CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Monday, August 24, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- THOUSANDS CHEER VISITING CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO IN BANI, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC -- BIRTHPLACE OF CUBA'S INDEPENDENCE HERO MAXIMO GOMEZ 2.- CUBA CONDEMNS U.S. ATTACKS AGAINST SUDAN AND AFGHANISTAN 3.- CUBAN WOMEN CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR ORGANIZATION 4.- HURRICANE ALERT CALLED OFF FOR EASTERN PROVINCES 5.- "OUR AFRICA" COLLOQUIUM GETS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA 6.- PAINTING EXHIBIT OPENS IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL 7.- NEW AQUEDUCTS FINISHED IN CIEGO DE AVILA 8.- SISTER CITY AGREEMENT BETWEEN CUBA AND MEXICO THOUSANDS CHEER VISITING CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO IN BANI, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC -- BIRTHPLACE OF CUBA'S INDEPENDENCE HERO MAXIMO GOMEZ Santo Domingo, August 24(RHC)-- Thousands of enthusiastic Dominicans cheered visiting Cuban President Fidel Castro on Sunday in the city of Bani -- birthplace of Cuba's independence hero Maximo Gomez. The Cuban leader received the keys to the city and was declared a distinguished visitor during the second day of his official visit to that Caribbean nation. In a nearly two hour speech in Bani, President Castro spoke of the role played by Maximo Gomez in Cuba's independence struggles, asserting that it was Gomez who showed Cuban independence fighters the feared tactic of the machete charge -- which sparked panic among Spanish colonial troops. The Cuban leader said his country also had a debt of gratitude to another 88 Dominicans who fought alongside Cuba -- six of whom reached the rank of General. The leader of the Cuban Revolution announced that he would donate 250,000 dollars for the construction of a school in Bani. The money is part of a Third World award given to him for his contribution to the struggle for human rights. He said if more is needed, Cuba would be willing to contribute up to two million dollars. President Castro said the donation is an old debt of the Cuban people that could not be paid before due to the difficult bilateral relations in the past and Cuba's economic crisis that began at the beginning of this decade. The Cuban leader stated that humanity's global problems require global solutions, calling for an alliance between the Caribbean and South and Central America in order to confront the United States. In the speech interrupted on numerous occasions with applause and manifestations of solidarity with Cuba, he called on the Dominican people to continue struggling "until the planet becomes one large homeland where human beings have a right to progress and life." President Castro said due to the Cuban peoples' determination to keep on struggling, Cuba is no longer under foreign domination. Also over the weekend, President Fidel Castro visited former Dominican Presidents Juan Bosch and Joaquin Balaguer, as well as the widow of recently deceased political leader Jose Francisco Pena Gomez. CUBA CONDEMNS U.S. ATTACKS AGAINST SUDAN AND AFGHANISTAN Havana, August 24(RHC)-- Cuba has condemned the recent U.S. missile attacks against Sudan and Afghanistan. On Sunday, Cuba's Foreign Ministry said the attacks were "acts of force lacking legal justification and based solely on the abusive and arbitrary use of Washington's immense military might and technology." The Foreign Ministry note insisted that terrorism cannot be fought with bombs and missiles and that no state has the right to act against another while completely ignoring international law and the international institutions and mechanisms for the maintenance of peace. The Cuban Foreign Ministry recalled that Cuba was one of the first to condemn the recent terrorist attacks against U.S. diplomatic installations in Kenya and Tanzania. The United States, meanwhile, has come out against Sudan's proposal that the United Nations send a verification team to the pharmaceutical plant destroyed by U.S. missiles in Khartoum -- which Washington claims was producing chemical weapons. And Pakistan has denounced the U.S. before the United Nations for having violated that nation's airspace during the attack against Afghanistan. CUBAN WOMEN CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR ORGANIZATION Havana, August 24(RHC)-- Cuban women celebrated this Sunday the 38th anniversary of the Federation of Cuban Women, the FMC. Cuban women today represent more than 42 percent of the labor force in the public sector and more than 65 percent of the country's professionals and technicians. Although Cuban women hold 17 percent of posts at the municipal government level, many analysts say that the percentage could be higher. In the National Assembly of People's Power, 27 percent of legislative deputies are female -- a relatively high figure even in developed nations. The Federation of Cuban Women has played an essential role in the social gains of the island's women, strengthening their position in Cuban society and allowing them to enjoy the equal rights that they have been fighting for over more than 30 years of Revolution. In Cuban homes, however, there are still differences between the sexes, since neither the FMC or women themselves have been able to completely eliminate the machismo of the past. Women still bear the overwhelming burden of household chores. However, women in today's Cuba have a privileged position compared to many other countries. HURRICANE ALERT CALLED OFF FOR EASTERN PROVINCES Guantanamo, August 24(RHC)-- Cuban Civil Defense officials have issued an "all clear" -- informing residents of the island's eastern provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin and Las Tunas that the alert for Hurricane Bonnie has been called off. According to weather bulletins issued at noon on Monday, the hurricane had turned away from Cuban territory, although the public was advised to pay attention to upcoming reports. "OUR AFRICA" COLLOQUIUM GETS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, August 24(RHC)-- The First Colloquium "Our Africa" gets underway in the Cuban capital this week with issues like health, education, ethnic conflicts, racial discrimination and women topping the meeting's agenda. The heads of state of Cuba and South Africa, Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela, were chosen as honorary chairpersons of the event for their contributions to the struggle for the elimination of apartheid on that continent. The gathering is being sponsored by the Organization of Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, OSPAAAL, and the Cuban Center for Studies on Africa and the Middle East. PAINTING EXHIBIT OPENS IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, August 24(RHC)-- The Touring Exhibition "Iberoamerica Paints" opened in Havana this weekend with paintings from 63 renowned artists of the region, including Ecuadoran painter Oswaldo Guayasamin, Chile's Roberto Matta and Cuba's Zaida del Rio. The exhibition is a part of the publishing project "Periolibros," which published some of the best pages of Iberoamerican literature in 27 of the region's dailies between 1992 and 1997. "Iberoamerica Paints" is touring Latin American and other cities where the books where published, like Miami and Jerusalem. The exhibition's itinerary includes Paris, which serves as headquarters of UNESCO, and winds up in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, where the idea was originally conceived. NEW AQUEDUCTS FINISHED IN CIEGO DE AVILA Ciego de Avila, August 24(RHC)-- More than 4000 Cubans have better water service thanks to nine new aqueducts completed this year in the eastern province of Ciego de Avila. The new waterways were constructed as a result of an agreement between Cuba and UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. Local authorities in Ciego de Avila plan to complete another 43 water projects, which will increase the amount of water provided to some 40,000 residents, or 10 percent of the population of the entire province. SISTER CITY AGREEMENT BETWEEN CUBA AND MEXICO Varadero, August 24(RHC)-- A sister city protocol between Varadero in Cuba and the Mexican municipality of Benito Juarez in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo was signed in the Plaza America Convention Center at the renowned Varadero beach resort. During the ceremony, the municipal presidents of Benito Juarez and Varadero, Rafael Lara and Mario Morales, stressed the historic bonds of friendship between the Mexican and Cuban peoples. Benito Juarez is the sixth Mexican municipality that has established a sister city agreement with a city in eastern Matanzas province. [c] 1998, 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. For further information, contact us at: Postal Address: Radio Havana Cuba P.O.Box 6240 Havana, Cuba Telephone: (53) (7) 791053 Fax: (53) (7) 795007 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org WWW: http://www.radiohc.org