Caribbean Report 01-05-1990

Abstract

The United States coordinated three major military exercises (Global Shield, Ocean Venture and DefX) in the Caribbean region and Raul Castro, the Minister of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, warns his country that these military manoeuvres of the US could mean an imminent attack on Cuba. The manoeuvres are conceived by General Castro as a sign of growing hostility towards Cuba and he declares that Cuba will undertake pertinent manoeuvres to prepare for a US attack. In Washington, the US State Department announces in an annual report entitled “Global Patterns of Terrorism” that Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism as it continues to support of radical groups around the world. Following the Financial News, the members of the World Union of Guyanese for Democracy (WUGD) began a demonstration at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza opposite the United Nation’s headquarters in New York. The demonstration takes the form of a fast and vigil against the policies of Guyana’s PNC government, particularly calling for free and fair elections in Guyana. The WUGD is seeking to facilitate an international team of observers to oversee the upcoming general elections in Guyana. In the next segment, the United Nations and the government of Suriname come to an agreement concerning the six thousand Surinamese refugees who fled into the neighbouring French Guiana to avoid the arms conflict in Paramaribo. The report concludes with the May Day Rally in Havana, Cuba marking the country’s 100th anniversary of the workers’ holiday.