CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA May 8th, 1997 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org The following items are taken from RADIO HAVANA CUBA's International Shortwave Service in English for Thursday, May 8th, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROBERTO ROBAINA SPEAKS AT THE HAGUE 2.- GREEK GOVERNMENT AND TRADE MISSION ON A TOUR OF THE ISLAND. 3.- CUBA UNDERSCORES THE IMPORTANCE OF COOPERATION AMONG UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES 4.- CUBAN AUTHORITIES UNDERTAKE PROGRAM TO ASSIST STREET PEOPLE 5.- STUDY-WORK LINK TO BE REVITALIZED 6.- CUBA WILL SOON PLANT ARTIFICIAL SUGAR CANE SEEDS. CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROBERTO ROBAINA SPEAKS AT THE HAGUE The Hague, May 8 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina has called for the complete destruction of chemical and nuclear weapons and the achievement of total disarmament. Addressing the First Conference Session of Member States for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at The Hague, the Cuban foreign minister condemned the U.S. blockade of the island as being incompatible with the letter and spirit of the new organization to control chemical weapons. Robaina said that "no one, no matter how powerful, has the right to deny others of the knowledge and means to use chemical substances for the benefit of humanity -- just as no one has the right to use another country as a trash dump for chemical waste". The Cuban foreign minister affirmed that Cuba will not assume responsibility for any chemical weapons that may be stored at the illegally occupied U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo in eastern Cuba. Roberto Robaina arrived in the Hague Wednesday and is heading the Cuban delegation to the international conference at The Hague, which is being attended by high-ranking ministers and parliamentary representatives from 111 countries. The conference session comes just days after Cuba denounced before the United Nations the latest use of biological warfare against the island by the United States. Meanwhile, The Cuban foreign minister has hold talks with heads of delegations. On Wednesday he held separate talks with his colleagues from Finland and South Africa, Tarja Halones and Alred Nzo, respectively. GREEK GOVERNMENT AND TRADE MISSION ON A TOUR OF THE ISLAND. Havana, May 8th(RHC)-- A government and commercial mission from Greece arrived in Cuba Wednesday. This is the first mission of its kind to visit Cuba in 20 years. The delegation is headed by Greek Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs, Alexandro Baltas, and includes investors, economists and entrepreneurs from the fields of pharmaceuticals, construction, and tourism, among others. The visitors met Wednesday with Cuban Foreign Investment Minister Ibrahim Ferradaz. They're also scheduled to meet with trade, foreign affairs, and finance officials in Cuba. The Greek government and commercial delegation will end its visit to Cuba with the signing of an agreement establishing a Cuba-Greece Joint Intergovernmental Commission for the Technical, Scientific and Economic Cooperation. In 1996 Cuba and Greece concluded an investment promotion and protection accord. CUBA UNDERSCORES THE IMPORTANCE OF COOPERATION AMONG UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES New York, May 7 (RHC)-- At the United Nations Wednesday, Cuba underscored the importance of cooperation among underdeveloped countries. Speaking before the Committee for Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries, the Cuban delegate, Pedro Morales Carballo, stressed that the vast majority of underdeveloped nations require international assistance. And Carballo reiterated Cuba's readiness to continue helping the United Nations in this area. The Cuban delegate recalled that Cuba has a long history in the area of international cooperation -- pointing to thousands of Cuban experts and specialists in agriculture, education and health care who have lent their support to dozens of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America over the past three decades. CUBAN AUTHORITIES UNDERTAKE PROGRAM TO ASSIST STREET PEOPLE. Havana, May 8th(RHC)-- Assistance to street people and their relocation in society are the priorities of a government-sponsored program to eradicate begging. In an article Wednesday, the Cuban daily "Granma" said the economic hardships of the last few years have prompted the emergence of street people on some of the Island's cities. Granma notes it is the first time in more than 35 years that this social evil surfaces in Cuba. Generally -said the daily- they are senior citizens neglected by their families, and most of the times they suffer from mental disorders. Granma announced the creation of several centers in different Cuban provinces for assistance to street people. Those centers will have the responsibility of locating the beggars, provide them with basic care, and transferring them, if necessary, to a senior citizen homes or a psychiatric hospital. The Granma article says the initial experience in these assistance centers shows that many of the street people eventually return to living with their families. In some cases, they have returned to their jobs, and that for very senior people special welfare assistance is also available. Estimates put the current number of street people in Cuba at 1 000 nation-wide. In Havana alone, more than 250 cases have been identified and assisted since the program began, in 1995. STUDY-WORK LINK TO BE REVITALIZED Havana, May 8th(RHC)-- A joint effort by Cuban education and agriculture authorities seeks to revitalize the principle of combining work and study in Cuban schools. A corner stone in Cuban education, the work-study program was aimed at making high school and university students aware of the importance of work. But the program had suffered due to the island's economic crisis of the last few years. The issue was under discussion Wednesday at a meeting of experts chaired by Cuban Vice President, Carlos Lage. Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez told participants that conditions are being created for a revitalization of the program. The principle of combining study and work in Cuba is based on the ideas of national hero, Jose Marti, a 19th century patriot and educator who thought of classrooms as imaginary workshops where students also learned about the social contribution of work. CUBA WILL SOON PLANT ARTIFICIAL SUGAR CANE SEEDS. Havana, May 8th(RHC)-- With the planting of the first sugar canes obtained via genetic engineering methods, Cuba inaugurates a new era in biotechnological research. A report in Cuban television Thursday said 44 thousand cane plants biotechnologically produced at the Plant Research Institute,in central Villa Clara province, and the Ciego de Avila Bioplants Center will grow in Cuban fields this year. The production of seeds by biotechnological means allows for the obtention of high volumes of plants in short periods of time. Cuban television said there is no large-scale international commercial exploitation of this method, which achieves reproduction from the so-called somatic cells of donor plants. The Cuban biotechnological seed program includes sugar cane, coffee and banana. Cuba's biotechnological industry -one of the strongest in Latin America- is also researching on immunological methods to counteract pests affecting coffee and banana plantations. 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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