CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA July 16, 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 16, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA AND U.S. BEGIN 7TH ROUND OF BILATERAL TALKS ON MIGRATORY AGREEMENTS 2.- CUBAN CIVIL AVIATION INSTITUTE ISSUES FINAL NOTE ON FRIDAY'S PLANE CRASH OFF THE COAST OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA 3.- U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT FORMALLY DENIES REQUEST OF THOUSANDS OF YOUNG AMERICANS TO ATTEND WORLD YOUTH FESTIVAL IN CUBA 4.- U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON WAVES TITLE III OF HELMS-BURTON ... AGAIN 5.- U.S. CONGRESSMAN JOSE SERRANO: OPPOSITION TO BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA IS GROWING IN THE UNITED STATES 6.- MORE THAN SIX THOUSAND FOREIGN TOURISTS IN HAVANA ON ANY REGULAR DAY 7.- STEEL AND MECHANICAL INDUSTRY SHOWCASES ACHIEVEMENTS AT HAVANA FAIR 8.- INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP IN CUBA WILL DEBATE THE SUBJECT OF CHE GUEVARA AND THE MEDIA 9.- MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND NEW GRADUATE TEACHERS IN HAVANA 10.- AND FROM THE SPORTS PAGE... CUBA AND U.S. BEGIN 7TH ROUND OF BILATERAL TALKS ON MIGRATORY AGREEMENTS New York, July 16(RHC)-- Cuba and the United States began today the 7th round of migratory talks at the US's United Nations Mission in New York. The Cuban delegation is headed by Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon, while Washington's delegation is led by John Hamilton, Under Secretary of State for Central America and the Caribbean. Despite the presence of numerous journalists, neither of the delegations issued statements. According to Havana's Prensa Latina News Agency, top on the agenda at the closed door meeting will probably be the permanence in US territory of the hijackers of two Cuban airplanes, and Washington's visa restrictions for Cubans wishing to visit their families in the US. Yesterday, Alarcon warned that Washington's lack of compliance with the bilateral migratory accords concerning hijackers could lead to further violence by those attempting to illegally travel to the United States. CUBAN CIVIL AVIATION INSTITUTE ISSUES FINAL NOTE ON FRIDAY'S PLANE CRASH OFF THE COAST OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA Santiago de Cuba, July 16(RHC)--The Cuban Civil Aviation Institute has concluded its investigation into last Friday's crash of a commercial airliner off the coast of Santiago de Cuba. 39 passengers and five crew members lost their lives in the tragedy, which occurred just two minutes after taking off from Santiago, on a scheduled flight to Havana. The plane, Flight 787, crashed into the sea. There were no survivors. On Wednesday, a special investigating commission issued a report, discounting atmospheric conditions or air traffic- control problems as contributing factors to the accident. The commission also discounted the possibility of sabotage or a fire on-board the plane, stating that there was no evidence of an explosion. The Cuban Civil Aviation Institute commission concluded that although the aircraft's Black Box has still not been recovered, the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the plane's left engine shortly after take-off. Aviation authorities expressed their profound sorrow and sympathy to the families and friends of those who perished on Cubana Flight 787. U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT FORMALLY DENIES REQUEST OF THOUSANDS OF YOUNG AMERICANS TO ATTEND WORLD YOUTH FESTIVAL IN CUBA Washington, July 16(RHC)-- The US government has formally denied a request by some one thousand American students to participate in Cuba's upcoming World Youth Festival. The denial came Tuesday from the US Treasury Department, sparking condemnation from student organizations. The students made the request between last April and May. The official denial, however, comes just 12 days before the Youth Festival gets underway. The students have charged that the delay was a ploy aimed at minimizing protests over the decision. They pointed out that US students were allowed to participate in the 11th World Youth Festival -- held in Cuba in 1978 -- and in the 13th edition of the event -- held in North Korean in 1989. Anticipating the US government decision, some 600 of the one thousand American students recently announced their intention to travel to Cuba despite the restriction, and despite the 50 thousand dollar fine and/or 10 years in prison for those violating US travel restrictions to Cuba. The 14th World Youth Festival is expected to attract close to 10,000 young people from some 125 countries. U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON WAVES TITLE III OF HELMS-BURTON... AGAIN Washington, July 16(RHC)-- US President Bill Clinton decided today to once again maintain a freeze on the application of Title III of the anti-Cuba Helms-Burton Law. Title III authorizes the owners of properties nationalized in Cuba -- even when those owners were Cuban citizens at the time -- to file court claims against foreign firms or individuals investing in those properties. This new six-month freeze -- the third since Helms-Burton became law -- follows an agreement between the United States and the European Union, by which the EU withdrew its anti-Helms- Burton claim before the World Trade Organization. Washington, in exchange, agreed to refrain from applying the extraterritorial aspects of Helms-Burton, though US congress members are attempting to further strengthen Helms-Burton by attaching amendments to other bills. US CONGRESSMAN JOSE SERRANO: OPPOSITION TO BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA IS GROWING IN THE UNITED STATES Washington, July 16(RHC)-- US Congressman Jose Serrano has asserted that inside his country opposition to Washington's blockade of Cuba continues on the rise. The lawmaker also insisted that the blockade not only hurts the Cuban people, but also the United States. Serrano pointed out that a recent legislative initiative aimed at excluding food, medicine and medical equipment from the blockade is backed by members of the Democratic and Republican Parties, among whom are liberals and conservatives. He said even conservative sectors are now understanding that Washington's Cuba policy is totally mistaken. Serrano said that outside of the US Congresss, the blockade is opposed by the medical and religious communities. And, asserted Serrano, the legislative initiative is even backed by sectors of the Cuban-American community that have traditionally remained silent on the issue. He said support is growing in the effort to convince the Clinton administration that the American people are questioning Washington's Cuba policy, and asking why then is their government negotiating and trading with other countries with an ideology similar to that of Cuba's. MORE THAN SIX THOUSAND FOREIGN TOURISTS IN HAVANA EVERY DAY Havana, July 16(RHC)-- With the presence of more than 6000 foreign tourists on its streets on any regular day, Havana reaffirms itself as one of Cuba's main tourism attractions. Estimates released Wednesday by the metropolitan Tourism Office place the amount of daily visitors in Havana at 6595. Most of those visitors stay at resorts and facilities of the Gran Caribe and Horizontes hotel chains, which control a large segment of the city's room and accommodation capacity. As a tourist attraction, Havana blends a rich, historic tradition with its colonial heritage and superb beaches to the east. In 1996, Cuba welcomed a little over one million foreign tourists, most of whom entered the country in Havana. Tourism authorities expect the total figure of visitors to surpass the 2.5 million mark by the end of the century. INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP IN CUBA WILL DEBATE THE SUBJECT OF CHE GUEVARA AND THE PRESS Havana, July 16(RHC)-- The Cuban Journalists Association, the UPEC, has joined other organizations on the Island in paying tribute to revolutionary fighter Ernesto Che Guevara on the 30th anniversary of his death in combat. The UPEC announced Wednesday that as part of its homage to the Heroic Guerrilla, it will hold an international workshop called "Che and The Media." Expected to focus on Che Guevara's vision of the media and its role in social change, the event will provide the right framework for journalists and media experts from around the world to also reflect on Che's general political ideas. The subjects of journalism and Che's internationalist effort, as well as the photographic image of the guerrilla fighter will feature high on the agenda of the workshop, scheduled to take place from October 2nd to the 4th in Havana. In related news, a book on the influence of Jose Marti's ideas on the revolutionary thinking of Ernesto Che Guevara was launched in Havana Wednesday. Entitled "Estrellas Insurgentes" --Insurgent Stars-- the 60-page book was written by Cuban researchers Adys Cupull and Froilan Gonzalez. Also in preparation by the authors are two other books on Che: "Recuerdos de familia" or Family Memories, and "Como el que mas" --Just Like Any One-- about Che Guevara's early years in Argentina. STEEL AND MECHANICAL INDUSTRY SHOWCASES ACHIEVEMENTS AT HAVANA FAIR Havana, July 16(RHC)-- Leading industrial manufacturers in the world are attending Havana's METANICA '97 international fair. Devoted to the exhibition and sale of steel and mechanical products as well as electronics, the fair has attracted the participation this year of major industrial manufacturers from Volvo, of Sweden, to Thyssen, of Germany, to Japan's Toyota. On display are numerous new products created by those companies at home and in association with local Cuban enterprises. A sugar cane harvesting machine produced by Cuba, the KTP-3 Super, is reportedly generating growing attention among Latin American participants at the fair. One hundred and ten Cuban and 52 foreign industrial organizations are attending METANICA '97, which is going on at Havana's PABEXPO exhibition grounds. MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND NEW GRADUATE TEACHERS IN HAVANA Havana, July 16(RHC)-- The Cuban capital will have more than one thousand new graduate teachers for the coming school course. During a graduation ceremony last night at the city's Karl Marx Theater, nearly 1200 graduates from the Enrique Jose Varona Higher Institute of Education received their teacher's certificates in different levels and subjects. Commonly known as the Varona Institute, this teacher's training college graduates educators for the Havana and Havana City provinces. In the 32 years since it was established, the Varona Institute has trained close to 48,000 teachers. The graduation ceremony was attended by Cuba's Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez. Gomez explained that this year alone, Cuba had graduated more than 6000 teachers at its different educational institutes. AND FROM THE SPORTS PAGE... Havana, July 16(RHC)-- For the first time since triathlon has been practiced in Cuba, local experts will be facing rigid competitions in Europe. Three cuban athletes left for Europe today and another will follow suit in less than a week from today. Central American champ Yaceri Leal is part of the first delegation, that will be participating in four competitions of the German circuit. Meanwhile, at the Pan American Junior Championship, underway on the Caribbean island of Guadalupe, Cuban cyclists harvested three more medals yesterday for a total of six, two of each color. [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) 791053 Fax: (53) (7) 795007 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org WWW: http://www.radiohc.org