Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit 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 Tuesday, December 1, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- COMMUNIST PARTY POLITICAL BUREAU PROPOSES THAT DECEMBER 25th BE DECLARED A NATIONAL HOLIDAY 2.- SELA GENERAL SECRETARY CONDEMNS WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA 3.- CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER SAYS THE ISLAND MAY DEVELOP AN AIDS VACCINE IN TWO OR THREE YEARS 4.- INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF NEW LATIN AMERICAN FILMS UNDERWAY 5.- MINISTER OF FOREIGN BUSINESS AND COMMUNITIES OF CAPE VERDE ENDS OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA 6.- ZAMBIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS CUBA IS THE VOICE AND HOPE OF THE THIRD WORLD COMMUNIST PARTY POLITICAL BUREAU PROPOSES THAT DECEMBER 25th BE DECLARED A NATIONAL HOLIDAY Havana, December 1(RHC)-- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba has proposed that December 25th be declared a national holiday. The full text of the declaration takes up the entire front-page of this morning's edition of the daily Granma. Explaining that the Cuban Revolution has never had an anti- religious character, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party stated that the official celebration of Christmas was suspended beginning in 1970 due to economic reasons. Given the importance of the sugar harvest during the month of December and the need to employ all possible resources to the effort, it was decided to suspend not only the celebration of Christmas, but also January 1st, which marks the anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Given that the sugar harvest is now highly-mechanized and there is no need to recruit hundreds of thousands of workers to cut the cane by hand, the economic losses are not as great as they were just a few years ago. The declaration of the Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party points out that the country's Socialist Constitution guarantees the right of religious freedom, emphasizing that Party membership has been opened to accept believers and non-believers alike. There is no contradiction between religion and revolution, continues the declaration, noting that Marxists and Christians have fought side-by-side in Latin America and other countries around the world for the transformation of unjust societies. Despite the fact that the enemies of the Cuban Revolution have attempted to paint the island's social process as anti-religious, Cuba has had an impeccable history and has not carried out violence or repression for religious reasons. Taking into consideration the fact that the celebration of Christmas can only add to the people's unity, the Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party recommends to the Council of State that December 25th be considered, from now on, a national holiday. SELA GENERAL SECRETARY CONDEMNS WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA Havana, December 1(RHC)-- The General Secretary of the Latin American Economic System (SELA), Juan Carlos Moneta, inaugurated SELA's 14th Permanent Council in Havana. During the opening event, the SELA general secretary condemned Washington's blockade against Cuba and pointed out that the unjust blockade has not achieved its purpose because the Cuban people have maintained their unity. Among some of the agenda's topics are the current world economic crisis and work for Latin America and the Caribbean through the year 2000. SELA's Permanent Council meeting will run until Wednesday, when a panel on the region's foreign relations will take place with the participation of many prestigious personalities from the area, as well as from Europe and Japan. CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER SAYS THE ISLAND MAY DEVELOP AN AIDS VACCINE IN TWO OR THREE YEARS Tegucigalpa, December 1(RHC)-- Cuba's Health Minister Carlos Dotres told journalists in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, that the island may develop an AIDS vaccine in two or three years. During a news conference on the occasion of World AIDS Day, held with his Honduran counterpart, Marco Antonio Rosa, the Cuban health official said that AIDS is the worst health problem of the 20th century. Carlos Dotres arrived this past weekend in Tegucigalpa to visit the Cuban medical brigades that have been offering their services to the victims of Hurricane Mitch for the past three weeks. INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF NEW LATIN AMERICAN FILMS UNDERWAY Havana, December 1(RHC)-- The 20th edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Films is underway in Havana with some 380 films competing for the "Coral Award." The inaugural gala took place at Havana's Karl Marx Theater with the screening of the Brazilian film "Central do Brazil," winner of the "Oso de Oro" during the International Film Festival in Berlin this year as well as the "Juventud" and "Plico de San Sebastian" prizes from Spain. Cuba will compete with renowned films like "Che" by Miguel Torres, "La Vida es Silbar" by Fernando Perez and "Mambi," a co- production with Spain. Important figures have confirmed their participation, including Spanish actress Victoria Abril, Mexican Blanca Guerra, Italians Ettore Scola, and Giusseppe Tornatore, Greek-French Constantin Costa Gavras and Jim Sheridan from Ireland. Havana residents have already purchased more than 50,000 advance tickets to get a first-hand look at the films that will be competing as well as other films from the United States, Germany, Italy, Britain and France. MINISTER OF FOREIGN BUSINESS AND COMMUNITIES OF CAPE VERDE ENDS OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA Havana, December 1(RHC)-- The Minister of Foreign Business and Communities of Cape Verde Jose Luis de Jesus characterized his visit to Cuba as a success and added that he is very pleased with the friendly climate and the development of cooperation between both nations. The African leader ended a seven-day visit to Cuba after participating in the 11th Session of the Intergovernmental Joint Commission, which included discussions on issues related to agriculture, health and commercial relations. During his stay in Cuba, the Cape Verde government official met with Political Bureau member Jose Ramon Balaguer and other high- ranking government officials. There is currently a Cuban medical team offering its services in Cape Verde. And some 80 students from that African nation are studying medicine on the island. ZAMBIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS CUBA IS THE VOICE AND HOPE OF THE THIRD WORLD Havana, December 1(RHC)-- Zambia's Foreign Minister Keli Keliwalubita reaffirmed his country's relations and solidarity with Cuba. The African official called Cuba "the voice and hope of the Third World." During the Zambian foreign minister's meeting with Cuban Health Minister Carlos Dotres, he said that the services offered by 153 Cuban doctors in remote areas of the African nation is extraordinary. Keliwalubita and the Zambian delegation received a detailed explanation on the island's health care system, its achievements since the triumph of the Revolution, its perspectives and the negative impact of Washington's economic blockade against the island. Both sides also discussed bilateral relations which date back to 1972, especially in the health sector. The Zambian delegation headed by its foreign minister also met with Cuba's Agriculture Minister Alfredo Jordan and requested technical cooperation for the sugar industry, which could be extended to the agricultural sector. [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