CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA July 2, 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 30, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT RICARDO ALARCON ADDRESSES PARTICIPANTS OF 14th WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS 2.- REVEREND LUCIUS WALKER: SPECIAL INVITED GUEST TO THE 14th WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS 3.- OUTSTANDING MOZAMBICAN GUEST ARRIVES IN CUBA FOR THE YOUTH FESTIVAL 4.- ISRAELI DELEGATION TO THE WORLD YOUTH FESTIVAL CONDEMNS BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA 5.- 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF OUTSTANDING REVOLUTIONARY FRANK PAIS COMMEMORATED THROUGHOUT THE ISLAND 6.- CUBAN SALSA SINGER ISAAC DELGADO IS A BIG HIT IN NEW YORK CUBAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT RICARDO ALARCON ADDRESSES PARTICIPANTS OF 14th WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS Havana, July 30(RHC)-- Speaking with participants at the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon accused the United States government of "attempting to kill the Cuban people's possibility to search for an alternative model of development in a different society." During discussions on Participatory Democracy, Alarcon ridiculed a recent statement by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who said that Washington's Cuba policy will remain intact until Cuba adopts the model of democracy that exists in the rest of the hemisphere. Cuba's top legislator and former diplomat pointed to the lack of the human right for employment, health and social security in many of those countries, as well as the inequality between the races, sexes, and creeds and the lack of real participation in decision-making. In reference to a recent U.S. government report on religious discrimination, Alarcon pointed out that the report "said nothing about the dozens of Black churches that have burned down in that country." He also pointed to the U.S. decision to deny visas to a group of Cubans of the Yoruba faith who wanted to attend an international conference on that Afro-Cuban religion held in the state of California. REVEREND LUCIUS WALKER: SPECIAL INVITED GUEST TO THE 14th WORLD FESTIVAL OF YOUTH AND STUDENTS Havana, July 30(RHC)-- Today is the third day of the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students. Delegates are discussing major international issues, such as peace, participatory democracy and the environment, among many other issues. One of the special invited guests to the Youth Festival under way here in Havana is the Reverend Lucius Walker, Executive Director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization, IFCO, and Pastors for Peace. Speaking with Radio Havana Cuba, Reverend Walker referred to the challenge of U.S. youth who are breaking the law by coming here to Havana for the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students. Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department denied special permission for the young people, forcing them to break the U.S. blockade of Cuba. "The only way social progress has been made in our country -- and this is probably true in other countries -- is that people challenge injustice and seek to change unjust and repressive laws. So I think that the young people who are coming are very wise, very patriotic and ought to be commended for seeking to make their country and the world a better place in which to live. I think that people who are practitioners of the Christian faith ought to obey a higher law, rather than any unjust, repressive law which would deny freedom to people." "For example, I'm an African-American. And the only reason I have the right to vote is because some of my forbearers decided to challenge the law which denied us the right to vote. So I think that my Christian responsibility is to break unjust laws -- such as the U.S. blockade against Cuba -- and to call our country into an accountability for a higher level of morality." OUTSTANDING MOZAMBICAN GUEST ARRIVES IN CUBA FOR THE YOUTH FESTIVAL Havana, July 30(RHC)-- Outstanding Mozambican intellectual Marcelino Dos Santos arrived in the Cuban capital as a Special Guest of the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students. Dos Santos, who is currently a member of the governing FRELIMO Party Central Committee and former National Assembly President, said that it was his duty to travel to Cuba for this event, "because of what it represents for the world's progressive movement." Referring to the Cuban Revolution in a poetic manner, the Mozambican leader said that the African people "have always seen the light that has not gone out since 1959... and whose rays have lit bonfires in the most remote corners of the world." Other special guests on hand for the Festival are Ecuadoran painter Oswaldo Guayasamin; the leader of the Argentinean human rights organization, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Hebe de Bonafini; Paraguayan writer Augusto Roa Bastos; and the U.S. Reverend Lucius Walker. ISRAELI DELEGATION TO THE WORLD YOUTH FESTIVAL CONDEMNS BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA Havana, July 30(RHC)-- The Israeli delegation attending the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students condemned Washington's blockade against Cuba. During the Festival's debates on participatory democracy, the Israeli delegation -- made up of members of Israel's Communist Party and student organizations -- expressed their support for the island's struggle against the U.S. blockade. They rejected their government's position of support for what they called "hostile U.S. policy against the island." The international community has strongly rejected the U.S. blockade against Cuba and the Helms-Burton Law. Israel is the only country in the world that has consistently sided with Washington during votes on the issue at the United Nations. 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF OUTSTANDING REVOLUTIONARY FRANK PAIS COMMEMORATED THROUGHOUT THE ISLAND Havana, July 30(RHC)-- People across the island are marking the Day of Cuban Martyrs today, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the death of Frank Pais in Santiago de Cuba. Pais was an outstanding 26th of July Movement leader during the last stage of struggle for the island's independence. He was killed by soldiers of the Batista dictatorship on July 30, 1957. That date was established as the Day of the Martyrs of the Cuban Revolution. CUBAN SALSA SINGER ISAAC DELGADO IS A BIG HIT IN NEW YORK New York City, July 30(RHC)-- Cuban salsa singer Isaac Delgado and his orchestra recently performed in New York's Central Park before 7000 people. Isaac shared the stage with "The DLG" band, considered in New York City as the group that has turned salsa upside-down in that city. In evaluating the concert's results, "The New York Times" used baseball language as a way to illustrate Isaac Delgado's performance: "Score -- Havana: 1, New York: Zero." Delgado performed in that city's Madison Square Garden last year. The Cuban salsa singer's most recent international tour began in Puerto Rico, where he was given a warm welcome. New York has not only honored Isaac Delgado in Central Park, but also at the Irving Plaza and Battery Park. [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. 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