CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA
                             August 20, 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 Wednesday,
August 20, 1997.   Today's stories:
 
1.- PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY FOR THE FIFTH CONGRESS OF CUBAN      
    COMMUNIST PARTY
 
2.- CUBA AND SPAIN MERGE CAPITAL IN SUGARCANE BYPRODUCTS JOINT 
    VENTURE 
 
3.- CUBAN NATIONAL BALLET COMPANY TOURING SPAIN
 
4.- CUBAN WOMEN PAY TRIBUTE TO TANIA THE GUERRILLA ON THE 37th 
    ANNIVERSARY OF THE FEDERATION OF CUBAN WOMEN
 
 
PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY FOR THE FIFTH CONGRESS OF CUBAN
COMMUNIST PARTY
 
Havana, August 20(RHC)-- After a process of selecting the
first 300 direct delegates to the Fifth Communist Party
Congress, general secretaries of Party branch organizations
are gearing-up to select the remaining 1000 delegates to the
upcoming political meeting.
 
This is the first time that Cuban Communist Party grassroots
organizations are involved directly in the process of
selecting delegates to a Congress.  On previous occasions, the
process was conducted by Party members at the provincial
level.
 
The change broadens the exercise of democracy within Party
ranks and strengthens the principle that no one will be
elected as a delegate to the Fifth Congress without the full
approval of coworkers and fellow Party members.
 
The Congress is the Party's highest decision-making body and
is considered to be the country's most important political
event.   Slated to run from October 8th through the 10th, the
Fifth Party Congress will be attended by 1500 delegates and
250 national guests. 
 
CUBA AND SPAIN MERGE CAPITAL IN SUGARCANE BYPRODUCTS JOINT
VENTURE 
 
Havana, August 20(RHC)-- Cuban and Spanish entrepreneurs have
created the first joint venture in the strategic sector of
sugarcane byproducts.  According to Cuba's Deputy Sugar
Industry Minister Francisco Rodriguez, the joint venture
ALFICSA will specialize in the production of alcoholic
beverages.  
 
ALFICSA will invest in a high-tech production line at a sugar
mill in the central province of Cienfuegos.  The new joint
venture will allow for the export of a better product, thus
bringing in considerable revenues.
 
CUBAN NATIONAL BALLET COMPANY TOURING SPAIN
 
Madrid, August 20(RHC)-- Cuba's National Ballet Troupe is in
Spain and it appears that the ballet company will have its
name on the marquee in the Spanish capital for quite some time
this season.  
 
The Cuban dance company will also perform classic ballets
during their tour -- with the quality that critics describe as
"The Best."   The traditional classic and romantic-style
repertoire includes "Gisel," "Swan Lake," "Don Quixote" and
"Cinderella."
 
At a news conference in Madrid, Cuba's Prima Ballerina
Assoluta Alicia Alonso said that the company will dance in
many other Spanish cities.  Alonso added that Cyprus will be
the next leg of the tour.
 
CUBAN WOMEN PAY TRIBUTE TO TANIA THE GUERRILLA ON THE 37th
ANNIVERSARY OF THE FEDERATION OF CUBAN WOMEN -- THE FMC
 
Havana, August 20(RHC)-- Celebrations marking the 37th
anniversary of the Federation of Cuban Women -- the FMC -- are
dedicated this year to internationalist fighter Tamara Bunke. 
Known as Tania the Guerrilla, Tania was the only woman who
made up Ernesto Che Guevara's guerrilla forces in Bolivia.  
 
Tamara Bunke was born in Argentina.  Her parents had fled Nazi
Germany during the rise of fascism.  Attracted by the Cuban
Revolution, she travelled to Havana and jumped into the
revolutionary process -- body and soul.  She is one of the
founding members of the Federation of Cuban Women, created in
1960.

           [c] 1997. Radio Habana Cuba
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