CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA July 1st, 1997 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org The following items are taken from RADIO HAVANA CUBA's International Shortwave Service in English for Tuesday, July 1st, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA ACCUSES WASHINGTON OF WAGING BIOLOGICAL WARFARE, TAKING ITS CASE TO THE CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION AND STORAGE OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS 2.- CUBA'S ECONOMY WILL REGISTER A FOUR PERCENT INCREASE THIS YEAR 3.- CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO MEETS WITH VISITING BELARUS FOREIGN MINISTER IVAN IVANOVICH ANTONOVICH 4.- BRITISH BUSINESSPEOPLE ON AN EXPLORATORY MISSION IN CUBA. 5.- LOCAL EXPERIENCE ON THE REPLACEMENT OF REFRIGERANTS TO BE SUBMITTED TO FEASIBILITY STUDIES. 6.- SOUTH AFRICAN LAWMAKERS ON THE ISLAND. 7.- CUBA BEATS BULGARIA 3 T0 2 AT THE VOLLEY-BALL WORLD LEAGUE SEMIFINALS IN MOSCOW CUBA ACCUSES WASHINGTON OF WAGING BIOLOGICAL WARFARE, TAKING ITS CASE TO THE CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION AND STORAGE OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS Havana, July 1(RHC)-- Cuba has accused Washington of waging biological warfare, taking its case to the international organization which monitors the use and storage of biological weapons. On Monday, Cuba called for a meeting of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Storage of Biological Weapons, with its headquarters in Moscow. It marks the first time that a country has made use of the right to an investigation by the international commission, established in 1991. According to the Convention's regulations, Russia must now inform all member-states of the Cuban request and convene an official meeting to discuss the charges within 30 days. Charging the United States government with purposefully introducing an insect plague which has damaged agricultural crops on the island, Cuba issued a technical report describing the incident. Evidence was presented to the United Nations Disarmament Commission on May 13th by Cuba's Ambassador to the U.N. Bruno Rodriguez. The Cuban diplomat said that there was irrefutable evidence that a plane, registered to the U.S. Department of State, sprayed a substance over western Cuba in October last year, causing the plague which since December, has caused serious damage to agricultural crops. This morning's edition of the daily newspaper Granma published the extensive technical report on the incident, responding to Washington's contention that the aircraft did not spray a toxic substance, but released smoke to signal its position to commercial aircraft. The report states that such an argument is "frivolous and unprofessional" taking into consideration that smoke generators are not normally used to signal one's position. Furthermore, and perhaps even more importantly, smoke generators are not standard equipment on the S2R-T65 aircraft. The technical report published in Tuesday's Granma points out that no type of commercial aircraft -- whether small, medium-sized or large -- and no fumigation aircraft anywhere in the world have smoke generators, which are also not required by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Cuba reiterated that this is not the first time that the island has been subjected to biological attacks by the United States. And, according to Cuban authorities, this latest attack is a direct violation of the provisions of the Convention on Biological Weapons and the Chicago Convention and their annexed documents for the purpose of causing damage to Cuban agriculture and people. CUBA'S ECONOMY WILL REGISTER A FOUR PERCENT INCREASE THIS YEAR Havana, July 1(RHC)-- The Cuban economy is expected to reach its targeted four percent increase this year. Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez said in Havana Monday that despite a sugarcane harvest that fell short of its predictions, the island's recovery process was expected to continue, with the economy growing a projected 4 per cent in 1997. Rodriguez explained that as a result of Cuba's economic reform process, sugar now only accounts for 53 percent of the Island's overall exports, as compared to 75 per cent last year. The Cuban official spoke to a British trade delegation, visiting the island to explore business and investments opportunities. The visit was organized by the British government's Caribbean Trade Advisory Group. CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO MEETS WITH VISITING BELARUS FOREIGN MINISTER IVAN IVANOVICH ANTONOVICH Havana, July 1(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro met with the visiting Foreign Minister of Belarus Ivan Ivanovich Antonovich. The two leaders spoke for more than an hour last night, discussing issues of mutual interest. The foreign minister of Belarus arrived in the Cuban capital on Sunday for an official, three-day visit to the island. On Tuesday, he met with the President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon and the Cuban Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ibrahim Feradaz. The visit is being seen as a further step in re-establishing the ties that existed between Cuba and Belarus before the disintegration of the Soviet Union and eastern Europe in 1991. Before leaving Cuba, the foreign minister of Belarus will sign several important, bilateral agreements with his Cuban counterpart, Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina. BRITISH BUSINESSPEOPLE ON AN EXPLORATORY MISSION IN CUBA Havana, July 1(RHC)-- A mission sponsored by the British Government's Caribbean Trade Advisory Group -CARITAG-, is in Cuba to explore business and investment opportunities. Executives from 21 British companies make up the delegation. The mission is headed by CARITAG Chairman, Trevor Jones. In statements to RHC, Jones described the visit as promising and said that himself and other members of the delegation are finding their meetings with Cuban counterparts very productive. He also pointed to the interest on the Cuban side in a wide range of products that his delegation is promoting on the island The British business delegation has been briefed in detail about investment possibilities on the island. Cuba is the first leg of Caribbean tour that will also take the British visitors to Jamaica. LOCAL EXPERIENCE ON THE REPLACEMENT OF REFRIGERANTS TO BE SUBMITTED TO FEASIBILITY STUDIES. Havana, July 1(RHC)-- Cuba's experience in replacing refrigerant gases for hydrocarbons will be submitted to feasibility studies to determine its possible use as an alternative for developing nations. For a decade now, Cuba has been using a gas known as LB- 12 as a substitute for conventional but environmentally harmful refrigerant gases. Quoted by the Cuban National Information Agency, the Director of the Havana-based National Ozone Office, Nelson Espinosa, explained that the decision to study the possible use of the Cuban gas was approved by the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol, of which the Island is a member. In 1992, Cuba signed the Montreal Protocol, which seeks to regulate emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals. Espinoza also announced that Costa Rica and Indonesia will jointly participate with Cuba in the project. SOUTH AFRICAN LAWMAKERS ON THE ISLAND. Havana, July 1(RHC)-- A group of South African legislators are on a tour of the island. The lawmakers are members of the Science, Technology and Culture Commission of the South African parliament. On the agenda are meetings with local government representatives and intellectuals. Visitors will meet with the president of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Cuban National Assembly, Jorge Lezcano, before they leave the island Saturday. CUBA BEATS BULGARIA 3 T0 2 AT THE VOLLEY-BALL WORLD LEAGUE SEMIFINALS IN MOSCOW Moscow, July 1(RHC)-- The Cuban men's volleyball team has once again demonstrated that it is in superb conditions. After finding an unexpected resistance from the Bulgarian team, the Cuban squad went to a tie break set to defeat the Bulgarians 3 sets to 2. The game, broadcast live on Cuban radio and television since 6 o'clock in the morning local time, drew a huge audience. It is the team's second victory in semifinals. On Monday it defeated the Brazilean team. Now the Cubans are to play Russia Wednesday, and the strong Italian team Friday. [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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