(Delayed by technical problems at RHC's Cuban Internet provider) CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA December 22, 1997 rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Monday, December 22, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- RIGHT WING CUBAN-AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION IMPLICATED IN ASSASSINATION PLOT AGAINST CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO 2.- HAITIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES IN CUBA 3.- MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS POPE JOHN PAUL II MESSAGE TO CUBAN PEOPLE 4.- INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON IMMIGRATION HELD IN CUBAN CAPITAL 5.- FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS -- FEU -- CELEBRATES ITS 75th ANNIVERSARY 6.- CUBAN PRIMA BALLERINA ALICIA ALONSO AWARDED FEU'S 75th ANNIVERSARY MEDAL 7.- NEW EXPANSION AT VARADERO'S INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT INAUGURATED 8.- PASSPORT TO THE WORLD PROJECT OFFERS STUDENT EXCHANGES 9.- NEARLY 3500 HOUSES BUILT THIS YEAR IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS RIGHT WING CUBAN-AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION IMPLICATED IN ASSASSINATION PLOT AGAINST CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO Miami, December 22(RHC)-- The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has implicated the leader of Miami's ultra right-wing Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF) in a recent assassination plot against Cuban President Fidel Castro. According to today's edition of "The Miami Herald," Jose Pepe Hernandez, who presides over the CANF since Jorge Mas Canosa's death, is the owner of one of the two 50-caliber rifles confiscated in late October from four Cuban-Americans arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard off the coast of Puerto Rico. It is believed that the confiscated vessel was en route to Venezuela's Margarita Island, where President Castro attended the 7th Iberoamerican Summit last November. Although a Puerto Rican court freed the suspects, according to the Miami daily the FBI has pursued a separate investigation. Key testimony in the case came from Puerto Rican Coast Guard official Ismael Padilla who said that one of the Cubans arrested in the vessel shouted that his intention was to kill the Cuban leader. The vessel, "La Esperanza," had a computerized navigation system programmed for Margarita Island. "The Miami Herald" reported that Jose Pepe Hernandez bought one of the rifles in 1994, while the other is registered to Juan Evelio Pou, a veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion against Cuba. This type of weapon, made in the U.S., is effective at a distance of two kilometers. Cuban authorities have repeatedly accused the Cuban-American National Foundation of engaging in terrorist activities against the island. HAITIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES IN CUBA Havana, December 22(RHC)-- Haitian Foreign Minister Fritz Longchamps arrived in Cuba late Sunday for a three-day official visit whose aim, he said, is to intensify bilateral relations between the two Caribbean countries. This is Longchamps second visit to Cuba since diplomatic relations were re-established in February 1996 by former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide, just one day before the end of his mandate. The Haitian foreign minister will have a jam-packed agenda, including numerous interviews with government officials and tours of Cuban scientific institutes. He will begin official talks tomorrow with his Cuban counterpart Roberto Robaina. The visit comes at a moment when Cuba is strengthening its diplomatic and economic ties with the Caribbean. This year saw visits to Cuba by the heads of government of Grenada, Keith Mitchell, Percival Patterson of Jamaica and James Fitz-Allen Mitchell of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS POPE JOHN PAUL II MESSAGE TO CUBAN PEOPLE Havana, December 22(RHC)-- Saturday morning's edition of the Granma newspaper published the complete text of Pope John Paul II's Message to the Cuban People on the occasion of his upcoming visit to the island next month. In addition to the publication of the Message on the newspaper's front page, all Cuban radio stations read the the full text during the morning's news programming. Referring to the celebration of Christmas -- now just a few days away -- the Pope's message greets the Cuban people and expresses his hope for prosperity, happiness and peace. He said he was looking forward to his upcoming visit to the island, scheduled from January 21st through the 25th. And the Pontiff called on the Cuban people -- regardless of religious belief or political ideology -- to receive his blessing. Pope John Paul II, in his Message to the Cuban People issued from the Vatican, wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON IMMIGRATION HELD IN CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, December 22(RHC)-- Leading academicians gathered in the Cuban capital over the weekend for an important international seminar on immigration. The 5th International Workshop on Cuban Emigration: Analysis and Reflections Toward the End of the Century was sponsored by the University of Havana's Center for Studies on Political Alternatives. Among those attending the sessions were professors and scholars from Florida's International University; from DePaul University in Chicago; Austin Community College in Austin, Texas; Amherst College in Massachusetts and the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. Participants at the seminar discussed Cuban immigration to southern Florida and analyzed the impact on the children and grandchildren of those who left in the first exodus of Cuban emigres to the United States during the early 1960's. Meanwhile, the Cuban Friendship Institute -- ICAP -- commemorated the 20th anniversary of the first encounter between the Cuban government and Cuban-Americans. On December 22nd, 1977, more than 50 emigres from the United States met in Havana at a gathering organized by the Antonio Maceo Brigade. To mark that historic date, organizations of progressive Cuban-Americans met here in the Cuban capital over the weekend to discuss future relations. FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS -- FEU -- CELEBRATES ITS 75th ANNIVERSARY Havana, December 22(RHC)-- Cuban Vice President and Army General Raul Castro delivered the closing address at a rally marking the 75th anniversary of the Federation of University Students -- the FEU. The rally was held at the University of Havana's Master Lecture Hall, in the presence of the death mask of the FEU's founder and outstanding university student leader, Julio Antonio Mella. The former president of the FEU was killed in Mexico during the 1920's for his political ideas and activism. During his closing address, Vice President Raul Castro stressed that there was no better site for the celebration than the Master Lecture Hall at the University of Havana, where the remains of Catholic priest Felix Varela are kept. Father Varela is considered in Cuba as "the man who first taught us how to think" -- a reference to his commitment to the island's emancipation and independence. In his speech, Castro referred to Mella -- who was one of the founders of the 75 year-old organization -- as "the perfect synthesis of courage and devotion in the struggle for social justice." And he added that FEU members and students at the University of Havana were "a stronghold of resistance and struggle throughout the different stages that led to the triumph of the Cuban Revolution." Vice President Raul Castro said that the Cuban Revolution's leadership relies on students and has confidence in the young generation the Revolution itself formed, calling it "the offspring of the glorious traditions that the Cuban nation has treasured in its short but heroic history." Cuban Vice President Raul Castro presented the FEU with the death mask of student leader Julio Antonio Mella, donated to the island a year ago by his Mexican friend and comrade Felix Ibarra, on hand at the rally. The mask will be kept at the University of Havana's Master Lecture Hall -- the site of many of Mella's most outstanding struggles. CUBAN PRIMA BALLERINA ALICIA ALONSO AWARDED FEU'S 75th ANNIVERSARY MEDAL Havana, December 22(RHC)-- The director of the Cuban National Ballet Company, Cuban Prima Ballerina Alicia Alonso, was awarded a medal marking the 75th anniversary of the Federation of University Students -- FEU. The organization's President Carlos Valenciaga presented the distinguished Cuban dancer with the medal at the gala to honor the organization's anniversary, held over the weekend at Havana's Grand Theater. NEW EXPANSION AT VARADERO'S INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT INAUGURATED Havana, December 22(RHC)-- The expansion of the Juan Gualberto Gomez International Airport in Varadero was inaugurated over the weekend at that famous beach resort. The airport is now equipped with state-of-the-art technology and has a capacity to handle 1500 passengers. The construction work, which was finished in just 11 months, included an 1800 meter road which runs parallel to the taxiway with a lighting system, a centralized fuel system and the installation of three walkways connecting the air terminal with the planes. Construction was carried out without affecting the airport's operations. The Varadero international airport welcomed more than 900,000 passengers this year -- an increase in the number of tourists arriving in Varadero last year. At the inauguration, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage said that the expansion was "an example of what can be done in terms of efficiency, quality and timing in the area of construction and in other sectors of the island's economy." Lage thanked Cuban construction workers and urged airport employees to "turn it into the best in Cuba, the Caribbean and the world." PASSPORT TO THE WORLD PROJECT OFFERS STUDENT EXCHANGES Paris, December 22(RHC)-- The Passport to the World Project, which includes the annual exchange of 200 Cuban youths and a similar number of French young people, will continue in the future. The announcement was made by Cuban Young Communist League leaders after talks with the first Vice President of the General Council of the Seine Saint-Denis Department in Paris. The Cuban delegation was headed by the First Secretary of the Cuban Young Communist League, Otto Rivero, and the organization's Foreign Relations Secretary, Sergio Vigoa. During their stay in Paris, the Cuban representatives explained the importance of contacts for the island's youth with French life and culture. Both sides evaluated the possibility of increasing the exchange and extending it to other spheres. There are currently 25 young workers from the hotel and tourism areas travelling to France annually. The French side praised the quality of the young Cubans selected to travel to France, above all of the 50 young Cubans who are currently in Seine Saint-Denis. The UJC leaders also met with the leadership of the French Communist Youth. NEARLY 3500 HOUSES BUILT THIS YEAR IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS Havana, December 22(RHC)-- Cuban Deputy Agriculture Minister Fidel Ramos stated that nearly 3500 houses have been built this year in the mountainous regions of the island as part of the Turquino Plan. The project is a plan designed by authorities to reverse the exodus of residents from the mountains to the cities and urban areas, to increase production and develop the country's mountainous areas. So far, more than 3100 have been completed for workers of Basic Units of Cooperative Production, the UBPCs. The houses have three rooms with concrete foundations, wooden walls and zinc or fiber cement roofs. The project seeks to meet the housing needs of those who return to the mountains as soon as possible. Another 3500 houses will be constructed for mountain residents next year. [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