CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA
                       October 8 , 1997

                       rhc@radiohc.org
                    http://www.radiohc.org


The following items are taken from RADIO HAVANA CUBA's
International Shortwave Service in English for Wednesday,
October 8, 1997.   Today's stories:

1.- FIFTH CONGRESS OF CUBAN COMMUNIST PARTY OPENS IN HAVANA

2.- TRIBUTES ON THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH IN COMBAT OF
    COMANDANTE ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA AND HIS COMRADES

3.- CHE LIVES... EVEN IN MIAMI!

4.- LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIC SYSTEM CONDEMNS U.S. LEGISLATIVE
    MEASURES TO FURTHER PUNISH CUBA FOR BEING INDEPENDENT

5.- MIAMI'S CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE WILL SCREEN THOSE WHO WISH TO
    TAKE CRUISE TO HAVANA FOR THE POPE'S VISIT

6.- FORENSIC '97 UNDERWAY IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL


FIFTH CONGRESS OF CUBAN COMMUNIST PARTY UNDERWAY IN HAVANA

Havana, October 8(RHC)-- Under the slogan "This People, This
Party will Never Surrender their Unity," the Fifth Congress of
Cuba's Communist Party opened today at Havana's International
Convention Center.

The memory of legendary Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara,
founder of the Cuban Communist Party, was present in the
opening minutes of the Fifth Congress of the island's main
political organization.

In his opening statements, Political Bureau member Jose Ramon
Machado Ventura stressed how Che Guevara's legacy is ever
present in the country's daily struggles.  The first session
heard the Congress' Main Report, delivered by Cuban leader
Fidel Castro, First Secretary of the Communist Party.  In a
six hour and 40 minute speech that reminded delegates and
invited guests of his speeches during the early years of the
Revolution, the Cuban leader made a thorough assessment of the
country's economic situation since the organization's last
Congress held in Santiago de Cuba six years ago.

After a detailed damage report of the impact of the demise of
socialism in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the
Soviet Union on almost every sector of the Cuban economy, the
Cuban President praised the Cuban people's efforts to curb the
economic crisis, which has been rewarded with the consecutive
growth of the island's Gross National Product since 1994.
Fidel said that these superhuman efforts were conducted amid
conditions of a unipolar world and the reinforcement of the
U.S. blockade against the island.

The Cuban leader went on to illustrate the progress: from a
30% budget deficit reported in 1992, that figure has been
reduced to 2.5 this year.  More than 2.5 billion pesos of
excess liquidity have been collected.  The average salary
increased from 190 pesos to 208 pesos.  The tourism industry
with 220 million dollars in revenues in 1992, raked-in some
1.3 billion dollars in 1996.  Oil extraction will reach 1.3
million tons this year and despite its thickness, the oil is
being used successfully in generating power and in the
production of cement.  There are also plans to use its by-
products for generating power in the near future.

President Castro mentioned the progress achieved through a
host of measures implemented over the last six years, such as
the decentralization of the economy, foreign investment, the
legalization of the tenure of hard currency, new forms of
landed property, changes in the island's banking and financial
systems as well as the implementation of a tax system.  Fidel
said that all these measures have contributed to the island's
economic recovery.  However, he warned that overall
achievements should not lead to complacency.   The island's
leadership, he stressed, is well aware of the problems and
deficiencies that still prevail and pointed to the poor
performances of the Basic Units of Cooperative Production and
the sugar industry -- sectors that are very far from matching
the country's needs.  He then reiterated that only work will
lead the country out of its most pressing difficulties.

Focussing on the role of the Party, the Cuban leader said that
it has been the unity of the Cuban people with their Party and
the responsibility and consciousness with which that Party has
assumed its guiding role that has guaranteed success.

In his Main Report to the 5th Party Congress, Fidel Castro
also focussed on U.S. hostility against the island.  He
pointed to the long-standing U.S. policy of encouraging
anti-Cuban actions -- leading to assassinations and the
hijacking of planes.  When Cuba has presented evidence for the
extradition of the criminals, U.S. authorities have turned a
deaf ear and have acquitted the perpetrators.   Fidel went on
to list some of the groups that act with impunity in the
United States -- such as the Cuban-American National
Foundation, organizer and financier of recent hotel bombings
in Havana.

Cuba will be on the alert against similar terrorist acts aimed
at destroying the development of tourism and the island's
efforts to curb the economic crisis.

However, the Cuban president acknowledged that just over last
two weeks, U.S. authorities have made two positive gestures:
one, a declaration condemning the terrorist acts, such as the
hotel bombings and, two, the repatriation of two hijackers
that recently took four hostages on board a patrol boat, in an
attempt to reach U.S. shores.

Finally, the Cuban leader reminiscenced about Che and his
legacy.  He said that the island's achievements and merits are
definitely a tribute to the merits and virtues of Che.  Fidel
said that Che would be proud of the merits and virtues of the
Revolution and would feel proud of the courage and heroism of
the Cuban people.

It was destined that exactly thirty years after his death in
combat, his remains would be found and brought back to Cuba.
And in spite of the efforts to portray him as having separated
himself from the Revolution, Che and the Cuban Revolution are
one and the same.  Che and the Cubans came on the Granma, Che
and the Cubans fought in the Sierra Maestra mountains, Che and
the Cubans experienced the Missile Crisis and together began
the construction of socialism -- which is ours and his.  Cuban
fighters were with him in Africa, Cuban fighters fought with
him in Bolivia.  His immense figure cannot be diminished.  Che
is respected and admired by more and more people throughout
the world every day as a model of a revolutionary and of a
human being.  Nothing will diminish the extraordinary
identification that has always existed between Che and the
Cuban Revolution.

Although we know that nothing is eternal, Fidel concluded that
Che and his brothers will be eternal as long as eternity
exists.

The Fifth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party -- slated to
run through Friday -- will discuss resolutions on the document
"The Party of the Unity, Democracy and the Human Rights We
Defend," whose public debate heard the opinion of more than
six million Cubans.  Delegates to the Congress will discuss a
resolution of the organization's regulation and another on the
country's economy, which is expected to elicit most of the
event's attention.

TRIBUTES ON THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH IN COMBAT OF
COMANDANTE ERNESTO CHE GUEVARA AND HIS COMRADES

Bolivia, October 8(RHC)-- Homages to Comandante Ernesto Che
Guevara are taking place throughout Latin America and the
world.  Latin American youth continue converging on the little
Bolivian town of Vallegrande -- the site of the First World
Meeting on Ernesto Che Guevara -- chanting slogans and waving
flags.  Delegations from Cuba's Federations of University and
High School Students have joined in the tributes in Bolivia.
And Danielle Mitterrand -- widow of late French President
Francois Mitterrand -- is also in attendance.

In Venezuela, homages to Comandante Che Guevara will be
running through the entire month of October.  Caracas, the
capital, awakened to a beautiful day with the inauguration of
a photo display on Che, the launching of two books and a
conference on Guevara's historical legacy for Latin America.

The Cuban media are reporting the launching of a new edition
of Che's diary in Bolivia, including the two missing pages
that previous versions have omitted.  Che's diary was seized
in 1967 by the Bolivian army and handed over to Antonio
Arguedas -- the Interior Minister at that time.

According to testimonies, Che's diary was sent to Chile on 35-
millimeter film, tucked away inside two albums of Bolivian
folk music in what was called "Operacion Tia Victoria."
Late Chilean journalist Mario Diaz -- whose operational code
name was "Tia Victoria" -- brought the diary to Havana by way
of Mexico.  Witnesses say the Bolivian army kept the original
diary and gave four copies to President Rene Barrientos, the
head of the Bolivian Army Alfredo Ovando, the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency and Bolivian Interior Minister Arguedas.
It was later discovered that the Bolivian army had removed two
pages from the originals.  When the diary was first published
in 1968, Bolivian authorities found out that Interior Minister
Arguedas was responsible.  For most readers, however, the
omission was a only an unsolved mystery.

The first edition of the diary was published by France's
Francois Maspero, Italy's Feltrinelly and Germany's Trikont
Verlag publishing houses as well as by Ramparts Magazine in
the United States, Punto Final of Chile and Siglo XXI of
Mexico.

CHE LIVES... EVEN IN MIAMI!

Miami, October 8(RHC)-- Huge sheets with the image of Ernesto
Che Guevara mysteriously appeared in areas frequented by
ultra-right Cuban-Americans, popularly known in Cuba as
"gusanos."

On the so-called Tower of Liberty -- an old, abandoned
building recently purchased by Jorge Mas Canosa, head of the
ultra-right Cuban-American National Foundation -- a large
sheet with the image of the Heroic Guerrilla and the words
"Che Lives" was draped across the entrance.

Another two sheets with Che's image were hung on the fence of
"Domingo Park" -- where many of Miami's old Cuban-Americans
hang out to play dominoes and talk about "the good old days."
One of the sheets was adorned with the well-known phrase
"Hasta la Victoria Siempre" -- "Ever Onward to Victory."

Television news reports from Miami -- the Capital of Anti-
Cuban Reaction -- showed some of the older Cubans attempting
to climb up and tear down the images of Che, hurling epithets
at the Cuban Revolution and swearing that they would get those
responsible for "defacing" their parks and monuments.

LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIC SYSTEM CONDEMNS U.S. LEGISLATIVE
MEASURES TO FURTHER PUNISH CUBA FOR BEING INDEPENDENT

Port of Spain, October 8(RHC)-- The Venezuela-based Latin
American Economic System -- known by its acronym SELA -- has
denounced the numerous anti-Cuba measures on the floor of the
U.S. Congress, as President Bill Clinton prepares for his
Latin American tour.  Meeting through Thursday in Trinidad and
Tobago, SELA's 23rd Ordinary Gathering is holding debates on a
document concerning the 47 anti-Cuba legislative projects
currently under study in the U.S. Congress -- 22 of which are
specifically aimed at further tightening the Helms-
Burton Law.

As President Clinton is gearing up for a tour of Venezuela,
Brazil and Argentina -- to begin on October 12th -- the
regional organization discussed the legislative project
presented by Republican Congressman Bill McCollum, which seeks
to eliminate Clinton's ability to suspend implementation of
Title III of the Helms-Burton Law.  Title III allows U.S.
citizens -- even naturalized Cubans -- to file legal suits
against foreign firms investing in Cuba.  Another initiative,
according to SELA, calls on the U.S. State Department to
periodically issue reports on foreign firms suspected of
investing in Cuba.

Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen presented a
project last July 27th which would suspend U.S. assistance to
any country trading with Cuba or contributing to the island's
development or security.  Specifically, this legislation would
eliminate the concession of tariff preferences to those
Caribbean and Central American countries benefitting from
Washington's Caribbean Basin Initiative if Cuba is granted
membership in the regional organizations CARICOM or the
Central American Common Market.

Other legislative initiatives include a reduction of aid to
Russia if that nation continues contributing to the
construction of Cuba's Juragua nuclear power plant, a
reduction of financial support to the International Atomic
Energy Agency if the Agency continues providing assistance to
Cuba and a reduction of foreign aid to any country that
provides Cuba with nuclear fuel.

All of these projects are currently before the House Foreign
Relations Committee and will have to be debated and approved
during the current legislative session.  SELA pointed out that
these initiatives have been condemned by the most important
economic and political forums in Latin America and Europe.

MIAMI'S CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE WILL SCREEN THOSE WHO
WISH TO TAKE CRUISE TO HAVANA FOR THE POPE'S VISIT

Miami, October 8(RHC)-- The Archdiocese of Miami announced
today that only "good Catholics" will be allowed to travel to
Cuba during Pope John Paul II's visit to the island next
January, adding that Church authorities "will not allow anyone
to get on the boat who wants to go to Cuba to start the Third
World War."

The organizer of the cruise ship to Cuba, Monsignor Thomas
Wenski, told reporters that the Catholic Church wants to be
certain that the trip will be "a true religious pilgrimage."

Following authorization from Washington, Miami's Catholic
Church leased the Norwegian Cruise Line, whose specialty is
Caribbean cruise tourism.  The ship will dock in the Port of
Havana on January 25th.

Miami Archbishop John Clement Favalora has come out in support
of the cruise ship voyage, despite opposition from the city's
ultra right-wing Cuban-American community.  The archbishop
said that those who wish to travel to Cuba will have to be
recommended by the Catholic Conference or by local priests.
The passengers of the cruise ship will sleep and eat on the
vessel due to the limitations on spending U.S. dollars in Cuba
-- a violation of Washington's Trading with the Enemy Act.

FORENSIC '97 UNDERWAY IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL

Havana, October 8(RHC)-- International forensic experts
observed a minute of silence today to honor the memory of
Ernesto Che Guevara -- and then began the first session of
Forensic '97, an event underway in Havana.

The Director of the Cuban Institute of Legal Medicine, Dr.
Jorge Gonzalez, conducted a round table discussion on his
research that led to discovering the remains of Che Guevara
and six of his fellow guerrilla fighters in July.  Dr.
Gonzalez told Radio Havana Cuba that excavations in Bolivia
will continue and that they hope to find the remains of at
least 12 more combatants of Che's guerrilla forces.


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