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Cuba's Number 2, Ricardo Alarcon, Blasts 'Neoliberal' Katrina
Response
Alarcon Demands Immediate Release of 'Cuban 5' : 'They Are
Now Kidnapped'
Alarcon Defends Imprisonment of 'Independent Librarians'
in Cuba, Cites Washington's Funding of Anti-Castro Groups
in Havana
Cuba's Number 2, Ricardo Alarcon, Blasts 'Neoliberal'
Katrina Response
In an exclusive interview in the firehouse studio, Ricardo
Alarcon, President of the Cuban National Assembly, talks about
the US government's handling of the hurricane and talks about
Cuba's effective hurricane response system, saying, "Our
Entire National Defense, Our Entire Army, And Our Entire Society
Is Prepared To Defend Itself, Not To Attack Others, Not To
Occupy Foreign Lands."
For the past week, heads of state and other dignitaries from
across the world have descended on New York for the United
Nations summit marking the 60th anniversary of the convening
of the UN General Assembly. Among those who addressed the
world body was Cuba’s number 2, the President of the
Cuban National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcon.
On Tuesday morning, he visited our firehouse studios for
an exclusive, in-depth interview, and the security was tight.
Officers from the US Diplomatic Service accompanied Alarcon.
They came in ahead of the interview and inspected our offices.
During the interview, they stood guard both in the studio
and out in front of the firehouse. We spoke with Ricardo Alarcon
at a time when Cuba is facing increased hostilities from the
Bush administration, which has recently taken moves to escalate
its campaign against Cuban president Fidel Castro. Alarcon
also joined us as hurricane Rita was moving toward Cuba and
the United States. And that is where we began--with hurricanes.
As we have reported on Democracy Now!, Cuba offered to send
some 1,500 doctors to the US equipped with Hurricane response
backpacks to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Bush administration
never responded to the offer.
- Ricardo Alarcon, President of the Cuban National Assembly
Alarcon Demands Immediate Release of 'Cuban 5' :
'They Are Now Kidnapped'
We speak with Ricardo Alarcon about the case of the Cuban
5 – five Cuban nationals arrested in 1998 and accused
of being spies and a threat to US national security.
A story that has been major news in Cuba, but has gotten
little attention in this country is the case of the Cuban
5--five Cuban nationals arrested in 1998 and accused of being
spies and a threat to the national security of the United
States. Last month, a federal appeals court overturned their
convictions and ordered a new trial for the men.
- Ricardo Alarco, President of the Cuban National Assembly
Alarcon Defends Imprisonment of 'Independent Librarians'
in Cuba, Cites Washington's Funding of Anti-Castro Groups
in Havana
Ricardo Alarcon responds to charges that Cuba is cracking
down on 'independent librarians' and he calls for the immediate
extradition of Luis Posada Carriles – the anti-Castro
militant being held in Texas.
In 2003, Cuba arrested seventy-five people - among them around
ten librarians. Columnist Nat Hentoff among others has written
extensively about this. Hentoff recently quoted author Ray
Bradbury who wrote Fahrenheit 451, a book condemning the practice
of book burning. Bradbury said he had a message for Cuba.
He said "I plead with Castro and his government to immediately
take their hands off the independent librarians and release
all those librarians in prison and to send them back into
Cuban culture to inform the people." Alcaron responds
to this.
Finally, Ricardo Alarcon discusses what Cuba would like to
see happen with the Cuban-born anti-Castro militant Luis Posada
Carriles.
- Ricardo Alarcon, President of the Cuban National Assembly
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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