries listed as terrorist states - Iran, Libya and Sudan - but was barred from including Cuba by a federal law that's named for Helms and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind.
Critics of Cuba say Castro can't afford to buy U.S. food unless it's subsidized by the Agriculture Department. But farm groups say that Cuba may save enough in shipping costs by buying American food to make up for the lack of federal aid.
Cuba currently buys about 700,000 metric tons of wheat a year, mostly from Europe and Canada.
Opponents of Cuba in the House are vowing to preserve the embargo.
The Cuba measure "passed last year and it didn't become law, and we're going to do our darndest to keep it from becoming law this year,'' said Steve Vermillion, a spokesman for Rep. Lincoln-Diaz Balart, R-Fla.
Deadline Looms in Cuban Boy Case
By Mildrade Cherfils, Associated Press Writer.
MIAMI, 23 (AP) - The Justice Department has reportedly warned Miami relatives of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez that it will take swift steps to return him to Cuba unless they agree to speed up the court fight over custody.
The proposal was in a Justice Department letter asking for a response by noon today, The Washington Post and The Miami Herald reported. The agency wants the relatives to agree to a speedy timetable for their appeal of a federal court decision against them.
Roger Bernstein, one of several lawyers representing Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncle, said late Thursday that the legal team had no comment.
Attorney General Janet Reno had set no deadline for the boy's return to his father except to say that she wants it to happen in an ``orderly, fair and prompt'' manner.
The letter said the Justice Department would ``immediately move to revoke'' Elian's status in this country if his relatives did not agree to the expedited timetable, the Post reported, citing unidentified sources. An agreement could shorten the appeals process from months to several weeks.
Members of Miami's large Cuban-American community were keeping close watch on Elian's home and threatening protests if the U.S. government makes any sudden move to send the boy back to Cuba.
``We're not calling the people out as long as we see that Elian's case remains in the courts and the government is not moving to suddenly take Elian back to Cuba,'' said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the Democracy Movement, a Cuban exile organization. ``We have used civil disobedience in the past,
but only when it's been absolutely necessary.''
Sanchez was among 17 exile organization leaders who met to discuss protest strategy Wednesday, a day after a federal judge affirmed the U.S. government's decision to send Elian back. The ruling is being appealed.
Cuban-Americans make up more than 700,000 of Miami-Dade County's 2.1 million people. Many harbor deep hatred of Fidel Castro and have shown their willingness to take to the streets in protest.
Sanchez said preserving Elian's rights and maintaining peace in the community is a delicate balance.
``There are things we can control and there are certain things we can't control,'' he said. ``There are very, very deep emotions involved here and people will react.''
Elian was found clinging to an inner tube off Florida on Nov. 25. His mother and 10 others drowned when their boat capsized during an attempt to reach the United States.
The case quickly became a tug-of-war between the Cuban government and U.S. family members who oppose the Cuban government's Communist ideology and want to raise the motherless boy.
In January, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, in a decision approved by Reno, ordered Elian returned to his father. The Miami relatives responded with a lawsuit that was dismissed this week.
Dagoberto Aviles, 65, reacted to the court ruling by establishing a watch outside the boy's home, using a walkie-talkie to communicate with other volunteers.
``Fidel's arms are very long. To do something bad to this child or family he has to go through us first - the Cuban community and the Cuban organizations,'' Aviles said. He did not specify what he would do if government officials moved in to take the boy.
In January, hundreds of Cuban-Americans protesting against the government's decision to send Elian back blocked Miami intersections and cut off access to the Port of Miami, resulting in dozens of arrests.
Justice Department officials have said they want to avoid traumatizing the boy or provoking a confrontation.
Summit To Turn to Asian Tigers
By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press Writer.
UNITED NATIONS, 24 (AP) - A summit of Third World nations in Cuba next month is expected to turn to Asia's high-tech success stories to boost trade among developing nations.
The first summit of the Group of 77, which consists of 133 Third World countries, hopes to set an agenda that puts developing nations in the mainstream of the global economic and technical revolution.
Nigeria's U.N. ambassador, Arthur Mbanefo, whose country is leading the April 10-14 summit, said this week that the so-called Asian Tigers could lead the way in promoting trade between the poorer nations.
Developing countries should take advantage of India's computer expertise and the high-tech equipment manufactured in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia because it's likely to be cheaper - and possibly better adapted to Third World use, Mbanefo said.
He said computer keyboards, for example, don't require high-technology and are now being manufactured in a number of developing countries, saving the cost of imports.
With the growth of the Internet and e-commerce, it's important to make children in the developing world computer literate so they aren't left out of the global technology revolution, he said.
But some developing countries are still using typewriters, and don't have a steady supply of electricity to run computers - and these basic development issues will be on the summit's agenda, Mbanefo said.
Historically, poorer nations in the southern hemisphere have traded with richer nations in the north, rather than with each other.
Increasing "south-south cooperation'' is critical ``because the cost of doing business with the north is increasing,'' Mbanefo said.
To promote that cooperation, the G-77 is developing a directory of projects in member countries that could be used by other nations, he said. It will be updated annually.
The Havana summit is also expected to focus on ways to enhance north-south cooperation and break down ``areas of suspicion'' between the two hemispheres, he said.
At last month's U.N. trade conference in Bangkok, rich and poor nations expressed hope that globalization and new technology could lift billions of people out of poverty. But rich countries were reluctant to push the world trading system forward, much less find a new role for developing
countries in it.
The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development was supposed to heal the wounds of December's collapse of the World Trade Organization's summit in Seattle into street protests and acrimony between nations. But major differences remain between the north and the south on a new round of global
negotiations on trade.
The Havana summit will be led by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. European countries and the group of seven major industrialized nations and Russia - which includes the United States - have been invited as observers, Mbanefo said.
More than 55 heads of state and government have already said they are going to Havana, and Mbafano said he expects at least 70 by the time the summit opens.
Justice Dept. Makes Elian Proposal
By Mildrade Cherfils, Associated Press Writer.
MIAMI, 24 (AP) - The Justice Department has asked the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez to agree to a speedy timetable for their appeal of a federal court decision against them, warning the agency would move to revoke the 6-year-old's temporary status and return him to Cuba.
Roger A. Bernstein, one of several lawyers representing Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncle, said late Thursday in Miami that the legal team had no immediate comment. The proposal was conveyed in a Justice Department letter asking for a response by noon Friday, The Washington Post and The Miami
Herald reported Friday.
Attorney General Janet Reno had set no deadline for the boy's return to his father except to say that she wants it to happen in an ``orderly, fair and prompt'' manner.
The letter said the Justice Department would ``immediately move to revoke'' Elian's status in this country if his relatives did not agree to the expedited timetable, the Post reported, citing unidentified sources. An agreement could shorten the appeals process from months to several weeks.
Members of Miami's large Cuban-American community, some of them with walkie-talkies, were keeping close watch on Elian's home and threatening protests if the U.S. government makes any sudden move to send the boy back to Cuba.
``We're not calling the people out as long as we see that Elian's case remains in the courts and the government is not moving to suddenly take Elian back to Cuba,'' said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the Democracy Movement, a Cuban exile organization. ``We have used civil disobedience in the past,
but only when it's been absolutely necessary.''
Sanchez was among 17 exile organization leaders who met to discuss protest strategy Wednesday, a day after a federal judge affirmed the U.S. government's decision to send Elian back. The ruling is being appealed. The leaders urged the Cuban-American community to remain united and alert.
Cuban-Americans make up more than 700,000 of Miami-Dade County's 2.1 million people. Many harbor deep hatred of Fidel Castro and have shown their willingness to take to the streets in protest.
Sanchez said preserving Elian's rights and maintaining peace in the community is a delicate balance.
``There are things we can control and there are certain things we can't control,'' he said. ``There are very, very deep emotions involved here and people will react.''
Dagoberto Aviles, 65, reacted to the court ruling by establishing a watch outside the boy's home, using a walkie-talkie to communicate with other volunteers.
``Fidel's arms are very long. To do something bad to this child or family he has to go through us first - the Cuban community and the Cuban organizations,'' Aviles said. He did not specify what he would do if government officials moved in to take the boy.
Sanchez said members of his group also monitor the activity outside the boy's home. ``We also keep in touch with some of the authorities that help us discern between the rumors and some of the steps that are being taken,'' he said.
Justice Department officials have said they want to avoid traumatizing the boy or provoking a confrontation with Miami's Cuban exile community. Government lawyers and attorneys for the Miami relatives met here Wednesday to negotiate a compromise.
Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush (news - web sites), on the campaign trail in Orlando, said Thursday he thinks Elian's father should come to the United States to claim his son.
``The best solution would be to let that boy's daddy come to America so he can make the decision having taken a great deep breath of freedom,'' Bush said. ``Let's make sure he's making up his mind without a repressive government telling him what to think and how to act.''
The Democratic candidate, Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites), has said he, too, wonders whether the boy's father has been allowed to speak his true wishes when he repeatedly said in Cuba that he wanted to be reunited on the island with his son.
In January, hundreds of Cuban-Americans protesting against the government's decision to send Elian back blocked Miami intersections and cut off access to the Port of Miami, resulting in dozens of arrests.
``The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is monitoring the situation,'' Gov. Jeb Bush said. ``We have no expectation of unrest.''
Elian's Miami relatives said the boy is aware of the latest developments, though they have tried to shelter him from news reports.
``We don't tell him the details of the courts,'' said Elian's cousin Georgina Cid Cruz. ``He kind of knows because he sees the faces. We don't want him to be sad, feel uncomfortable.''
U.S. Sales of Medicine to Cuba OK'd
By Philip Brasher, Ap Farm Writer.
WASHINGTON, 23 (AP) - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday voted to authorize sales of food and medicine to Cuba after the chairman, Sen. Jesse Helms, dropped his opposition to easing the 40-year-old embargo on the communist government.
The sales could not be federally subsidized, and the North Carolina Republican said that will protect U.S. ``moral and national security interests.''
``Every dollar these countries spend on American farm products is a dollar they cannot spend on terror and repression,'' said Helms, a leading congressional critic of Cuban President Fidel Castro.
The Cuba provision was included in a foreign assistance bill that also authorizes $600 million in debt relief to developing countries and $300 million in aid for victims of the African AIDS epidemic. The legislation was approved on a voice vote.
The foreign debt relief would come from the sale of gold held by the International Monetary Fund. The Treasury Department is required to ensure that the assistance isn't misused.
The legislation also authorizes $50 million to support opponents of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
Farm groups and agribusinesses are behind the move to ease the Cuban embargo. They have been clamoring to move a glut of grain that has depressed commodity prices for three years in a row and want to remove all barriers to food exports.
The Senate inserted a similar Cuba measure in an agricultural spending bill last year, but the provision was later killed at the insistence of House Republican leaders.
``America's farmers should not be used as pawns in foreign policy disputes,'' said Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., who sponsored the Cuba provision. ``The only people hurt by food embargoes are U.S. farmers and innocent citizens of other countries.
The Clinton administration decided last summer to allow sales of food and medicine to three other countries listed as terrorist states - Iran, Libya and Sudan - but was barred from including Cuba by a federal law that is named for Helms and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind.
Critics of Cuba say Castro cannot afford to buy U.S. food unless it is subsidized by the Agriculture Department. But farm groups say that Cuba may save enough in shipping costs by buying American food to make up for the lack of federal aid.
Cuba now buys about 700,000 metric tons of wheat, mostly from Europe and Canada.
Opponents of Cuba in the House are pledging to preserve the embargo.
The Cuba measure ``passed last year and it didn't become law, and we're going to do our darndest to keep it from becoming law this year,'' said Steve Vermillion, a spokesman for Rep. Lincoln-Diaz Balart, R-Fla.
In addition to permitting Cuban sales, the legislation would prohibit the president from including food and medicine in future embargoes of other countries without congressional approval.
Cuba Ambassador Criticizes Albright
By Clare Nullis, Associated Press Writer.
GENEVA, 23 (AP) - Cuba's U.N. ambassador compared Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Snow White's evil stepmother Thursday after Albright urged the U.N. Human Rights Commission to condemn abuses by Fidel Castro's government.
Albright told the 53-nation commission that ``the Castro regime continues to suppress dissent, deny free speech, outlaw free assembly and harass human rights advocates'' and others.
Cuban Ambassador Carlos Amat dismissed Albright's proclaimed concern for human rights, ribbing her and her colleagues for their infrequent attendance at U.N. rights meetings. The last time a top U.S. official attended was in 1992.
Alluding to the children's fairy tale, he said Albright - who had already left the hall after giving her 15-minute speech - was like the stepmother with the ``poisoned apple in Snow White.''
``It would appear the secretary of state came to this commission to kill or destroy all the efforts we are making to uphold the credibility of this commission,'' Amat said.
Talking about rights violations in the United States, Amat referred to the stepmother asking the mirror on the wall who was the fairest one of all.
``If you asked the mirror what is the most beautiful country in the world, the mirror would refuse to tell you,'' he said.
The United States routinely tries to push through criticism of Cuba's record at the U.N. commission's annual meeting under a procedure reserved for serious offenders like Iraq, Myanmar and Sudan.
Last year the commission voiced concern ``at the continued violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba, such as freedom of expression, association and assembly and rights associated with the administration of justice.'' But the vote was a narrow one: 21-20 with 12 abstentions.
Cuba hoped that it might be let off easy this year, but Albright urged countries to back a new resolution drafted by the Czech Republic and Poland.
As she addressed the packed commission chamber, the four-member Cuban delegation exchanged knowing smiles and quiet jokes with each other - their relaxed manner in marked contrast to the walkout by Chinese diplomats to protest Albright's criticism of Beijing.
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved..
CANF: Illinois Governor's 'Cuba Advisor' Sent Packing; Support From Cuban American Community Helps Do In Incumbent State Legislator
WASHINGTON, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cuban American National Foundation hailed today the convincing victory of Cook County (Ill.) official Cynthia Soto over incumbent Illinois State Representative Edgar Lopez in a state Democratic primary Tuesday.
Lopez, an ardent critic of the U.S. embargo of Castro's Cuba with close ties to officials of the Castro regime, was the high-profile organizer of Governor George Ryan's October 1999 trip to Cuba. The trip, billed as ``a humanitarian mission,'' was in reality a political junket to agitate for the
unilateral lifting of U.S. economic sanctions against the Castro dictatorship.
``Edgar Lopez breathlessly told Governor Ryan that he would make history as the first governor to visit Castro's Cuba,'' said CANF Chairman Jorge Mas. ``Now, Mr. Lopez makes history as the first elected official to lose his job over the first governor's trip to Cuba.''
Mas offered his congratulations to Ms. Soto, an official with the Cook County State Attorney's office, for her well-organized campaign to unseat the four-term incumbent. ``Ms. Soto ran an impressive campaign and deserves our utmost praise,'' said Mr. Mas. ``We are happy that she was able to
outreach to members of the Cuban American community and even more so that they responded so enthusiastically.''
Knowing of Mr. Lopez's intimate involvement in conceiving of and orchestrating Governor Ryan's Cuba trip, and his abject disregard for the Cuban people's struggle for liberty and human rights, the Cuban American National Foundation endorsed Ms. Soto's election bid.
``We said at the time that the Governor's trip to Cuba was a profile in buffoonery,'' said Mr. Mas. ``He embarrassed himself, his state, and his country. He did nothing for the Cuban people, nor did he advance in any way the prospects for freedom and democracy on the island. Someone must be held
accountable for that, and in our minds that someone is Edgar Lopez. We are extremely pleased to have been part of the winning coalition behind Cynthia Soto.''
Mr. Lopez's Cuba activity has not been limited to the Governor's visit. With his assistance and guidance, Cuban officials based in the U.S. have repeatedly traveled to Illinois to lobby farm groups and local politicians for the unilateral lifting of the U.S. embargo. He even arranged for a
representative of the Castro dictatorship to address the Illinois state house. At the Cuba-Baltimore Orioles baseball game in Baltimore last year, Mr. Lopez was an honored guest of the Castro regime.
SOURCE: Cuban American National Foundation
Copyright 2000 PRNewswire.
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