CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA November 12 , 1997 rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taking from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Wednesday, November 12, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- GRANMA NEWSPAPER DENOUNCES LEGISLATION IN US CONGRESS THAT DEFINES CUBA AS A THREAT TO US NATIONAL SECURITY 2.- LATIN AMERICAN LEGISLATORS ARRIVE IN HAVANA FOR CONTINENTAL MEETING 3.- WOMEN FROM THE WORLD OVER TO MEET IN HAVANA NEXT YEAR 4.- ARGENTINIAN BUSINESS MISSION EXPECTED IN CUBA LATE THIS MONTH 5.- FIRST FOREIGN LAWYER'S OFFICE OPENS IN HAVANA 6.- GIGANTIC HAVANA CIGAR THE LARGEST EVER MANUFACTURED 7.- CUBAN EXPERTS TRAIN ARGENTINIAN HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DENGUE GRANMA NEWSPAPER DENOUNCES LEGISLATION IN US CONGRESS THAT DEFINES CUBA AS A THREAT TO US NATIONAL SECURITY Havana, November 12(RHC)-- Cuba's Granma news daily has denounced legislation recently passed in the US Congress that defines Cuba as a military threat to the United States. The Graham Ammendment, introduced by Florida Democratic Senator Robert Graham and supported by the US Congress' ultra right wing, was attached to the Defense Spending Bill, and is now awaiting approval by President Bill Clinton. Granma columnist Nicanor Leon Cotayo called the legislation ridiculous, insolent and primitive. If approved, the Department of Defense would have to periodically certify before Congress Cuba's military capacity and the existence of contingency plans to confront a Cuban military aggression against the US. The front-page article in the Granma newspaper says the ammendment would further encourage Cuban-American terrorists organizations, which have traditionally attempted to provoke a military confrontation between Washington and Havana. LATIN AMERICAN LEGISLATORS ARRIVE IN HAVANA FOR CONTINENTAL MEETING Havana, November 12(RHC)-- More than 200 Latin American lawmakers are in the Cuban capital for a meeting of the Latin American Parliament, the PARLATINO. Several commissions of the Latin American legislative body will session in Havana's Nacional Hotel beginning Thursday. They include Political Affairs, Energy and Mining, Emerging Economies, Tourism, Youth, Health and Labour and Provisional Affairs. A work group on AIDS also begins sessioning today. For two days, it will analyze the AIDS situation in Latin America, legislative action in the fight against the disease and the human dimensions of the problem, among other issues. At the end of the sessions, the work group will present a report to the Latin American Parliament's Health Commission, headed by Cuban doctor, Ramon Crespo. Other Latin American Parliament leaders, as well as representatives of the Panamerican Health Organization, and the Andean and Central American Parliaments are scheduled to attend the debates. WOMEN FROM THE WORLD OVER TO MEET IN HAVANA NEXT YEAR. Bayamo, November 12(RHC)-- More than a 1000 women representatives have confirmed their participation at an upcoming international women's solidarity meeting set for Havana. Speaking from the eastern city of Bayamo, Cuban Women's Federation President, Vilma Espin, said that the women will meet in the Cuban capital from April 13th through 17th, next year. The fact that so many women from around world have already confirmed their attendance at the Havana meeting, said Espin, demonstrates the great international sympathy and respect Cuba generates abroad. Vilma Espin also said that Cuban women intend to launch a call at the meeting for international solidarity and assistance in improving the difficult situation of women, children and youth around the globe, because they are the principal victims of the current neoliberal policies. The women's gathering in Havana is organized by the International Federation of Democratic Women, and is expected to be larger than the last one, held in l993. ARGENTINIAN BUSINESS MISSION EXPECTED IN CUBA LATE THIS MONTH Buenos Aires, November 12(RHC)-- A delegation of Argentinian business executives will visit Cuba late this month as part of a Central American and Caribbean tour. The mission is reportedly the first group of Argentinian business people to visit the island since the ascent to power of President, Carlos Saul Menem, in l989. The delegation is made up of representatives from 17 Argentinian companies and headed by the Foreign Ministry's Foreign Trade Promotion Director, Eduardo Sadous. The Argentinian business executives will leave Argentina on November 19 to visit Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Argentina has traditionally exported cereal, oil, spare parts, animal feed, fuel, seeds and electrical appliances to Cuba. FIRST FOREIGN LAWYER'S OFFICE OPENS IN HAVANA Havana, November 12(RHC)-- The first foreign lawyers'office to be opened in Cuba in nearly four decades began operations in Havana today. The office of Trenbite van Doorne, of Holland, will engage in the creation of joint ventures betwen Cuban and foreign companies. The legal firm also has branches in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague and Rijswijk in the Netherlands, as well as in London, Tokyo and Warsaw. The Havana office is located in the Berroa Free Zone, in the capital's eastern section. GIGANTIC HAVANA CIGAR THE LARGEST EVER MANUFACTURED . Havana, November 12(RHC)-- A Havana cigar could enter the Guiness Book of Records as the longest hand-rolled cigar in the world. The piece is 345 centimeters long and 4.5 centimeters wide. Its creator, William Collejo, has 51 years of experience, most of it at Havana's Partagas Cigar Factory. Now retired, Collejo continues to train new cigar handrollers. Collejo's cigar surpasses in size another one that has so far been holding the record, and which had also been manufactured in Cuba, at the well-known Laguito Cigar Factory, where the famous Cohiba cigars are handrolled. Collejo said that his main objective was to call attention to the importance of tobacco and cigars for Cuba's economy. Cuba exported 71.8 million cigars last year, and plans to raise that figure to 100 million in l997. The Cuban government has announced a program aimed at gradually increasing cigar production untill they reach the 200 million a year by the year 2000. CUBAN EXPERTS TRAIN ARGENTINIAN HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DENGUE. Buenos Aires, November 12(RHC)-- Cuban experts are in Argentina to train local professionals in preventing and combating Dengue and its transmitting agent. The Cuban team includes the Director of Havana's Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute, Gustavo Kouri, and the head of its Viral Diseases Department, Maria Guadalupe Guzman. The experts travelled to the Argentinian province of Salta to brief local experts on their experiences in the fight against the "Aedes Aegypti" mosquito, which transmits the disease. Kouri told reporters that the province's health authorities need to educate people and train them to cooperate in preventing the spread of the desease. In l981 Cuba had an outbreak of hemorragic Dengue, with more than 300 thousand cases reported, and 158 fatal victims. Cuba managed to stop the epidemic in four months. An outbreak of hemorragic Dengue was recently reported in eastern Santiago de Cuba, and was also quickly controlled. [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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