AIN

Malaysian Prime Minister Honored in Cuba

Havana, Nov 25 (AIN) Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi received the Order of Jose Marti during a ceremony held Wednesday evening at Havana’s Palace of the Revolution.

The award, the highest decoration given foreign dignitaries, was presented by Cuban President Fidel Castro.

During the act, the President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, underscored the high level of bilateral relations between the two countries and noted that such links are being strengthened and expanded.

Alarcon stated that amid the complex international situation, we are especially glad to observe our increasing agreement with Malaysia on multilateral issues of vital importance.

The president of the Cuban legislature further stressed the efforts made by that Asian nation, which currently chairs the Non-Aligned Movement, to revitalize and empower that organization and to democratize international relations.

In receiving the Order, Abdullah Badawi called it an honor for him and for Malaysia to receive Cuba’s top official distinction, previously bestowed on former presidents of the stature of Nelson Mandela, of South Africa and Jiang Zemin, of China, as well as former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The distinguished visitor said that both Malaysia and Cuba should use their strengths to assist each other in order to further develop bilateral cooperation. He ratified his government’s decision to continue expanding technical assistance to Cuba.

The Malaysian leader arrived in Cuba on Wednesday for a three- day official visit. He was welcomed by Cuban First Vice President Raul Castro at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport.

Shortly after his arrival to the Cuban capital the Malaysian Prime Minister held official talks with Cuba president Fidel Castro.

Cuba Strengthens its International Relations Despite Europe

Havana, Nov 25 (AIN) Cuba is strengthening its relations with China and Latin America while the European Union remains divided and continues to debate on whether to normalize relations with the island.

In a commentary published Thursday on the web page of Granma newspaper, and on the heels of an official visit to the island by Chinese President Hu Jintao, Spanish journalist Patricio Montesinos describes how Cuba is expanding its historic ties with the Asian giant and important Latin American nations.

In recent weeks, Granma adds, the representatives of the ultra right wing European nations, and particularly the opposition Spanish Popular Party, are going all out to keep the Group of 25 from taking a stance independent of the US and treating Cuba without a double standard.

Following the same incoherent political line, the EU Parliament last week approved a resolution supported by the Popular Party, once again conditioning a normalization of relations between Europe and the island.

The EU Parliament adopted this measure by a divided vote after heated debates. It includes conditions on Cuba in order to lift the EU sanctions imposed last year against the island.

Montesino notes that once again, Europe adopts an erroneous position, which is the strongest against a Third World nation that does not have military conflict or any other exceptional situation.

In the face of such impositions, the Cuban government and its people have reiterated that they will not give in to any pressure similar to that imposed by the United States for more than 45 years and designed to destroy the Revolution.

Argentinean Legislators Demand Visas to the Families of the Cuban Five

Havana, Nov 25 (AIN) Washington has denied six-year-old Ivette Hernandez the right to visit her father, Gerardo Hernandez, who is being held in a US prison.

This violation of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child is being protested by a group of Argentinean legislators who object to the US government’s denial of the right to family visitations by the loved ones of the “Cuban Five.”

To enable such visits, a group of Argentinean legislators have demanded the United States to grant entry visas to the families of Hernandez and four other Cuban political prisoners incarcerated in the US for having fought terrorism.

In a declaration presented before the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress, the signatories requested the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, to intervene in the Bush administration’s decision.

The Legislators requested Arbour to mediate in favor of the families of the five – Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino and Fernando Gonzalez.

The Argentinean lawmakers also urged immediate authorization for two of the wives, Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva, to visit their husbands, Gerardo and Rene, and approval for a visit by Ivette Gonzalez, daughter of Rene Gonzalez. The declaration asserted that these five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters were able to prevent more than 170 terrorist attacks on the Cuban people.

These onslaughts had been organized by right- wing Cuban-American organizations based in Miami. Gerardo, Ramon, Fernando, Antonio and Rene were arrested and sentenced in a rigged trial in Miami for having infiltrated right-wing groups that have for the last 40 years planned, organized and executed terrorists acts against Cuba.

The mission of the Cuban political prisoners, internationally known as the “Cuban Five,” was to gather information and prevent terrorist actions against Cuba.

No End in Sight to Middle East Conflicts By Raúl Estrada Zamora

Havana, Nov 25 (AIN) The United States and Israel are continuing to block a peaceful solution to the Middle East situation, that due to an escalation in violence continues locked in a dead end street.

Journalists participating on Wednesday evening’s nationally broadcast “The Round Table” program coincided in their belief that Washington and Tel Aviv will continue to defend interests that in no way benefit the Palestinian people, regardless of the elections set for January 9.

The recent death of Yasser Arafat and the nearness of the Palestine Authority elections have put the US government and its closest ally in the region in a difficult situation, because it leaves them without pretexts to continue thwarting any constructive negotiations.

While there is not always unity over how to deal with their powerful enemies, all Palestinians see the need to create an independent State and assure the return of refuges scattered around the region to their homeland.

The Round Table panelists denounced the degree of impunity with which Israel is continuing to massacre the Palestinians, and presented the example of the case of an Israeli officer who fired twenty rounds into the body of a thirteen-year-old girl and only received a two month prison term.

In their analysis of the situation in the region, the journalists also condemned the genocide being committed by US troops in Fallujah, Iraq, a city that has become a symbol of resistance to the occupation of the Persian Gulf nation.

Unsatisfied with only killing unarmed civilians, including children, women and elderly persons, the US forces are now blocking water, food and medical supplies to those people that did not abandon Fallujah.

The Round Table participants noted the US soldier’s total disregard for international conventions, citing television footage of US soldiers shooting wounded, unarmed Iraqi prisoners.

Official US military data show November as the second most deadly month for its troops since the bombing of Iraq began 20 months ago. The panelists noted that over 1,200 GIs have been killed and over 9,000 wounded, many of whom may also have died.

The journalists further noted that with the heroic popular resistance to the occupation, just two months before the programmed January 30 elections, the Pentagon is now calling up tens of thousands of more troops in order to replace its losses, while using the local traitors as cannon fodder.

Meanwhile, as the world looks on at the human suffering and massive destruction taking place in the Middle East, the US generals and State Department officials continue to present a rosy picture of their interventions in the both Palestine and Iraq.

Cuban Friendship Institute Delegation Touring Europe

Havana, Nov 25 (AIN) A delegation from the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) is currently touring Europe, where it has received numerous affirmations of solidarity. After visiting Belgium and Luxembourg, the Cubans will continue their tour to Holland and later Spain.

Headed by its vice president, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Elio Gamez, director of the European Bureau, the ICAP delegation has been touring Europe since the November 18 at the invitation of solidarity groups from across the continent.

On the November 20 and 21, the delegation traveled to Luxembourg and participated in a European “Solidarity and Friendship with Cuba” conference.

In Luxembourg, the Cuban delegation attended a presentation of a Cuban-Irish documentary entitled “Mission Against Terror,” on the five Cuban political prisoners incarcerated in the United States.

The film reveals the unjustness of the trial held against the anti-terrorists fighters. In Brussels the delegation from the Friendship Institute met with figures connected to the solidarity-with-Cuba movement in that country, among them Senator Sofia Bouarfa, president of the Belgium-Cuba section of the Inter-parliamentary Union’s Belgium group.

The ICAP group’s upcoming program includes meetings with Xavier Declercq, president of OXFAM-Solidarity; Mark Lamotte, president of the Friends of Cuba; Katrien Demuynck, president of the Belgium Committee for the Release of the Five; and with members of the Socialist Cuba Initiative.

ICAP representatives also gave interviews to the local and foreign press in Brussels.

Latin American Universities Urged to Fight Inequality

Havana, Nov 25 (AIN) Cuban Higher Education Minister, Fernando Vecino Alegret, urged participants in the 15th General Assembly of the Unity of Latin American Universities to work tirelessly in the face of the inequalities faced by their institutions.

The Cuban official spoke at the inaugural ceremony of the assembly that is underway at the main auditorium of the Higher Institute of Medical Sciences in Havana.

The Higher Education Minister told rectors from throughout the continent that universities fulfill their social mission when they are able to train professionals who understand that the only way towards peace is to end inequality and social injustice, thus contributing towards their respective countries sustainable human development.

On the topic of cooperation and Latin American and Caribbean unity, Vecino Alegret noted that Cuba supports all efforts to strengthen exchange and cooperation in scientific research and technological innovation as well as in the training and upgrading of human resources.

Jorge Gonzalez and Juan Vela, rectors of the Higher Institute of Medical Sciences and the University of Havana welcomed their counterparts and representatives from over 50 regional universities.

The General Assembly of the Union of Latin American Universities was founded in 1949. Cuba is a founding member and in recent years has occupied the vice presidency.

This is the first time the General Assembly is held on the island. The University of Havana, the Marta Abreu Center of Las Villas and the Universities of Camaguey and Oriente and Higher Institute of Medical Sciences belong to this regional organization.