CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA December 15, 1997 rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Monday, December 15, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA DECLARES DECEMBER 25th A NATIONAL HOLIDAY 2.- ITINERARY *** VISIT OF POPE JOHN PAUL II TO CUBA 3.- CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO CALLS ON THE CUBAN PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE OF THEIR CHOICE NEXT JANUARY 11th 4.- RIGHT-WING SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA STRIKES AGAIN 5.- CUBAN FRIENDSHIP INSTITUTE MARKS 20th ANNIVERSARY OF MEETING BETWEEN THE CUBAN NATION AND ITS EMIGRES 6.- UNESCO INCLUDES ANNIVERSARY OF CUBAN NATIONAL BALLET COMPANY ON ITS LIST OF MAIN COMMEMORATIONS FOR 1998 7.- RUSSIAN FINANCIAL GIANT INTERESTED IN NICKEL DEPOSITS CUBA DECLARES DECEMBER 25th A NATIONAL HOLIDAY Havana, December 15(RHC)-- The Cuban Catholic Church has expressed its "sincere satisfaction" with the announcement that December 25th will be celebrated as an official holiday in Cuba. The announcement of the decision was made at the final ordinary session of the 4th Legislature over the weekend. Cuban President Fidel Castro said the decision to make Christmas a holiday was a special request of Pope John Paul II and was made in consideration of his upcoming visit in January. Over the weekend, the Cuban daily Granma published the complete itinerary of Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba next month. The Pontiff will arrive in Havana on Wednesday, the 21st and will deliver Masses in Santa Clara, Camaguey, Santiago de Cuba as well as the Cuban capital. He will return to the Vatican on Sunday, January 25th. ITINERARY *** VISIT OF POPE JOHN PAUL II TO CUBA Wednesday, 21 January 1998 4:00 p.m. -- Official welcoming ceremony at Jose Marti International Airport Thursday, 22 January 1998 10:15 a.m. -- Holy Mass at the "Manuel Fajardo" Superior Institute of Physical Culture, Santa Clara 6:00 p.m. -- Visit with President Fidel Castro at the Palace of the Revolution Friday, 23 January 1998 10:35 a.m. -- Holy Mass at the Ignacio Agramonte Square, Camaguey 6:30 p.m. -- Visit to the monument containing the remains of Father Felix Varela in the Master Lecture Hall of the University of Havana and a meeting with "the cultural world." Saturday, 24 January 1998 11:10 a.m. -- Holy Mass and Coronation of the Virgin of Charity del Cobre at the Antonio Maceo Square, Santiago de Cuba 7:00 p.m. -- Meeting with the "world of pain" at the San Lazaro en el Rincon Sanitarium Sunday, 25 January 1998 8:00 a.m. -- "Ecumenical Meeting" and meeting with the Jewish Community at the Vatican Embassy 9:30 a.m. -- Holy Mass and "Angelus" Prayer at the Jose Marti Revolution Square, Havana 12:45 p.m. -- Meeting with the Cuban Catholic Bishops Conference at the Vatican Embassy 5:00 p.m. -- Liturgy with priests, deacons, religious leaders, seminary students and lay members at the Cathedral of Havana 6:45 p.m. -- Official farewell ceremony at Jose Marti International Airport 7:30 p.m. -- Departure for Rome CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO CALLS ON THE CUBAN PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE OF THEIR CHOICE NEXT JANUARY 11th Havana, December 15(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro called for the mobilization of all the country's forces to get out the vote for National Assembly and Provincial Assembly elections next January 11th. During his closing speech at the 10th Ordinary Session of the 4th Legislature over the weekend, the Cuban president recalled that 97 percent of those eligible to vote came out last October to elect municipal representatives. And he compared the high turn-out in Cuba to the high rate of abstentionism in the U.S. and other developed, capitalist countries. Fidel stated that the Cuban people have good reason to participate in their democratic process -- given nearly 40 years of an economic, political and diplomatic war waged against the island by Washington. RIGHT-WING SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA STRIKES AGAIN Havana, December 15(RHC)-- This morning's edition of the newspaper "Trabajadores" accused U.S. Senator Jesse Helms of using his position as President of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to block projects of the Agency for International Development, the AID. According to the Cuban newspaper, the right-wing senator from North Carolina is insisting that Cuban-American groups in the U.S. be given one million 500 thousand dollars to help in their efforts to overthrow the Cuban Revolution. "Trabajadores" reported that Jesse Helms, as head of the influential Senate Committee, pushed through legislation to block funding of other AID projects until the money is given to the right-wing Cuban-American organizations. CUBAN FRIENDSHIP INSTITUTE MARKS 20th ANNIVERSARY OF MEETING BETWEEN THE CUBAN NATION AND ITS EMIGRES Havana, December 15(RHC)-- The Cuban Friendship Institute -- ICAP -- will sponsor a conference later this month to mark the 20th anniversary of the first meeting between Cuban authorities and Cuban emigres. The head of ICAP's Cuban Emigres Department, Juan Carlos Marcial, stated that the forum will meet in Havana from December 19th through the 22nd with the attendance of representatives of various Cuban organization abroad and Cuban emigres residing in the United States. Marcial noted that participants of the forum will hear lectures on the origin of progressive groups within the Cuban community in the U.S., anti-Cuba initiatives in the U.S. Congress and Cubans as an immigrant minority in the United States. Organizations such as the Alliance of Cuban Workers, Casa de las Americas of New York, the Antonio Maceo Brigade, the San Carlos Club in Key West and others will take part in the event. Participants will also be briefed on the island's current situation, including issues such as democracy and elections and the Cuban economy and its prospects. On December 22nd, guests will travel to the central city of Santa Clara, where they will pay tribute to legendary Heroic Guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara and his comrades at the mausoleum dedicated to them. UNESCO INCLUDES ANNIVERSARY OF CUBAN NATIONAL BALLET COMPANY ON ITS LIST OF MAIN COMMEMORATIONS FOR 1998 New York, December 15(RHC)-- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -- UNESCO -- has included the 50th anniversary of the Cuban National Ballet Company on its calendar of major commemorations for the New Year. According to the Cuban National Ballet, UNESCO unanimously passed a resolution stressing the extraordinary work done by the ballet company in Cuba, Latin America and the world. UNESCO annually selects worldwide anniversaries to observe for the coming year. The anniversaries must be closely linked to educational, scientific or cultural program and objectives or to outstanding international figures and events. The UNESCO resolution highlighted the importance of Cuban Prima Ballerina Alicia Alonso and referred to the Cuban Ballet School, founded in 1948, as having created a unique style in classic dance and modern ballet. RUSSIAN FINANCIAL GIANT INTERESTED IN CUBAN NICKEL DEPOSITS Havana, December 15(RHC)-- The Russian giant financial group "Uneximbank" -- composed of the Import and Export Banks Union -- is exploring the possibility of exploiting nickel deposits in Cuba. Negotiations between Russian and Cuban officials and include the completion of a nickel processing plant at Las Camariocas, which is approximately 80 percent complete. The Las Camariocas project began in 1983 and was an agreement between Cuba and Czechoslovakia, Romania and the former Soviet Union -- with investments of 600 million dollars. Construction was halted in 1991 when the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance -- the CMEA -- was disbanded. Las Camariocas has an potential annual extraction of 30,000 tons of nickel and a similar amount of cobalt. The Russian group is also interested in exploiting mines in Nicaro, Moa and Punta Gorda in eastern Cuba. In all, the island's six nickel mines have potential nickel reserves of 120 million tons. [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. For the complete RADIO HAVANA CUBA NEWSCAST and other features, please write for our daily broadcast schedule. We welcome your comments and suggestions. For further information, contact us at: Postal Address: Radio Havana Cuba P.O.Box 6240 Havana, Cuba Telephone: (53) (7) 814243 Fax: (53) (7) 812927 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org WWW: http://www.radiohc.org