Cuba: Council Re-Election an Endorsement

HAVANA - Cuba's re-election to the U.N. Human Rights Council is a recognition of the island's contribution to human rights around the world, Fidel Castro's government said Wednesday.

Another three-year term for Cuba on the U.N. panel "is undoubtedly a recognition of the Cuban Revolution's work in human rights in favor of all our people," said a government statement published in the Communist Party daily Granma.

It's an endorsement of "the contribution thousands of Cubans have made over four decades to the human rights of people in more than 100 countries," the statement added.

Cuba said it presented 10 projects to the U.N. commission last year defending social rights and denouncing the burden of foreign debt on developing countries.

U.S. delegates walked out of a U.N. meeting in protest Tuesday when Cuba's re-election was announced. The communist country's election came weeks after Castro's government sentenced 75 dissidents to long prison terms on charges of collaborating with U.S. diplomats to undermine Cuba's socialist regime. It also followed the April 11 execution of three Cubans who hijacked a ferry packed with passengers in an attempt to reach the United States. No one was hurt in the hijacking.

Governments and human rights groups worldwide condemned the executions and the crackdown. Cuba argued the executions were necessary to avoid a migration crisis provoked by the United States.

During this year's annual six-week session which ended Friday, the U.N.'s top human rights watchdog narrowly passed a resolution calling on Cuba to accept a visit by a human rights monitor but failed to approve an amendment criticizing Cuba's crackdown.

Under U.N. rules, regional groups decide who fills seats on U.N. bodies.Latin America chose Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru for six open seats.

Cuba said its re-election was a "victory" that "contrasted with the United States' embarrassing defeat in 2001" when the United States lost its place on the panel. The United States recovered its seat in 2002.

"And this Dr. Germ, she's going to enjoy working in our world-class labs!"

I remember there was a dengue epidemic in Cuba years ago, and its government had the nerve to blame the United States for it. The charge was that America was waging "biological warfare" on the island. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.

Castro to Speak at Huge May Day Rally - 900 Union Leaders From Around World*** HAVANA - Hundreds of thousands of Cubans poured into the country's main plaza Thursday for a May Day celebration that aimed to defend the island's socialist system against criticism from abroad. "We workers are gathered here to tell the American empire that we are not afraid, in spite of their lies," Jose Rego, a 66-year-old gardener in a straw hat, said shortly before the ceremony began at Havana's Plaza of the Revolution. Waving a poster of a young Fidel Castro in one hand and a red, white and blue Cuban flag in the other, Rego declared: "The Cuban people know how to defend the just cause of the working class."

Cheers erupted as Castro, wearing his typical olive green uniform and cap, arrived and took his place alongside other communist leaders. The Cuban president was to speak later Thursday. "Long live May Day! Long live socialism! Long live Fidel!" declared Pedro Ross, secretary-general of the Cuban Workers Confederation, as the event began. Organizers said 1 million people were expected at the Havana rally, including more than 900 union leaders from around the world - 160 of them from the United States. Smaller gatherings were being held in other Cuban cities. ***

A banner in Spanish saying 'Don't touch Cuba' is held above the crowd during the May Day demonstration, Thursday May 01, 2003 in Havana, Cuba.(AP Photo/Jose Goitia)

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