Posted on 03/15/2005 4:52:01 PM PST by wagglebee
HAVANA -- About 200 intellectuals, activists and artists from Latin America and elsewhere issued a letter Monday urging the top United Nations human rights watchdog to side with Cuba in an expected battle over the communist country's rights record.
A U.S.-backed resolution to condemn the island's record is usually presented at every spring meeting in Geneva of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which this year was to open Monday and run through April 22.
No resolution targeting the island has emerged this year, but Cuba expects such a proposal will be presented and considered in mid-April. Last year's resolution passed narrowly, adopted by 22 votes to 21, with 10 abstentions.
"We urge the governments of the commission's member countries to not permit (the resolution) to be used to legitimize the anti-Cuban aggression of the administration of (President) Bush," the letter said.
Washington maintains a four-decades-old trade embargo against the island, and trade and travel restrictions have been steadily tightened in recent years.
Nobel Peace Prize laureates including Adolfo Perez Esquivel of Argentina and Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala signed the letter, as did South Africa's Nadine Gordimer and Portugal's Jose Saramago, both recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Among American signatories were actor Danny Glover, author Alice Walker and historian and activist Howard Zinn. Other international figures included filmmaker Walter Salles of Brazil, the music group Manu Chau and France's former first lady, Danielle Mitterrand.
The letter said the U.S. government has no moral authority to criticize Cuba's human rights record after its own scandals over treatment of terror suspects at prisons in Iraq and the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Some who signed the letter had criticized Cuba when the government sentenced 75 political opponents to long prison terms in 2003.
Hey, it is a tropical (and worker's) paradise after all.
Danny who?
Some idiot who played backup to Mel Gibson and Joe Pesci in the "Lethal Weapon" movies.
To Danny: Isn't your Sh** getting a little old!
Oh yeah, the guy who needs acting lessons and a brain.
--yep--and there usually plenty of boats available in Florida , cheap and have only been used one way--
"intellectuals"
whatta laugh!
You know, the guy on the exploding toilet.
Funny, Castro was just listed in Forbes as one of the wealthiest men in the world. For everyone else in Cuba food rationed. Each Cuban is afforded one pound of chicken per month.
Will someone PUH-LEEEEEEZE ship these two ZOT-NUTS to Havana on a one-way ticket with no right of return!!!!!!!
Oh, let me guess: To moronic liberals throwing people into gulags for political dissent is considered an advanced form of altruism.
These folks are waaaayy on the wrong side of history, and humanity.
There have been more than 700,000 students graduated in Universities in Cuba. That is almost 5.3 per cent of the entire population. One in every seven workers is a university graduate. The average school level of workers is 11th grade. Cuba has at this time a total of 6,965 peeople with a Phd.
For Cubans at the beginning of the millennium, education is not a great concern. All children can attend schools right from kindergarten to primary, high and college level, meanwhile a great quantity of careers are available for students. Education in Cuba is free and basic teaching is of nine grades.
During the 2003 -2004 course , more than two million 800 thousand students attend classes, that is to say, 99.9 per cent of the population at school age.
. Within the health system, Cuba has 68,927 doctors and 149,708 nurses and technicians. In another area, Cuba now has almost 20,000 doctors giving assistance to more than 70 Third World countries including the Caribbean. Only in Haiti, Cuba has more than 400 phisicians. Out of our 12 million inhabitants, more than 2,500 are over 100 years of age. Life Expectancy is 77 years.
. A Cuban vaccine protecting children against four diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, and hepatitis B will be used for the first time.The new generation vaccine has 95 per cent efficiency against diphtheria and tetanus, 80 per cent against whooping cough, and 98 per cent against hepatitis B. Cuban researches are currently working in the creation of another vaccine fighting five diseases. All Cuban children are vaccinated against 13 infectious diseases. There is also a wide variety of vaccine and therapeutic projects for adults.
. Concerning HIV, Cuba has largely escaped the disease with only a 0.07 per cent infection rate, one of the lowest infection rates in the world, recognised by WHO and PAHO. More than 1,400 HIV patients receive their Medicine totally Free.
Natives do not have to worry for a doctors' consultation. 99.1 per cent of the population received the cares of a family doctor, this is a service lent in health facilities near certain conglomerates of houses, factories or school centres, a right to life is guaranteed by the revolutionary process.
This primary attention helped the decrease of children death to less than 6 per cent per one thousand live births. In 1959 it was 60 per cent.
. At the university, there are 65,427 Professors. In other levels, we have 310, 507 teachers. One of the recent goals attained is having guaranteed a teacher per each 20 students at the most in elementary school and one every 15 students in high school.
All classrooms right from elementary levels until 9th grade are gifted with a computer per 100 students, so as to teach them this technique and the teaching process containing 200 new softwares for all kinds of teaching.
But within this goal of changing the teaching scenario, more than 700 facilities were completely refurbished, 70 were built and 567 classrooms were created.
Four hundred and twenty-six centers for special education have been gifted with the most updated aids for the instruction of more than 50 thousand children and teenagers with different kinds of disabilities. These places count with some 10 thousand professors graduated in defectology.
. Population, economically active rises to 4.6 millions and present unemployment is equal to 1.9 per cent, one of the lowest in the world. The number of private workers is around 150 thousand. More than 150 thousand youngsters, from 16 years old to receive instruction and adequate income according with their age and personal needs. From this figure, more than 48 thousand 400 joined higher education, including medical sciences and they are paid to study.
One million 438 thousand Cubans (1 each 100) are retiree and 131 thousand receive the care of Social Service.
Average age of the population is 34.5 years. More than 14 per cent is more than 60 and there are 4,160 women more than men.
. Notwithstanding hurricane damage, energy shortages and the US embargo, the GDP grew by 5 per cent in 2004. Sugar milling rose by 14.4 per cent. Mining and metals activity and electricity output also increased by 10.7 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. The other key drivers in economic expansion were building activity, tourist arrivals and communications, which each expanded by 11.2 per cent, 7.6 per cent and 12.5 per cent. Last year, exports increased by 32.5 per cent. Tourist arrivals exceeded two million in 2004, which represents an 8 per cent rise. The expected tourists arrivals in 2005 is 2.3 million, a 12.2 per cent growth compared to 2004
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national_local/314709334764715.php
If Cuba is so great how come we don't ever see people drowning off their coast after their boat capsized from being overflowed with people trying to get to their borders????
So, are you actually defending Castro?
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