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 Thursday, February 12, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF PRISONERS AT REQUEST OF THE VATICAN 2.- RIO GROUP-EUROPEAN UNION GATHERING CONDEMNS HELMS-BURTON 3.- U.S. BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVES PREPARE FOR MEETINGS IN CANCUN AND HAVANA 4.- CUBAN CENTRAL BANK MEETING EVALUATES RESULTS OF 1997 5.- COMMUNIST MANIFESTO TO BE STUDIED IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 6.- SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AT THE CENTER OF INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 7.- CUBAN AGRICULTURE PLANS RECORD PRODUCTION 8.- MARMOL-SOL GETS UNDERWAY ON ISLE OF YOUTH CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF PRISONERS AT REQUEST OF THE VATICAN Havana, February 12(RHC)-- Cuba's Foreign Ministry announced Thursday the release of numerous prisoners at the request of the Vatican. In a written statement before local and foreign journalists in Havana, Cuban Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alejandro Gonzalez said that during the recent visit to Cuba of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Angelo Sodano turned over to Cuban authorities a list of people in Cuban prisons, requesting clemency. The list, said Gonzalez, was carefully studied. Of the names on the list, he said, 106 persons had already been released before the petition, and that through legal pardons, several dozen more will be released in the near future. Additionally, said the Foreign Ministry spokesperson -- and taking into account Cardinal Sodano's request of clemency for other prisoners not on the list -- other inmates will be released, bringing the total number of amnesties to more than 300. Gonzalez said these additional pardons will benefit those incarcerated for various crimes, including crimes against state security, due to humanitarian considerations concerning the prisoners' age, health and other personal circumstances. RIO GROUP-EUROPEAN UNION GATHERING CONDEMNS HELMS-BURTON Havana, February 12(RHC)-- The Latin American regional organization Rio Group and the European Union wound up a gathering today in Panama in which criticisms of U.S. policies dominated the agenda. During the 8th Rio Group-EU Ministerial Gathering, speakers blasted Washington's unilateral measures like the Helms- Burton Law, criticized the U.S.'s rush to create a free trade zone of the Americas, and condemned the conditioning of Washington's cooperation on the so-called "certification" of good conduct of the region's governments. The Vice President of the European Commission, Manuel Marin, said the fast track oftentimes leads to unforeseeable accidents. He also said the war on drugs should be based on global responsibility. The European Parliament's Director of Relations with South America, Ana Miranda de Lage, called on the two regional bodies to take into consideration Cuba's desire to participate in this transatlantic dialogue. U.S. BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVES PREPARE FOR MEETINGS IN CANCUN AND HAVANA Havana, February 12(RHC)-- In what constitutes a sign of the failure of the U.S. Helms-Burton Law in scaring investors away from Cuba, the second anniversary of that extraterritorial measure in March will be marked by the visit to the island of large business delegations from the United States, Germany and Spain. Under the name of 1998 US-Cuba Business Summit, several dozen business executives from a wide range of companies in the United States will travel to Havana on March 6th for a full day of contacts with the Cuban business community and economic officials. The meeting, which will also include talks with Cuban economic and business representatives in Cancun a day earlier, is being organized by the Washington- based Alamar company. In statements to the press in Havana, Alamar President Kirby Jones said there is growing interest among U.S. business executives regarding opportunities offered by Cuba. Jones said he regretted that more and more U.S. companies lose ground before their international competitors with respect to Cuba. He noted that the visit by the U.S. business executives comes after a number of recent favorable developments in relation to Cuba, like the visit to the island in January of Pope John Paul II, the introduction of legislation in the U.S. Congress that seeks to lift the embargo of medicines and food and the anti-blockade effort launched by the newly established U.S. organization "Americans for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba," sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Kirby Jones also said that the U.S. business delegation travelling to Cuba in March will include representatives from across the business spectrum. He mentioned pharmaceuticals, construction and agricultural machinery, as well as transportation, oil, public relations and food, among several others. CUBAN CENTRAL BANK MEETING EVALUATES RESULTS OF 1997 Havana, February 12(RHC)-- The Cuban Central Bank must work to secure financial sources for a blockaded economy in the process of recovery and obtain better terms for credits the island is currently using. The statement was made by Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage at the closing of the Cuban Central Bank's annual plenary meeting, evaluating that institution's results during 1997. Last year, the Cuban banking system's main objectives included the conclusion of its institutional reorganization, an analysis of the monetary policy to apply under the conditions of the island's economy, promoting training, drawing up a proposed strategy to restructure and renegotiate the island's foreign debt, consolidating the automation of the country's banking system and working to speed up the process of payments and collection. The plenary meeting revealed that there are some enterprises that have pending accounts to pay. In order to speed up that process, the National Payment and Collection Council is scheduled to be set up shortly. Over the past several years, there have been radical changes in the island's monetary-mercantile relations that have made the economic situation completely different and more complex than four years ago. The banking system's reorganization included the creation of the Cuban Central Bank. COMMUNIST MANIFESTO TO BE STUDIED IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Havana, February 12(RHC)-- The 150th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto will be commemorated in the Cuban capital with the international conference "Social Emancipation 150 Years After the Communist Manifesto." The scientific gathering, scheduled for Havana's Capitol from February 17th through the 20th, will be attended by 40 scholars and academics from 10 countries including George Labica from the Paris II-Nanterre University, Richard Levin, an author of works on Karl Marx and other important figures of the world communist movement and Erwin Marquit, professor at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis in the United States. The gathering's agenda includes round tables on the significance of the Communist Manifesto 150 years after its publication, with a focus on imperialism and globalization. The Communist Manifesto is the Marxist text most-translated and published around the world. That document recognizes the international strategy of the bourgeoisie and capitalism, offers a broad concept of the working-class and calls for the unity of workers to face capitalism, signalling the role of communists in the revolutionary transformation of society. SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AT THE CENTER OF INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS Havana, February 12(RHC)-- The training of professors and teachers in line with a program that promotes responsible sexual behavior is among the island's principal actions to favor sexual and reproductive health. The statement was made by Cuban Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez at the opening Wednesday of the 2nd Cuban Congress on Sexual Therapy, Orientation and Education and the Second Iberoamerican Workshop on Sexual Education and Orientation. At the opening session, the Cuban education minister said that more than 1800 teachers and 30,000 students have been trained since 1996 as part of a program implemented in six Cuban provinces. The program is being carried out with the cooperation of several organizations and the United Nations Population Fund. According to Cuban Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez, the program perceives sexual education not as a single subject but as part of the whole curriculum and includes activities with the family and the community, based on the formation of values and principles. Some 500 specialists including teachers, doctors, psychologists and therapists from more than 15 countries are attending these two conferences in the Cuban capital. CUBAN AGRICULTURE PLANS RECORD PRODUCTION Havana, February 12(RHC)-- The Cuban Agriculture Ministry is planning a record production of 250,000 tons of vegetables and beans, despite the climatic difficulties caused by El Nino and plagues. The forecast implies a one thousand ton increase compared to the 1996 harvest in line with structural and organizational changes in the sectors over the past two years. The Cuban agricultural industry's projects include a 40 percent increase in its supplies to the tourist sector. More than 75 percent of the 230 million dollars obtained from different crops will be contributed by tobacco production. MARMOL-SOL GETS UNDERWAY ON ISLE OF YOUTH Nueva Gerona, February 12(RHC)-- Prestigious sculptors from the United States, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Holland and Cuba have gathered on the Isle of Youth to carve marble slabs from several areas of the country. The works will be donated to the island's cultural heritage at the closing of the 5th International Symposium Marble-Sun, currently underway in Cayo Largo Key, off the southern coast of Cuba. [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. 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