CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA August 5, 1997 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from RADIO HAVANA CUBA's International Shortwave Service in English for Tuesday, August 5, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- HUGE AND COLORFUL CLOSING CEREMONY FOR 14th WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS 2.- U.S. ATTORNEYS WAIT AT AIRPORT FOR RETURNING DELEGATION 3.- U.S.-CUBA FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN WILL BRING MOBILE LIBRARIES 4.- YOUTH MEETINGS WIND UP IN HAVANA AS PART OF FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES 5.- HUGE LATIN AMERICAN TRIBUTE TO GUERRILLA LEADER ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA ON OCTOBER 8th 6.- FOREIGN STUDENTS GRADUATED IN CUBA RETURN TO THE ISLAND 7.- CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROBERTO ROBAINA HEADS DELEGATION TO INAUGURATION OF BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT HUGO BANZER HUGE AND COLORFUL CLOSING CEREMONY FOR 14th WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS Havana, August 5(RHC)-- A huge, closing ceremony for the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students is taking place this evening at the Pan American Stadium here in Havana. The gala festivities bid farewell to over 11,000 foreign delegates from 131 countries who took part in this historic World Youth Festival. Despite the stadium's 35,000-seat capacity, it is unable to accommodate all those local residents who wish to attend. The Organizing Committee distributed special invitations among young people and outstanding workers through the mass organizations that characterize Cuban political and social life. This evening's closing ceremony is being broadcast live on Cuba's two television stations, Radio Rebelde and the international shortwave service of Radio Havana Cuba. More than 7500 people are taking part in the festivities and choreography of the closing ceremony of the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students. The final delegate count: 11,325 foreign delegates. Add to that number the 1000 strong Cuban delegation and the total participation topped 12,325. The largest delegation was from the United States, with 849 delegates. Mexico sent more than 600; Argentina checked in with 561; Germany sent 461; and 405 Angolans took part in the international youth event. After nine-days of constant activities, the delegates -- many of them exhausted, but re-invigorated with revolutionary spirit -- will be returning to their respective countries over the next several days. U.S. ATTORNEYS WAIT AT AIRPORT FOR RETURNING DELEGATION Los Angeles, August 5(RHC)-- Prominent attorneys and defense lawyers are preparing to be on hand at the Los Angeles International Airport for the arrival into the United States of delegates to the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students. The U.S. Festival Organizing Committee is hoping for the best, but planning for the worst, as more than 800 delegates to the Havana event will be returning to their country over the next few days. The U.S. Treasury Department refused to issue special travel licenses to the delegates and Washington has threatened to slap fines of up to 50,000 dollars for having traveled to Cuba. Returning delegates could be faced with losing their passports and may even be imprisoned for up to ten years. The United States and South Korea are the only two countries that have prohibited their children from traveling to Cuba for the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students. U.S.-CUBA FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN WILL BRING MOBILE LIBRARIES Havana, August 5(RHC)-- The leader of the U.S. religious/ solidarity organization Pastors for Peace, Reverend Lucius Walker, told Festival delegates that the U.S. organization will organize a caravan to take mobile libraries to all of Cuba's provinces in December. Reverend Walker made the announcement during a rally in which Pastors for Peace presented a donation of 269 school desks for the Seguidores de Camilo School at the Ciudad Libertad School Complex and a mobile library for the Segundo Frente area in mountainous, eastern Santiago de Cuba. The mobile libraries will be equipped with a computer which has a very broad data base and a wide range of children's books, including the latest collections of Cuba's Gente Nueva Publishing House -- dedicated to children's books and publications -- and a complete collection of the works of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti. YOUTH MEETINGS WIND UP IN HAVANA AS PART OF FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES Havana, August 5(RHC)-- The last in a series of regional meetings took place Monday at Havana's Convention Center as part of the World Youth Festival agenda. In the meeting of indigenous youth, the oppression to which indigenous communities worldwide are subjected was documented and denounced. Young trade unionists discussed future mechanisms of coordination after the Festival ends. The session for young parliamentarians included calls for increased representation for women and youth and for legislative action against child prostitution. In their workshop, religious youth discussed how religion has been used for political ends, with differences exacerbated by imperialism. In the meeting between rural youth, discussion focussed on making land ownership more democratic. Over 200 young business representatives and professionals met to discuss their common problems. Emphasis was placed on the negative effects of globalization and neoliberal policies -- which prevent the emergence of domestic businesses, particularly among youth, in underdeveloped countries. Young Cubans residing abroad also met and discussed the difficulties they face in explaining Cuba's true situation and the need to counteract disinformation campaigns. HUGE LATIN AMERICAN TRIBUTE TO GUERRILLA LEADER ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA ON OCTOBER 8th Havana, August 5(RHC)-- The Latin American Students Organization -- OCLAE -- is planning a huge continental mobilization to pay tribute to the Heroic Guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara. According to organizers, the mobilization will consist of three caravans which will begin in three different countries, converging at La Higuera, Bolivia, where Che was killed. One of the caravans, which is named after Latin American independence hero Simon Bolivar, is scheduled to start in Mexico, while a second one, named Jose de San Martin, will originate in Montevideo, Uruguay. A third one will begin in Brazil and is called Tiradentes. Argentinean delegates attending the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students said they are planning to hold seminars in the city of Rosario -- Che's birthplace. Activists in Argentina are also planning to hold a concert on October 8th in Buenos Aires -- with the best of Latin America's political song movement. A tentative list of performers includes Argentina's Mercedez Sosa and Fito Paez, Brazilian Chico Buarque and Cuban singer song-writer Silvio Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Chileans are organizing a cultural gala dedicated to Che on September 28th in Santiago de Chile's National Stadium -- with music, poetry, giant screens and multi-media images. According to organizers, the gala will be divided into three sections. One section includes the founders of the Chilean New Song Movement -- Isabel and Angel Parra and others -- another one will include those who made music during the Pinochet dictatorship and the last section consists of performers of the current decade. The tribute to Che in Cuba will, of course, be significant. According to singer Santiago Feliu, three international academic, political and journalistic seminars are being organized. A Political Song concert is planned for September and October in Havana's National Theater and the International Festival of New Latin America Film, scheduled for December in the Cuban capital, will dedicate part of its program to the Heroic Guerrilla. FOREIGN STUDENTS GRADUATED IN CUBA RETURN TO THE ISLAND Havana, August 5(RHC)-- More than 36,000 foreign students have graduated in Cuba over the past 36 years. The figure was disclosed at one of many discussions topping Monday's agenda of the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students. Foreign professionals from more than 100 nations who graduated in Cuba met with the island's top educational authorities at the University of Havana in what they called "Return to My Beautiful Cuba" -- as part of the World Festival of Youth and Students. In addressing delegates, Cuban Vice President Jose Ramon Fernandez -- former Minister of Education from 1980 to 1990 -- briefed them on the island's current situation. Fernandez said that although school enrollment for foreign students on scholarships dropped dramatically in the early 1990's due to the economic crisis that is still affecting the island, there were 22,000 foreign students on the island at that time. The Cuban vice president said that for the coming school year, nearly 5,000 foreign students have applied for registration at Cuban senior high schools and universities. Delegates spoke about their experiences while studying in Cuba and what that experience meant for them as professionals serving in their countries. CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROBERTO ROBAINA HEADS DELEGATION TO INAUGURATION OF BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT HUGO BANZER Havana, August 5(RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina is heading Cuba's delegation to the inauguration of Bolivian President-elect Hugo Banzer. The new Bolivian president will be sworn-in on Wednesday. While in La Paz, the Cuban foreign minister will meet with the foreign ministers and leaders of other countries attending the inaugural ceremony. According to Prensa Latina News Agency, six Latin American presidents and delegations from 46 countries will be in the Bolivian capital for Wednesday's inauguration. [c] 1997. 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