CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA December 5, 1997 rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taking from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Friday, December 5, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- VICE PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS, BILLIE A. MILLER, TO ARRIVE IN CUBA SUNDAY FOR OFFICIAL VISIT 2.- CUBA CANNOT RENOUNCE LAND MINES AS LONG AS UNITED STATES OCCUPIES GUANTANAMO NAVAL BASE, SAYS VICE FOREIGN MINISTER MARIA DE LOS ANGELES FLORES 3.- CUBAN DELEGATION IN SPAIN TO ATTEND LEFTIST PARTY COALITION CONVENTION 4.- CHINA CELEBRATES CUBAN ARMED FORCES DAY 5.- HONDURAN TOURISM DIRECTOR IN CUBA TO EXPLORE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES 6.- COLONIAL CUBAN MILITARY FORTRESS ON THIS YEAR'S LIST OF UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES 7.- CUBAN LIGHT INDUSTRY IS GROWING THIS YEAR VICE PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS, BILLIE A. MILLER, TO ARRIVE IN CUBA SUNDAY FOR OFFICIAL VISIT Havana, December 5(RHC)-- The Vice Prime Minister of Barbados, Billie A. Miller, will arrive in Cuba Sunday for a 4 day official visit. The Barbadian official, who is also Minister of Tourism and International Transportation, will be accompanied by a high-level government delegation as well as business executives in the tourism and trade sectors. The invitation was extended by her Cuban counterpart Roberto Robaina. Barbadian Vice Prime Minister Miller will also meet with other high-ranking Cuban officials, including Foreign Investment Minister Ibrahim Ferradaz, with whom she's expected to sign a bilateral economic and scientific cooperation accord. The delegation from Barbados will visit, among other sites of economic interest, the Berroa duty-free trade zone, some 10 kilometers east of Havana. The Cuban news daily Granma asserted today that the visit is yet another expression of the strengthening of ties between Cuba and its Caribbean neighbors. In February, 1996, Barbados became the first Caribbean nation to sign with Cuba an investment promotion and protection accord. CUBA CANNOT RENOUNCE LAND MINES AS LONG AS UNITED STATES OCCUPIES GUANTANAMO NAVAL BASE, SAYS VICE FOREIGN MINISTER MARIA DE LOS ANGELES FLORES Havana, December 5(RHC)-- Cuba's Vice Minister of Foreign Relations, Maria de los Angeles Flores, has stressed that Cuba cannot renounce the use of land mines as long as the United States continues its illegal occupation of the island's Guantanamo naval base. Speaking late Thursday in Canada at the closing session of the international conference on land mines, Flores said that for the past almost 4 decades, Cuba has been subjected a permanent political hostility and aggressions from the world's only superpower, and for Cuba the use of land mines is necessary for the defense of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Cuba's vice foreign minister said that despite Cuba's desire to live in peace and dedicate its efforts towards the economic and social development of its people, the island cannot afford the luxury of dispensing with what for Cuba is an exclusively defensive measure. She recalled that the US Congress recently approved a legislative initiative defining Cuba as a military threat to the United States, adding that though this legislation is ridiculous and totally illogical, it is nonetheless extremely dangerous. Concerning reports that Washington is willing to remove its land mines around the Guantanamo base by the year 2010, Flores said Cuba has taken note of this intention, but would have received with greater enthusiasm a declaration on the withdrawal of US troops from this enclave in Cuban territory. Cuba's vice foreign minister said that hopefully, some day, the aggressive policies against Cuba will cease and a just peace will reign in this region of the world so that Cuba can adhere to humanitarian measures of this nature -- which, she added, Cuba is always among the first to applaud. CUBAN DELEGATION IN SPAIN TO ATTEND LEFTIST PARTY COALITION CONVENTION Havana, December 5(RHC)-- Cuban Communist Party Political Bureau member, Yadira Garcia arrived in Madrid Friday to attend the 4th Federal Assembly of the United Left Coalition, the IU. Garcia and her delegation are participating as guests in the congress of Spain's third largest political force. During her stay in Madrid, Garcia who is also the First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party in the western province of Mantanzas, will meet with United Left Coalition leaders as well as with representatives of other political organizations on hand for the congress. Garcia will also take the opportunity to strengthen existing links between the Caribbean island and various Cuban Solidarity groups and institutions in Spain. The Congress ends on Sunday. CHINA CELEBRATES CUBAN ARMED FORCES DAY Beijing, December 5(RHC)-- The 41st anniversary of the Cuban Armed Forces was celebrated in Beijing Friday with a reception attended by high ranking officers of China's Popular Liberation Army. The Chinese officers were headed by Major General Xiong Quang Kai, deputy head of the Chief of Staff's Foreign Relations Division. Cuban ambassador to China, Jose A. Guerra and military attache, Navy Captain Raul Samper, headed the activity which was also attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps and military attaches acredited in China. HONDURAN TOURISM DIRECTOR IN CUBA TO EXPLORE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Havana, December 5(RHC)-- Honduran Tourism Director, Ricardo Martinez, began a working visit to Cuba Friday to explore the island's economy, especially the areas linked with the leisure industry. On his fist day on the island, Martinez said that Cuba's advances in tourism are significant, mainly in investments and revenues, despite what he called "the blockade imposed by successive governments of the United States". Martinez also stressed the importance of Caribbean and Central American integration and expressed his desire that travelers from all parts of the world could combine island and beach tourism with archeological, nature and cultural offers in Honduras. The Honduran Tour Director also said that Hondurans feel they are friends of Cuba and that Central Americans in general are very interested in the Caribbean island. COLONIAL CUBAN MILITARY FORTRESS ON THIS YEAR'S LIST OF UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES Paris, December 5(RHC)-- The Castle of San Pedro de la Roca, better known as the Morrow of Santiago de Cuba, has been added to the list of World Heritage Sites granted by the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization, UNESCO. A spokesman for that international organization said that the Cuban complex of fortresses, stores, strongholds and batteries is the best preserved example of Iberoamerican military architecture of Italian design and Renaissance style. Among the 46 World Heritage Sites selected by UNESCO this year, four cultural and one natural sites are located in Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico and Panama. UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has been meeting in Naples, Italy since December 1st to analyze the new sites. With the new members, the UNESCO list includes 552 cities, monuments, natural settings or protected landscapes in 112 countries of the world. CUBAN LIGHT INDUSTRY IS GROWING THIS YEAR Havana, December 5(RHC)-- Cuba's light industry will end 1997 with an eight percent growth compared to last year. In the same period, the island's light industry doubled its exports valued at 12 million dollars, according to union leaders of that economic area. The source stressed that there has been a corresponding increase in efficiency and in the quality of the products manufactured. The revenues obtained from the sale of those products on the international market and in the island's dollar stores has contributed to the re-opening of factories and the creation of new jobs. [c] 1997. Radio Habana Cuba All rights reserved Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system without the consent of RHC. This prohibition includes the distribution of this material via Usenet News, "bulletin board" services, e-mail lists, print media, radio and television. 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