|
Yahoo!
November 25, 2002.
Cuba Expels Four University Students
HAVANA, 25 (AP) - Four university students have been expelled from school
for ing a petition drive for human rights reform in Cuba, a leader of the
effort said.
The students were expelled from a university in the eastern province of
Camaguey, said Oswaldo Paya, the head organizer of the
Varela Project human rights
campaign.
"We denounce the government ... and demand the immediate return of
those expelled students to their classrooms," Paya said in a statement over
the weekend.
There was no immediate response to Paya's charges from the government, which
usually does not respond to accusations from groups it labels "counterrevolutionaries."
Paya has said in the past that some Cubans lost government jobs for g
the petition, which seeks a referendum asking voters if they favor new laws to
guarantee basic rights such as freedom of expression and private business
ownership.
"We demand respect for freedom of conscience, of religion and of
expression in universities and schools at all levels," he said this
weekend.
Varela Project organizers in May turned in more than 11,000 signatures
requesting the referendum. That month, former President Carter spoke in
of the effort during a live speech broadcast on state radio and television
during a visit to Cuba.
Cuba's National Assembly has not responded to the referendum request. In a
move widely seen as an attempt to block the Varela Project, the parliament
approved a constitutional change stating that Cuba's social, economic and
political systems are "irrevocable."
Expulsan
a tres estudiantes de la Universidad por firmar el Proyecto Varela
Caribbean Community leaders to mark 30th anniversary of diplomatic
relations with Cuba
By Bert Wilkinson, Associated Press Writer. Sat Nov 23,
3:51 PM ET
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - Caribbean leaders are headed to Cuba early next month
to mark the 30th anniversary of relations between the Caribbean Community and
the communist island, officials said.
Cuban President Fidel Castro invited the 15-member
Caribbean Community to mark the
anniversary, grateful that the group established diplomatic relations with Cuba
on Dec. 8, 1972, said Cuba's ambassador to Caricom.
"They said no to the mighty United States and for that we will be
forever grateful," said Jose M. Inglan on Friday. "This is something
that we are always going to appreciate."
Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados were the first Caribbean Community
to break ranks with the United States to forge ties with Cuba during the
Cold War.
The so-called "Big Four" former British colonies were among the
first countries in the world to end Cuba's isolation, apart from Mexico which
never broke off ties, Inglan said.
Cuba has been under a U.S. trade embargo since Castro defeated the
CIA-backed assault at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, two years after the revolution
that brought Castro to power.
The other Caribbean Community later established relations with Cuba.
At least nine Caribbean Community leaders have confirmed they will attend
festivities from Dec. 7-8. Havana was considering sending a Cubana Airlines
plane to Barbados to fly delegations to Cuba, Inglan said.
Caribbean Community spokesman, Leonard Robertson, also confirmed that at
least nine leaders had promised to attend.
Cuban officials were still ironing out plans for the anniversary, but the
festivities include a summit meeting with Castro to review the past three
decades and discuss future relations, he said.
Cuba and the Caribbean Community have maintained a warm relationship over
the years. There are more than 1,000 Cuban doctors working in other Caribbean
countries, with about 400 doctors assigned to Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's
poorest country, the ambassador said.
Cuba has also granted hundreds of scholarships to Caribbean governments to
encourage students to study mainly engineering and medicine at Cuban
universities. More than 20,000 students from Latin America and the Caribbean are
studying in Cuba under the scholarships, he said.
On the Net:
http://www.caricom.org | 
