CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA February 2, 1998 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following items are taken from Radio Havana Cuba's news service for Monday, February 2, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE POINTS TO ISLAND'S ECONOMIC SUCCESS AS AN ACHIEVEMENT OF SOCIALISM IN CUBA 2.- NEARLY 400 FOREIGN FIRMS CURRENTLY OPERATING ON THE ISLAND 3.- ECUADORAN BUSINESS EXECUTIVES SEEK OPPORTUNITIES IN CUBA 4.- RENOWNED PARAGUAYAN WRITER EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA 5.- CASA DE LAS AMERICAS PRESENTS LITERARY AWARDS CUBAN VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE POINTS TO ISLAND'S ECONOMIC SUCCESS AS AN ACHIEVEMENT OF SOCIALISM IN CUBA Havana, February 2(RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage has called for the use of science so that the island's economic success is part of the triumph of socialist ideas on the island. Speaking at the closing plenary meeting of the Science, Technology and the Environment Ministry which analyzed that institution's work during 1997, Lage said that science is influenced by a process of decentralization. The possibilities for the development of science, said the high ranking Cuban official, are limited by globalization and, in the case of Cuba, by Washington's economic blockade against the island. The Cuban vice president stressed that it's difficult to achieve economic growth without using science and technology, adding that scientific and technological innovation must play a decisive role in Cuba's economic recovery. During 1997, progress was made in several of the island's scientific areas such as technological innovation, control of environmental contamination, the production of isotopes for health, the extension of the island's services to Internet and improvement of Cuba's meteorological and seismological systems. NEARLY 400 FOREIGN FIRMS ARE CURRENTLY OPERATING ON THE ISLAND Havana, February 2(RHC)-- The President of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, Carlos Martinez Salsamendi, says that 375 foreign companies are operating on the island in association with Cuban enterprises despite Washington's tightened blockade against the Caribbean island. He added that despite the threat of Helms-Burton and other restrictive measures, more than one thousand foreign firms are registered on the island. The President of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce noted that the institution's work is more complex now than when it was set up 35 years ago, given that the development of foreign investment, tourism and other economic areas is now more intense. Salsamendi described 1997 as a fruitful year for the island's Chamber of Commerce, with its admission into the International Chamber of Commerce and its work at the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce. ECUADORAN BUSINESS EXECUTIVES SEEK OPPORTUNITIES IN CUBA Havana, February 2(RHC)-- A delegation of Ecuadoran entrepreneurs is currently exploring investment and trade opportunities in Cuba. The business group will join the delegation headed by Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Jose Ayala Lasso, who is scheduled to arrive on the island Tuesday. This is the second Ecuadoran business mission to visit Cuba since the resumption of diplomatic relations in 1979. RENOWNED PARAGUAYAN WRITER EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA Havana, February 2(RHC)-- Renowned Paraguayan writer Augusto Roa Bastos has expressed his solidarity with the Cuban people and their Revolution. In statements published in Sunday's edition of the Cuban weekly "Juventud Rebelde," Roa Bastos said that as a journalist and writer he tries to make his contribution to the defense of the Cuban people's struggle, an attitude that he said has been strengthened over the years due to the Cuban people's resistance to hardships and obstacles. Augusto Roa Bastos termed Pope John Paul II's recent visit to the island as "a victory for the Cuban Revolution and a recognition of the Cuban revolutionary process as an uncompromising reality." CASA DE LAS AMERICAS PRESENTS LITERARY AWARDS Havana, February 2(RHC)-- The 39th edition of the Casa de las Americas literary prize changed its traditional course by presenting all the awards to Caribbean writers: from Cuba, Puerto Rico and Barbados. The poetry prize -- out of 328 books entered -- was unanimously awarded to Cuban Reina Maria Rodriguez for her work "La Foto del Invernadero" ("GreenHouse Photo"). According to the judges, "the unusual perspective from which this author patterns her lyrical vision of the world captured everyone's attention." Reina Maria Rodriguez has a rich poetic background which includes the 1984 Casa Prize for her book of poems: "Para un Cordero Blanco" ("For a White Sheep"). Shortly after the prizes were announced, the author stated that this is "a colder book, less complex and put together with more simplicity." Jesus del Castillo, from the Cuban province of Matanzas, claimed the Theater Prize, which attracted 89 academic entries, with his play "Pipepa." Another Cuban, professor and academic researcher Oscar Zanetti, was awarded the Essay Prize for his book dealing with the impact of the year 1898 on the Americas and the Hispanic World. Zanetti's book is entitled "Commercio y poder: relaciones cubano-hispano norteamericanas en torno a 1898" ("Trade and Power: Cuban-Hispanic-U.S. Relations in the context of 1898"). In the Artistic-Literary Essay category, Cuban-American Lourdes Tomas Fernandez de Castro carried off the prize from among 30 works, with "Espacio Sin Fronteras" ("Space without Borders"). From the 14 works in the category of English Caribbean Literature, "MR" by the acclaimed academic Kamau Brathwaite from Barbados, was unanimously selected. 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