AIN

Fidel Castro Signs Condolence Book upon Yasser Arafat“s Death

Havana, Nov 12 (AIN) Cuban President Fidel Castro signed a condolence book opened by the Palestinian embassy in Havana following the death on Thursday of Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian National Authority.

"Honor and Glory to the unforgettable and heroic combatant Yasser Arafat.

Nothing will erase his name from the history of the great fighters for the freedom of nations," wrote Fidel Castro.

The book will be open for signing by the Cuban people for several days at the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Havana.

New US Government Aggression against Cuba Denounced

By Roberto Perez Betancourt

Havana, Nov 12 (AIN) The Bush Administration and the Cuban- American Miami-based mafia are gearing up to launch a new round of aggression against Cuba, said panelists on Thursday evening’s TV and radio “The Round Table” program. In opening the broadcast, host Randy Alonso paid tribute to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

He read a message of condolence from Cuban President Fidel Castro sent to the Palestinian people on behalf of the government and people of Cuba, and a State Council Decree announcing three days of official mourning as of noon Thursday.

Participants on the program pointed out that two days after the US elections, the Bush Administration has resumed venting lies and fabrications against Cuba, while using mercenaries to spread anti-Cuba propaganda in Europe.

Despite the fact that the United States is recognized around the globe as the leading violator of human rights, and that the international media has widely reported on the many cases of US troops torturing Iraqi and Afghan prisoners, President George W. Bush insists on his relentless attacks on Cuba.

In the mind of Bush, Cubans do not have the right to their sovereignty or the right to defend the island against mercenaries who plot against the nation and its people.

This hostile policy, including an illegal economic, financial and commercial blockade, has been maintained by 10 US administrations over 45 years. Bush remains bedroom close with extreme rightwing Cuban-American groups in South Florida.

These ties helped him win the presidency in 2000 and most recently secure four more years at the White House.

The Cuban- American mafia is well aware of their influence and publicly boasts about it. With this backdrop, Miami was the recent venue of an event to mark the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was attended by notorious European “personalities”, whose expenses were covered by US taxpayer’s money.

The European guests joined their voices to the Miami anti-Cuban chorus in expressing their desire to see the end of the Cuban revolution.

Analysts on The Round Table recalled that Washington’s plans to achieve this goal, include the earmarking of tens of millions of dollars to pay mercenaries, among them Robert Menard, secretary general of the organization “Reporters sans frontiers’ and former Spanish President Jose Marķa Aznar.

Menard and Aznar, together with Jorge Monagas, Foreign Relations Secretary of the ousted Partido Popular of Spain and recently expelled from Cuba for conspiring against the Caribbean nation and being on the payroll of the US, continue to disseminate the anti-Cuba propaganda for the Bush administration.

An article by the Miami Post daily, quoted by the panelists, revealed that radio announcers and journalists in Miami receive money and other benefits from the US government as a payment for their systematic anti-Cuba campaigns, which they conduct in violation of US Law.

Meanwhile, Cuban émigrés who oppose the Bush measures that prevent them from visiting their families, have continued staging protests in Miami to demand the lifting of those restrictions and the freedom to travel to Cuba and send remittances to their relatives as they see fit.

Foreign observers affirm that the example of the Cuban Revolution is a thorn in the side of fundamentalist extremists in the US because it has demonstrated it is a true political, economic and social alternative, viable for the oppressed peoples of the world.

At the end of the program, host Randy Alonso recalled the recent overwhelming 179-4 victory against the blockade at the UN General Assembly, the suspension of the circulation of US dollars on the island enabling Cuba to defend itself against US financial aggression, and the successful celebration of Havana’s International Trade Fair, which had among its participants representatives of 125 US firms.

Turkish Airlines Now Flies between Havana and Istanbul

avana, Nov 12 (AIN) Turkish Airlines flew an inaugural charter flight Thursday between the cities of Istanbul and Havana, signaling a new market for Cuban tourism.

Magdiel de la Rosa of the Cubatur travel agency said the flight marks the opening of an air route between the two cities with lastest generation Airbus 340-400 aircraft, reported Granma newspaper.

The first charter flight was coordinated by Istmar-Turismo, the main Turkish tour operator. The airplane landed at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport with 145 tourists on board, interested in Cuban history, culture and hoping to enjoy the island’s sun and beaches.