CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA July 9, 1997 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from RADIO HAVANA CUBA's International Shortwave Service in English for Wednesday, July 9th, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- PRIME MINISTER OF ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES JAMES MITCHELL LEAVES HAVANA AFTER FIVE-DAY, OFFICIAL VISIT 2.- CUBAN NATIONAL PARLIAMENT TO MEET NEXT FRIDAY 3.- TWENTY ILLEGAL CUBAN IMMIGRANTS RETURNED BY U.S. AUTHORITIES 4.- NEW CUBAN CIGAR BRAND DOING WELL 5.- GUANTANAMO TO IMPROVE RADIO COMMUNICATIONS 6.- THE ITALIAN CITY OF GENOA WILL PRESENT PRIMA BALLERINA ASSOLUTA ALICIA ALONSO WITH ITS HIGHEST DISTINCTION 7.- INTERNATIONAL WORK BRIGADES WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE 14TH WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS 8.- NO REDUCTIONS OF BOXING DIVISIONS AT THE SIDNEY'S OLYMPIAD PRIME MINISTER OF ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES JAMES MITCHELL LEAVES HAVANA AFTER FIVE-DAY, OFFICIAL VISIT Havana, July 9(RHC)-- The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, James Mitchell, left Havana this evening following a five-day, official visit to the island. Cuban President Fidel Castro and the visiting prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines signed an important protocol on economic, scientific and technical cooperation last night in the Cuban capital. The agreement -- which also covers the areas of sports and the exemption of travel visas -- is said to open the door to further bilateral assistance between the two Caribbean nations. The prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines held a news conference in Havana shortly before leaving for home earlier this evening. CUBAN NATIONAL PARLIAMENT TO MEET NEXT FRIDAY Havana, July 9 (RHC)--The Cuban Parliament's 11 permanent work commissions will get together on Thursday before the National Assembly's 9th ordinary session gets underway on Friday. The Commission for Constitutional and Legal Affairs will put the finishing touches on 9 bills presented by the People's Tribunal and the island's Attorney General, while the Health, Sports and Environment Commissions will go over a proposed environmental protection law. Preparations for the next school year, the current hygiene and epidemiology situation in the country, and the national medicine program will be revised by the Parliament's permanent Health and Education Commission. Also on the National Assembly work commissions' agenda in preparation for the upcoming ordinary session: arrangements for the 14 World Festival of Youth and Students, which is scheduled to get underway in Cuba on July 28. Work commissions will also take under consideration Cuba's arbitrary exclusion from the Madrid meeting of Iberoamerican Parliaments , and international rejection of the anti-Cuban Helms-Burton Law. Prior to the meetings in the permanent commission, the bills that will be taken to the parliament floor have been thoroughly discussed by parliamentarians, specialists, ministries and other officials. TWENTY ILLEGAL CUBAN IMMIGRANTS RETURNED BY U.S. AUTHORITIES Havana, July 9(RHC)-- Twenty illegal Cuban immigrants were returned to the island by U.S. authorities in accordance with migratory accords between the two countries. The return to Havana of this group of illegal immigrants brings the number to 501 that have been repatriated since the signing of migration agreements in May 1995 between Cuba and the United States. Another round of migratory talks are scheduled for next week in New York City. Cuba's Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon will head the island's delegation to the talks, which are held periodically to discuss compliance with the existing accords. NEW CUBAN CIGAR BRAND DOING WELL Havana, July 9 (RHC)--Taking advantage of a commercial trend towards rediscovering things of the past, one of the latest brands of Cuban cigars is named after COABA, a plant used in ancient times by the island's indigenous population. The Habano SA COABA cigar has also adopted the plant as its logo according to the president of the island's cigar company: Habanos, S.A., Francisco Linares, who underscored the great popularity the new brand has had since its launching last November in London. Linares told the press in Havana that Cuba's COABA cigar was sold exclusively on the British market for 6 months. The Cuban cigar executive added that the COABA, and the Vegas Robaina brand , are two of the most recent offerings of Cuba's Habano, S.A. company which has 33 specialized tobacco houses around the world and numerous requests for more in many countries. The new COABA cigar was presented last weekend to the Cuban market, and will go next to Mexico, where the first specialized Cuban Tobacco House was established. GUANTANAMO TO IMPROVE RADIO COMMUNICATIONS Guantanamo, July 9 (RHC)--Thanks to an ultra-modern radio communications center being tested in the eastern Cuban province of Guantanamo, radio and TV signals will be greatly improved in the region. The center will extend national radio and television broadcasts to 70,000 residents in mountainous areas of the Moa-Sagua-Baracoa regions. With two TV transmitters, the 170.000 dollar system will allow people living in extremely remote areas to receive for the first time national television programs. An FM transmitter will cover the entire region with signals of CMKS, Guantanamo's provincial radio station. THE ITALIAN CITY OF GENOA WILL PRESENT PRIMA BALLERINA ASSOLUTA ALICIA ALONSO WITH ITS HIGHEST DISTINCTION. Havana, July 9(RHC)-- Cuban Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Alicia Alonso, will be awarded the Italian city of Genoa's main prize. The awards ceremony will coincide with the 9th edition of the International Ballet Festival of Nervy -one of the most prestigious in Europe. Genoa's symbol -El Griffo- is presented to internationally renowned artists for their contribution to world culture. On the occasion, Cuba's Ballet company will perform 19th century choreographs in new versions by Alicia Alonso. INTERNATIONAL WORK BRIGADES WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE 14TH WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS. Havana, July 9(RHC)-- Puerto Rico, the United States and Europe will be widely represented this summer in Cuban fields as a Work Festival gets underway in mid-July. The Ernesto Che Guevara volunteer work contingent of the European Jose Marti Brigade, will bring more than 250 people from Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany and other European nations. Meanwhile, the 6th Contingent of the Puerto Rican Juan Rius Rivera Brigade, is made up of some 150 solidarity activists. And more than 140 people will travel to Cuba as part of the 28th Contingent of the US Venceremos Brigade. All the volunteers will stay at the Julio Antonio Mella International Camp, outside of the Cuban capital. Brigadistas will be doing voluntary stints in the fields for two weeks. Most plan to stay on the island to attend the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students. In related news, official sources have confirmed that Denmark will be the venue of the European Solidarity with Cuba Encounter, slated to take place in March of 1998. NO REDUCTIONS OF BOXING DIVISIONS AT THE SIDNEY'S OLYMPIAD Havana, July 9 (RHC)--The International Amateur Boxing Association has rejected a proposal to reduce the current number of divisions for the Olympic Games for the year 2000. In November, the association's technical commission presented a project for eliminating two divisions, including the 91 kilo category. But at the association's last executive committee meeting, the proposal was turned down. The Association agreed on maintaining the current 12 divisions, but made a proposal to the International Olympic Committee to reduce the number of boxers for the olympic games. One of the association's vice presidents, Cuba's Raul Villanueva told the press that a total of 312 boxers will be present at the Sidney games, 54 less than those approved for Atlanta. The distribution by continents stipulates that Europe will be taking 94 boxers. Africa and the Americas with 66 each; Asia 64 and 12 for Oceania. Meanwhile, the international association will have 10 free tickets to complete the list, which can be used to support a certain region. The association's executive committee also agreed to grant Cuba the right to take to Sidney a complete 12 member team. This exempts Cuba from obligatory participation in classification tournaments. The meeting's also agreed to maintain the 5 round bouts. [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. 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