CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA December 30, 1997 rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Tuesday, December 30th. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO CALLS ON VOTERS TO SEND PATRIOTIC MESSAGE TO THE WORLD DURING UPCOMING ELECTIONS 2.- CUBAN INTERIOR MINISTRY REFUTES REPORTS BY INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA CONCERNING "EXPLOSION" AT HAVANA CHURCH 3.- OIL WORKERS IN WESTERN REGION FULFILL PRODUCTION PLAN 4.- HORIZONTES HOTELS: "SOMETHING MORE THAN SUN" 5.- CONCORDE SUPERSONIC JET MAKES ITS FIRST TRIP TO CUBA 6.- "BOLEROS DE ORO" DEDICATED TO MEXICO IN 1998 CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO CALLS ON VOTERS TO SEND PATRIOTIC MESSAGE TO THE WORLD DURING UPCOMING ELECTIONS Havana, December 30(RHC)-- President Fidel Castro has called on Cuban voters to show their support for the island's socialist project by massively going to the polls next January 11th. During an address before representatives of Havana's local Communist Party, administration and grassroots organizations, the Cuban president asked them to turn the upcoming parliamentary elections into "a patriotic message to the world." Fidel stated that "every time we go to the polls to elect our leaders, we show the enemies of Cuba that our democracy works and that the Revolution is not going to collapse like they expect it to." Some nine million Cubans will go to the polls next January 11th to elect 601 deputies to the National Assembly of People's Power and nearly 12 hundred members of the Provincial Assemblies of People's Power. The Cuban president stated that "Cuba is perhaps the only country in the world where, in a truly voluntary way, an overwhelming majority of people turn out to vote." During the last municipal elections in October, some 97 percent of eligible voters cast their votes with a combined figure of spoiled and blank ballots that was less than 14 percent in the first and second round of elections. In his address Monday, President Fidel Castro said it is "moving to see that a simple citizen could become a member of parliament -- a condition that in Cuba is no longer a privilege of the rich, the white or the aristocratic." He asked Cuban voters to vote for all nominated candidates, an action that he described as "a vote for the Revolution, a vote for the nation." CUBAN INTERIOR MINISTRY REFUTES REPORTS BY INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA CONCERNING "EXPLOSION" AT HAVANA CHURCH Havana, December 30(RHC)-- Cuba's Interior Ministry has refuted reports in the international media concerning the recent explosion of a "small bomb" near the Merced Church in Old Havana. The explosion occurred last Saturday, resulting in no victims or material damage. Cuban authorities said that a Mexican tourist and a young Cuban had bought certain types of firecrackers used in the central town of Remedios during traditional carnival celebrations there. The Mexican and Cuban were arrested for setting off the fireworks and immediately offered their cooperation to Cuban authorities, who announced that there is no evidence of any political or religious motive connected to the use of the firecracker. One reporter in Havana commented that there seems to have been "more fireworks in the international media over this incident than the incident itself." OIL WORKERS IN WESTERN REGION FULFILL PRODUCTION PLAN Havana, December 30(RHC)-- Oil workers in Cuba's western region extracted more than 205 thousand 600 tons of crude oil during 1997 at a rhythm of more than one thousand tons daily. According to the Cuban newspaper Granma, with that production, workers from the Western Oil Extraction and Drilling Enterprise surpassed their plan for 1997, although they expect to produce another seven thousand tons of crude oil before the end of the year. Cuba produces one and a half million tons of oil annually, mainly used to generate electricity and manufacture cement. Thirty percent of the island's electricity generation is produced with Cuban oil. HORIZONTES HOTELS: "SOMETHING MORE THAN SUN" Havana, December 30(RHC)-- The Sales Manager of the Cuban economy-class hotel chain Horizontes Hotels, Manuel Tejeda, announced that the slogan for his company's campaign for 1998 is "Horizontes Hotels: Something More Than Sun." The slogan, said the sales manager, refers to the company's diverse offers, personal attention, services, staff, management and facilities. At a Havana news conference to brief the press on Horizontes' main economic results for 1997 and prospects for 1998, sales manager Manuel Tejeda said that the hotel chain concluded 1997 with better results, including revenues amounting to 52 million dollars, compared to 50 million in 1996 -- for a four percent growth. The Sales Manager of Horizontes Hotels also noted that the company's average occupancy for 1997 was 50 percent, seven percent more than in 1996. During this year, said Tejeda, Horizontes received 370,000 clients, compared to the 313,000 it received the previous year. Horizontes is the island's economy-class hotel chain that groups 52 facilities, mostly three and two-star hotels, with a lodging capacity of 7300 rooms. For 1998, said Tejeda, the hotel chain expects to welcome 490,000 international visitors and generate revenues amounting to 60 million dollars -- plus a 60 percent occupancy rate, considered very acceptable for international tourism standards. During 1997, France was Horizontes' main market with 60,000 visitors, followed by Italy with 56,000 and Canada with 29,000. Horizontes includes tour modalities such as hunting, fishing, beach and sun tourism and nature tourism. The latter is carried out in western Pinar del Rio Province and at the Montemar Grand Natural Park at the Zapata Peninsula in central Matanzas Province. Horizontes has recently launched a new product called "House Plus Car" that includes the rental of a house with a car and the "Beach Club" product that connects hotels in Havana with Santa Maria del Mar Bach, located east of the Cuban capital. During 1997, Horizontes Hotels remodelled some 450 rooms, changed the furniture in many of its installations and added facilities that its existing hotels lacked in order to improve quality and service. The sales manager of Horizontes Hotels stated that this process will continue during 1998. CONCORDE SUPERSONIC JET MAKES ITS FIRST TRIP TO CUBA Havana, December 30(RHC)-- A Concorde supersonic jet will arrive in Cuba for the first time tomorrow, December 31st. According to the Cuban tour company "Havanatur," the flight -- which covers the Barbados-Havana-Barbados route -- will bring a group of 100 British business executives to explore business opportunities on the island. According to Havanatur Public Relations and Promotion Director Valentin Rodriguez, the British entrepreneurs' trip to the island has been organized by the London-based Superlative Travel Company. Concerning the first flight of a Concorde supersonic jet to Cuba, Rodriguez noted that one of Havanatur's main objectives is to increase operations in tour markets that are currently on the rise for Cuba -- such as Britain, France and Germany. "BOLEROS DE ORO" DEDICATED TO MEXICO IN 1998 Havana, December 30(RHC)-- The International Festival "Boleros de Oro" or "Golden Boleros" -- scheduled for the Cuban capital from June 18th through the 21st -- will be dedicated to Mexico. The festival is organized every year in Cuba, dedicated to that genre of romantic ballads made in Latin America and Spain. Mexico is a Latin American country with a long tradition in that musical genre. In statements to reporters, the President of the Cuban Artists and Writers Union -- UNEAC -- and of the festival's organizing committee, Jose Loyola, Boleros de Oro will be attended by some of the most popular singers of boleros from Mexico, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Japan. The festival will be held in Havana, San Antonio de los Banos, eastern Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Moron. An international colloquium on that musical genre will run parallel to the festival from June 22nd through the 27th. The colloquium's main slogan will be "Women in Latin American Bolero." [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