CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA December 18 , 1997 rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Thursday, December 18, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA WILL NOT RESPECT U.S. COURT RULING DEMANDING PAYMENT TO FAMILIES OF FOUR PILOTS SHOT DOWN OVER TERRITORIAL WATERS 2.- CUBAN DAILY LASHES OUT AT RIGHT-WING CUBAN GROUPS 3.- CUBA AND HOLLAND WILL ASSIST BOLIVIA IN HEALTH CARE 4.- UNESCO GRANTS "ARTIST FOR PEACE" TITLE TO CUBAN SINGER AND COMPOSER SILVIO RODRIGUEZ 5.- INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON FELIX VARELA CONTINUES 6.- VIETNAMESE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION IN CUBA FOR OFFICIAL VISIT 7.- CUBAN AND CANADIAN UNIONS SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT CUBA WILL NOT RESPECT U.S. COURT RULING DEMANDING PAYMENT TO FAMILIES OF FOUR PILOTS SHOT DOWN OVER TERRITORIAL WATERS Havana, December 18(RHC)-- Cuba is not obligated to abide by the ruling of a U.S. court, demanding payment by the Cuban government to families of four pilots shot down while over Cuban territorial waters. Alejandro Gonzalez, spokesperson of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, told journalists on Thursday here in Havana that the ruling by Judge Lawrence King in Miami was "illegal" and "a violation of international law." On Wednesday, the U.S. judge ruled that Cuba must pay 185 million dollars to the families of the pilots flying for the anti-Cuban organization Brothers to the Rescue. Authorities in Havana have pointed out that the group is merely a front for terrorist activities against the Cuban Revolution. The leader of Brothers to the Rescue, Jose Basulto, is a veteran of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 and has been on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency for years. Cuban Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alejandro Gonzalez stated that the judicial proceedings were "orchestrated by sectors hostile to Cuba, with the opportunistic purpose of taking advantage of Washington's aggressive policy toward Cuba." Gonzalez affirmed that the planes -- shot down in February 1996 -- were over Cuban territorial waters and had been warned on numerous occasions that they were engaging in dangerous maneuvers. CUBAN DAILY GRANMA LASHES OUT AT RIGHT-WING CUBAN GROUPS Havana, December 18(RHC)-- The Cuban newspaper Granma published an article Thursday, revealing attempts by right-wing Cuban groups abroad who are hypothetically organizing the island's future in a so-called `post- revolutionary Cuba.' The daily charges that with that objective, a group of right-wing Cubans residing abroad met recently in Madrid, where they supposedly studied the health and education system in other countries where so- called democratic transitions have occurred, such as in Chile and Nicaragua. Granma says that the groups received the support of Nicaraguan Education Minister Humberto Belli and Chilean expert Yorch Jofre, who upheld the so-called neoliberal, democratic model they represent. According to the daily, participants at the Madrid meeting ignored Cuba's unquestionable gains in areas like health and education: with a 7.3 infant mortality rate registered this year and more than ten percent of the country's GNP dedicated to education. The Granma article concludes that nearly 140 million children in the world including, Chileans and Nicaraguans, cannot go to school -- pointing out that no Cuban child is included on that list. CUBA AND HOLLAND WILL ASSIST BOLIVIA IN HEALTH CARE La Paz, December 18(RHC)-- Cuba and Holland will provide assistance to Bolivia to overcome its serious health problems, which mostly affect the country's children. The Director of the Bolivian Health Reform Unit, Fernando Lavandez, said that Bolivia is planning to establish a unique health network made up of the Health Ministry, the Social Security System and non-governmental institutions. According to Lavandez, the network will be aided by Cuban and Dutch experts because -- in the Bolivian health official's words -- "the two countries have great experience in primary health care." The assistance will include training medical personnel in two month courses scheduled to begin in January and, most importantly, a popular medicine pilot project -- which has proven successful in Cuba -- that will begin functioning in five or six Bolivian municipalities. The project consists of training family doctors in an effort to reduce an infant mortality rate of 71 per one thousand live births. UNESCO GRANTS "ARTIST FOR PEACE" TITLE TO CUBAN SINGER AND COMPOSER SILVIO RODRIGUEZ Havana, December 18(RHC)-- The Director General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor, has bestowed the title of "Artist for Peace" upon Cuban troubadour Silvio Rodriguez. During a ceremony held in Havana's San Francisco de Asis Convent, Mayor described Rodriguez as "a man who has promoted the most legitimate dreams of humanity." The ceremony was attended by renowned Cuban intellectuals such as Cuban Film Institute President Alfredo Guevara and the Historian of the City of Havana, Eusebio Leal -- who received the same title last November. Calling the author of "Unicornio" to the stage to award him the title, Mayor said that Rodriguez had inherited the tradition of Cuban troubadours like Sindo Garay, Manuel Corona and Eliseo Grenet -- "revitalizing the Cuban song movement and taking Cuban and Latin American music to their highest levels." INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON FELIX VARELA CONTINUES Havana, December 18(RHC)-- The Director General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor, stated that Cuba's Father Felix Varela was "a brave and brilliant intellectual and a classic of humanist thought for his ability to synthesize the hopes and aspirations of humanity." Mayor made the statement at the International Colloquium on Cuban Catholic priest Felix Varela, that is currently underway in Havana University's Master Lecture Hall. Wednesday's sessions included a presentation by Havana University Rector Juan Vela, who stressed the integrity of Father Varela's renovating thinking, noting that "his ethical and patriotic legacy represents the height of the island's 19th century thought." Participants also heard a lecture by the President of the Fernando Ortiz Center for Higher Studies. The Cuban intellectual highlighted Varela's social and political ideas and the profound patriotic meaning he gave to culture. At the session, the President of UNESCO's General Conference dealt with the Catholic priest's life and different stages of his thinking. VIETNAMESE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION IN CUBA FOR OFFICIAL VISIT Havana, December 18(RHC)-- A Vietnamese parliamentary delegation headed by the Vice President of the Vietnamese National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Commission, Nguyen Ngoc Tran, arrived in Havana Thursday for an official visit. The Vietnamese delegation is visiting Cuba at the invitation of the island's National Assembly of People's Power and will stay in Cuba until Saturday. The delegation's program includes talks with Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon and with the leadership of the National Assembly's Foreign Relations Commission. At the same time, the Vietnamese legislators will meet with officials from the island's Foreign Investment and Cooperation Ministry as well as from the Cuban Communist Party Central Committee. The Vietnamese visitors will also tour sites of economic, historic and social interest, including the Berroa Free Zone, Old Havana and Varadero Beach Resort. CUBAN AND CANADIAN UNIONS SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT Havana, December 18(RHC)-- The Cuban Education, Science and Sports Union and the Teachers Federation in the Canadian Province of British Columbia have signed a cooperation and assistance agreement in Havana. The protocol includes the exchange of information on the cultural and educational reality of the two countries. The agreement will also provide for the Canadian union to conduct a solidarity drive -- collecting school supplies for the island's children and teachers. The Cuban and Canadian teachers unions are currently working on two other cooperation programs -- the training of union leaders and the establishment of an information center in Cuba, to which the Canadian Federation will contribute 24,000 dollars. [c] 1997. Radio Habana Cuba All rights reserved Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system without the consent of RHC. 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