CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA May 6th, 1997 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org The following items are taken from RADIO HAVANA CUBA's International Shortwave Service in English for Tuesday, May 6th, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA ACCUSES WASHINGTON OF USING BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGAINST THE ISLAND 2.- DEMONSTRATORS "GREET" U.S. PRESIDENT CLINTON DURING VISIT TO MEXICO; LAWMAKERS AND PROMINENT CITIZENS CALL ON CLINTON TO LIFT WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA 3.- CUBA'S FIRST FREE TRADE AREA OPENED MONDAY IN HAVANA 4.- CUBA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM SET UP AIRPORT TECHNICAL ADVISORY 5.- CUBA AND ECUADOR BEGIN MEETING OF THIRD MIXED COMMISSION IN QUITO CUBA ACCUSES WASHINGTON OF USING BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGAINST THE ISLAND New York, May 6(RHC)-- Cuba has accused the United States of using biological warfare against the island. In an official note delivered to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Cuban government revealed that last October 21st, a single-engine plane, apparently registered to the U.S. Department of State, was spotted flying at a low attitude over the island's northern coast -- spraying an unknown substance over Cuban fields in Matanzas Province. The plane, spotted by the pilot of a Cubana commercial flight, was an S2R with the registration number N3093M. Similar aircraft have reportedly been used by the United States in its anti-drug campaign in Latin America. The official note to the U.N. Secretary General states that in December, a previously unknown insect in Cuba -- the "Thrips Palmi" -- began infecting vegetable crops in the area where the plane had been seen. According to the note, given the reproductive cycle of this insect, there can be no doubt that the substance released by the plane two months earlier was a deliberate attempt to introduce this crop-damagaing plague. The Cuban report to the United Nations states that the island's Foreign Ministry sent an official protest to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, which gave an unsatisfactory response. According to the Cuban government's note, in spite of measures taken by authorities to eliminate the plague, the insect has caused severe damage to agricultural crops in the provinces of Matanzas and Havana as well as near the cities of Cienfuegos, Pinar del Rio and on the Isle of Youth. The official note calls this yet another biological aggression by Washington against Cuba. DEMONSTRATORS "GREET" U.S. PRESIDENT CLINTON DURING VISIT TO MEXICO; LAWMAKERS AND PROMINENT CITIZENS CALL ON CLINTON TO LIFT WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA Mexico City, May 6(RHC)-- Hundreds of demonstrators greeted U.S. President Bill Clinton upon his arrival last night in Mexico City, forcing him to take a helicopter from the Benito Juarez International Airport to the hotel where he is staying. The unscheduled helicopter ride was designed to make sure the U.S. president would not hear the shouts of angry protesters or see the burning of his country's flag. "Clinton Go Home" and "Zapata Vive" were among the shouts heard during demonstrations against the U.S. leader's visit, the first visit to Mexico of a U.S. president since former president Jimmy Carter in 1979. As hundreds of security agents flooded the airport, Clinton was met by Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Angel Gurria and then hurried off to the waiting helicopter without making a statement. Protests against the U.S. president's visit actually began before his arrival last night, when hundreds staged demonstrations in front of the U.S. embassy in Mexico City and other areas of the capital which Clinton is scheduled to visit during his two-day visit. Hours before Clinton arrived on Air Force One, anti-riot police blocked-off an area surrounding the U.S. embassy. Mexican police arrested a number of protesters late Monday night when they pushed too close to police lines. Immigration, drug trafficking and trade top the agenda during Clinton's meetings with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. Observers point to increasing tension between the two countries, as Washington pushes forward the implementation of its new anti-immigration law -- with stepped up repression on the countries' common border and the possible massive deportation of Mexican immigrants who reside in the United States. Meanwhile, a group of Mexican legislators and prominent citizens have delivered an open letter to U.S. diplomatic officials, addressed to the visiting U.S. president. The letter calls on Clinton to "immediately lift the illegal and inhuman economic blockade against Cuba" and to repeal the Helms-Burton Law. Signed by a number of opposition leaders in the Mexican legislature as well as well-known artists and writers, the open letter also demands that the United States withdraw its troops from the illegally occupied Guantanamo Naval Base in eastern Cuba. CUBA'S FIRST FREE TRADE AREA OPENED MONDAY IN HAVANA. Havana, May 6(RHC)-- The first of four Cuban duty-free zones began operations Monday. Located in the southern Havana locality of Wajay, the duty-free zone is 1.5 km from Havana's International Airport and some 19 km from Havana's Harbor. Cuba's Almacenes Universales S.A company -created in 1994 to facilitate foreign trade with Cuba and improve domestic trading services- is the duty-free zone's main concessioner. Almacenes Universales S.A will provide its services to foreign and Cuban companies. Wajay's duty-free zone is the smallest of all with 22 hectares, or 55 acres. In the near future this area will be provided with a 200 acre industrial polygon, a 45 acre zone for warehouses and an 8 acre area for service and management activities. In the next few days another three duty-free zones will begin operations. They are located in the Havana locality of Berroa, El Mariel, some 50 km west of Havana and in central Cienfuegos Province. Draft resolution 165 of 1996 allows for the setting up of free trade areas and industrial parks under a special customs, banking, taxing, migration, foreign investment and trade and labor regime. CUBA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM SET UP AIRPORT TECHNICAL ADVISORY. Havana, May 6(RHC)-- Begining today Great Britain will provide technical advisory to Cuba's air terminals. The Cuban Airport Services Enterprise and Great Britain's Airports Development and Planning Enterprise legalized the contract. The 3 year agreement is aimed at improving organization and exploitation of the new air terminal of Havana's Jose Marti international airport and Varadero's airport. Under the agreement, Cuban experts will attend the first course for airport managers in the British city of Manchester. The airport of Manchester ranked first among the world's most efficient air terminals in 1995 and 1996. SCHOOL REFURBISHING PROGRAM IS IN FULL SWING. Havana, May 6(RHC)-- By the end of 1997 most Cuban schools will have a renewed look as the national refurbishing program moves ahead. Today's Granma newspaper reports that more than two thousand five hundred schools will be refurbished by the end of this year. Granma says more than five thousand schools have been refurbished since the program started in 1996. Granma newspaper quotes Cuba's Education Minister, Luis Ignacio Gomez, saying that the volume of investment in the project reveals the high priority given by the Cuban government to education. Refurbishing operations -says the Cuban Education Minister- will guarantee conditions in accordance with enrollment estimates for the next school year. The deterioration of most Cuban schools was one of the direct consequences of the economic crunch affecting the island since the early 1990's. In spite of economic shortages, however, not a single school has closed and all school age children are enrolled in school. CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY DELEGATION ARRIVES IN HAVANA Havana, May 6(RHC)-- A high-ranking Chinese Communist Party delegation arrived in Havana Monday afternoon, led by Political Bureau member Huang Ju. During their six-day visit to Cuba, the delegation will meet with Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, the Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ibrahim Ferradaz and the Minister of Tourism Osmany Cienfuegos. The Chinese delegation plans to visit areas of social and political interest, including Santiago de Cuba, the Varadero Beach Resort, scientific research centers and the newly established free trade zone in the Cuban capital. According to Prensa Latina News Agency, following their stay in Cuba, the Chinese Communist Party delegation will travel to Venezuela and Peru. CUBA AND ECUADOR BEGIN MEETING OF THIRD MIXED COMMISSION IN QUITO Quito, May 6(RHC)-- Delegations from Cuba and Ecuador began the Third Intergovernmental Mixed Commission meeting Monday in the Ecuadoran capital. The two-day meeting will deal with a wide range of issues, including cooperation in health care, education, tourism, sports and culture, as well as trade and investments. The Cuban delegation is headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Raul Taladrid. During the opening session, Taladrid underscored the importance of strengthening relations between Cuba and Latin America. He pointed out that relations between Cuba and Ecuador have been improving in recent years. For the complete RADIO HAVANA CUBA NEWSCAST and other features, please write for our daily broadcast schedule. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Postal Address: Radio Havana Cuba, P.O.Box 6240 Havana, Cuba E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org Telephone: (53) (7) 791053 Fax: (53) (7) 795007