* retransmission * retransmission * retransmission * CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA October 30, 1997 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Thursday, October 30, 1997. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA SIGNS IMPORTANT BILATERAL ACCORDS WITH BENIN 2.- CUBA TO ATTEND IBEROAMERICAN SUMMIT PROUD OF THE ETHICS AND DEMOCRACY OF ITS SOCIALIST SYSTEM, SAYS PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT RICARDO ALARCON 3.- BRAZILIAN DIPLOMAT SAYS NO IBEROAMERICAN COUNTRY HAS , MORAL AUTHORITY TO GIVE CUBA LESSONS ON DEMOCRACY 4.- DELEGATION OF RETIRED US MILITARY OFFICERS, FORMER AMBASSADORS AND ACADEMICIANS VISIT CUBA 5.- GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FROM SEVERAL NATIONS WILL ATTEND HAVANA'S INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR 6.- FRANCE SENDS HUMANITARIAN AID TO THE ISLAND 7.- CUBA AND URUGUAY TO JOINTLY PRODUCE CURED MEAT 8.- TOP JAPANESE BUSINESS EXECUTIVES TOUR THE ISLAND 9.- ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION BRINGS CHILDREN TO HUNDREDS OF CUBAN COUPLES 10.-ITALIAN CUBAN COMPANY CONTROLS THE ISLAND'S NATURAL WATER MARKET 11.-PRENSA LATINA NEWS AGENCY OPENS ITS ANNUAL SURVEY FOR BEST ATHLETE OF THE YEAR IN LATIN AMERICA CUBA SIGNS IMPORTANT BILATERAL ACCORDS WITH BENIN Havana, Oct. 30 (RHC) -- In Havana, the visiting Foreign Minister of Benin signed Thursday important bilateral accords with his Cuban counterpart Roberto Robaina. They include, among others, the setting up of a mixed association for the production of vaccines, as well as agreements in the fields of agriculture, tourism, sports and bilateral trade. Upon penning the accords, the Cuban foreign minister expressed his country's pleasure concerning the work carried out by the bilateral mixed commission, and said that for Cubans, Benin is a sister nation with strong and common cultural ties and history. Benin's foreign minister praised what he called the friendship and solidarity embodied in the accords, which, he added, demonstrate that successful South-South cooperation is possible. In statements to the press following the signing ceremony --concerning Washington's Helms-Burton Law -- Foreign Minister Pierre Osha said that besides its illegal and extraterritorial nature, the US government did not consult with Benin, and that therefore Benin did not feel oblidged to respect the anti-Cuban legislation. CUBA TO ATTEND IBEROAMERICAN SUMMIT PROUD OF THE ETHICS AND DEMOCRACY OF ITS SOCIALIST SYSTEM, SAYS PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT RICARDO ALARCON Havana, Oct. 30 (RHC) The theme "democracy and ethics" is high on the agenda of the upcoming Iberoamerican Summit, slated for the Venezuelan island Margarita from November 8th to the 10th. In statements today to the local press leading up to that event, the President of Cuba's Parliament --Ricardo Alarcon -- said that the ethics of Cuba's democracy are based on equality and human solidarity. Without equality and solidarity, said Alarcon, there can be no true democracy. Ethics, said Cuba's chief lawmaker, is inevitably associated with the philosophy that studies human conduct, how human beings act and how they live. Alarcon said Cuba will attend the Iberoamerican Summit without having to envy anyone, since equality and solidarity are the fundamental aims of the socialism that Cuba is constructing. BRAZILIAN DIPLOMAT SAYS NO IBEROAMERICAN COUNTRY HAS MORAL AUTHORITY TO GIVE CUBA LESSONS ON DEMOCRACY Havana, Oct. 30 -- (RHC) Brazil will oppose any efforts to pressure Cuba at the Iberoamerican Summit, announced today Brazilian diplomat Luis Augusto Castro Neves. In a press conference at Venezuela's embassy in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, Castro Neves said that no one within the Iberoamerican family has the moral authority to give lessons on democracy. The Brazilian diplomat, who heads the government's Department of the Americas, pointed to what he called the explicit and implicit dictatorships in Latin America's past. In related news, Spain's foreign ministry announced today that Madrid was not going to participate in the Iberoamerican Summit in a spirit of confrontation with Cuba. Spain, said a foreign ministry spokesperson quoted by the AFP news agency, is going to concentrate on the threats against democracy, particularly terrorism. Last month, Spain sent a video to all Latin American governments and other regions of the world concerning the dangers to democracy posed by kidnapping and assassinations. DELEGATION OF RETIRED US MILITARY OFFICERS, FORMER AMBASSADORS AND ACADEMICIANS VISIT CUBA Havana, Oct. 30 (RHC) A delegation from the United States, comprised of retired military officers, academicians and former US diplomats, arrived late Wednesday in Havana for a private visit. The visitors are from the Washington DC-based Center for Defense Information and Center for International Policy, led by retired navy Admiral Eugene Carroll and former US ambassador to El Salvador Robert White. This is the delegation's second visit to Cuba. The first took place in February last year, during which the US delegation visited sites of military and economic interest in Cuba, including the island's Juragua nuclear power plant and the island's major oil refinery in central Cienfuegos Province. They also visited sites constructed within the context of the Cold War, including the Soviet submarine base in Cienfuegos, some 300 kilometers southeast of Havana. Both the Center for Defense Information and the Center for International Policy are of the opinion that Cuba and the United States should sit down at the negotiating table to iron out their differences.socialism that Cuba is constructing. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FROM SEVERAL NATIONS WILL ATTEND HAVANA'S INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR. Havana, October 30(RHC)-- In addition to the participation of many foreign companies from the world over, several high-ranking government officials from various nations have announced their presence in the upcoming edition of Havana's International Trade Fair. Beginning next week in the capital's largest exhibition center, the fair will welcome Industry, Tourism and Trade Ministers from Mozambique, Panama, Niger, Uganda and Haiti. Among the VIPs attending Havana's Trade Fair is French Foreign Trade Ministry official, Paul Henry Ravier. Organizing Committee members say that at least twenty representatives from chambers of commerce from around the world will explore business possibilities on the island. So far, some one thousand eight hundred firms from sixty nations have registered to display their products at the fair. In all, participating nations have contracted 22 thousand square meters in Havana's EXPOCUBA exhibition center, making the trade event the largest since its creation in 1983. FRANCE SENDS HUMANITARIAN AID TO THE ISLAND. Havana, October 30(RHC)-- The French government has presented Cuban authorities with a donation of seven thousand three hundred tons of wheat flour in what has been described as a gesture of solidarity towards the island. Presenting the donation in Havana was French ambassador, Yvon Roe D'Albert, who said that the gift illustrates the profound links between the peoples of France and Cuba. The flour will be used to bake bread for residents of the provinces of Havana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara and Sancti Spiritus. CUBA AND URUGUAY TO JOINTLY PRODUCE CURED MEAT. Montevideo, Uruguay, October 30(RHC)-- Trade relations between Cuba and Uruguay have entered a new stage with the constitution of the first joint venture between the two countries. . The island will be the final destination of cured meat produced in Montevideo, Uruguay with Cuban and Uruguayan capital. The joint venture will be headquartered in the free zone of Florida -some 100 kilometers from Montevideo, the capital. The company will reactivate the exportation of Uruguayan cured meat to the island. Uruguay's President, Julio Maria Sanguinetti, and Cuban Food Industry Minister, Alejandro Roja, attended an inauguration ceremony in the plant. Once working at full capacity, the factory will produce some sixty tons of cured meat a month. Plant managers also plan to export fresh frozen meat to Cuba. TOP JAPANESE BUSINESS EXECUTIVES TOUR THE ISLAND Havana, October 30(RHC)-- A delegation of top Japanese business executives is in Cuba for a working visit. The Japanese executives are members of the Japan-Cuba Economic Conference. The delegation will get a first-hand look at the island's current economic reality, the restructuring of Cuba's banking system and new business opportunities on the island. ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION BRINGS CHILDREN TO HUNDREDS OF CUBAN COUPLES. Havana, October 30(RHC)-- Hundreds of Cuban couples are able to have children thanks to a free artificial insemination program offered by the island's health care system. Cuban expert, Dr. Ramon Bermudez of Havana's Reproduction Services Department told the press in Havana that artificial fertilization is an alternative to sterility, particularly in the case of men. According to the expert, the island's specialized centers provide two methods of artificial insemination : use of the husband's semen or use of a donor's. Dr. Bermudez explained that the artificial insemination service is regulated by strict ethical considerations. The semen is carefully screened so as to avoid the transmission of disease, especially AIDS. Dr. Bermudez said that new techniques have added to artificial reproduction among them intraperitoneal insemination in which semen is injected into the future mother's peritoneal cavity when ovulation is occurring. ITALIAN CUBAN COMPANY CONTROLS THE ISLAND'S NATURAL WATER MARKET. Havana, October 30(RHC)-- By the end of this year, the Italian /Cuban natural water joint venture, Los Portales S.A, will have control of 97 percent of the local market. Company General Manager, Vidal M. Prieto, told the press in the Cuban capital that production will reach some eight hundred thousand crates of Ciego Montero mineral water this year, meeting the island's increasing demand. The firm's top executive said that Los Portales S.A natural water company registered a 25 percent increase in l997 in comparison to last year pointing to growth in tourism, atypical weather conditions and large events held on the island, including the World Youth festival, as the reasons behind the increase. General Manager Vial Prieto noted that in December a new plant will bottle the water from Los Portales spring in the locality of Guane in the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio. The new factory has a potential capacity of one hundred thirty five million units a year. The new plant is the result of a 20 million dollar investment by Cuba and the Italian Group San Pellegrino. Once the national market is totally covered, the joint venture plans to export natural water to the Caribbean and Latin American regions. PRENSA LATINA NEWS AGENCY OPENS ITS ANNUAL SURVEY FOR BEST ATHLETE OF THE YEAR IN LATINAMERICA As part of its traditional annual survey, Prensa Latina News Agency is calling on the continent's sports media outlets to submit their votes to select the best athletes of the region for 1997. PL news agency will be receiving votes until December 26th. The news agency will award the best athlete of the year in men's while Prisma magazine will crown the best among women's. Cuba International magazine will award the best team of the year. The annual Pl survey started in 1964 and at that time cuban runner Enrique Figuerola-- silver medal winner from the Tokyo olympic games won the recognition. During the 32 editions of the survey important figures like Argentinean soccer player Diego Armando Maradona, Costa Rican swimmers Silvia and Claudia Poll and cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor have been selected top athletes of the region. Others include late Brazilian race car driver Ayrton Senna and Joao Carlos de Oliveira and Joamim Carvalho Cruz from track and field, plus Argentinean tennis player Gabriela Sabatini. The winner of the last survey was Ecuadoran walker Jefferson Perez. Perez won the only gold medal ever for his country at an olympic game. [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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