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, July 20, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- PASTORS FOR PEACE FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN CROSSES U.S.- MEXICO BORDER WITHOUT INCIDENT 2.- PARLIAMENTARY WORKING COMMISSIONS CREATED FOR FIRST ORDINARY SESSION OF FIFTH LEGISLATURE OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF PEOPLE'S POWER 3.- SECOND CUBAN PROVINCE CONNECTED TO INTERNET 4.- SANTIAGO DE CUBA'S PALACE OF JUSTICE WILL BE DECLARED A NATIONAL MONUMENT 5.- INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP "THE EURO AND CUBA" UNDERWAY IN HAVANA 6.- CANADA'S WARNER MUSIC AWARDS GOLD RECORD TO TRADITIONAL CUBAN SON MUSICIAN PASTORS FOR PEACE FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN CROSSES U.S.-MEXICO BORDER WITHOUT INCIDENT Reynosa, July 20(RHC)-- The 8th Friendshipment Caravan of the U.S. religious/solidarity organization Pastors for Peace crossed the border on Monday from McAllen, Texas into the Mexican city of Reynosa. This is the eighth defiance by Pastors for Peace of Washington's blockade of Cuba since 1992. The vehicles, loaded with material aid for the island, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without incident. Among the hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid for Cuba are five school buses and five mobile libraries for school children in Cuba. The aid also includes computers for Cuba's education system and materials used to produce anti-biotics. The 8th Caravan has been dedicated to Cuban children and the elderly. >From Reynosa, the caravanistas will travel to Tampico to meet with Cuba solidarity activists in Mexico and to load the humanitarian aid on a ship that will arrive in Cuba later this month. Mexico's stevedores union will load the boat free of charge, as they have done for previous Friendshipment Caravans. The caravanistas will fly to Havana on Thursday, the 23rd. Following the crossing, Radio Havana Cuba spoke with Reverend Lucius Walker, founder of Pastors for Peace, in an exclusive telephone interview: "I am speaking to you from a book mobile on the customs lot in Reynosa, Mexico. We've just crossed the border, successfully challenging the U.S. government for the eighth time. The caravan of 27 vehicles and in the neighborhood of 300 tons of aid is on its way to Cuba. We had some difficulties along the way. There was an earlier threat by the U.S. Customs to delay us. It seemed like it could be several days because they said there was a glitch in the computer system in Mexico. We talked to the Mexican authorities and learned there was no computer glitch. Apparently our government once again lied to us. But we mounted a national campaign and phones calls and pressure on members of Congress and members of the Treasury Department resulted in permission to cross the border unimpeded and we are now in Mexico, on our way to Cuba." PARLIAMENTARY WORKING COMMISSIONS CREATED FOR FIRST ORDINARY SESSION OF FIFTH LEGISLATURE OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF PEOPLE'S POWER Havana, July 20(RHC)-- President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon told reporters in Havana that ten working commissions have been created for the First Ordinary Session of the Fifth Legislature of the National Assembly of People's Power, scheduled to get underway tomorrow, Tuesday, in the Cuban capital. The Cuban parliament president pointed out that the commissions are a fundamental tool to help Cuban lawmakers in their work and provide for an exchange of ideas. A total of 290 deputies will take part in the permanent working groups, whose other functions are to evaluate the National Assembly and the Council of State in the administration of state and government affairs. SECOND CUBAN PROVINCE CONNECTED TO INTERNET Matanzas, July 20(RHC)-- Cuba's central province of Matanzas has become the second province on the island -- following Havana -- to be fully connected to the INTERNET. A branch of the National Center that provides access to the Internet -- CENIAI -- will open its doors in Matanzas, with a server to link institutions and companies to the World Wide Web. CENIAI's Director Jesus Martinez announced that the connection, at 64 kilobytes per second, will be made through a public computer network called CUBADATA, part of the ETECSA telephone company. When technological conditions allow, the service will be gradually expanded eastward and will become available in the provinces of Villa Clara, Camaguey, Holguin and Santiago de Cuba. SANTIAGO DE CUBA'S PALACE OF JUSTICE WILL BE DECLARED A NATIONAL MONUMENT Santiago de Cuba, July 20(RHC)-- The Palace of Justice, where the trials of those who attacked the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Garrisons took place, will be declared a National Monument as part of activities commemorating the 45th anniversary of the attacks on July 26th. The Conservation Office in eastern Santiago de Cuba ordered the restoration of the site, which was inaugurated on February 10th, 1952. Other important hearings also took place in the courtroom, including the trials of those who took part in the armed uprising on November 30th, 1952 in support of the Granma expedition. The historian of the Palace of Justice, Isabel Losada, pointed out that a research team and personnel of the Provincial Court are working hard to gather oral testimonies and photographs of that historic trial. INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP "THE EURO AND CUBA" UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, July 20(RHC)-- Hundreds of Cuban business representatives and banking experts are participating in an international workshop entitled: "The Euro and Cuba," sponsored by the Investment Bank S.A. and Spain's Zulueta Foundation. The first day of the event, aimed at informing Cuban business representatives, includes various conferences on the EURO, particularly its application in small and medium companies and its relation with Cuban firms. CANADA'S WARNER MUSIC AWARDS GOLD RECORD TO TRADITIONAL CUBAN SON MUSICIAN Havana, July 20(RHC)-- Canada's Warner Music awarded a Gold Record to Cuban musician Compay Segundo for the sale of 65 thousand copies of the CD "Buena Vista Social Club." Produced and directed by the U.S. musician and guitarist Ry Cooder, the CD received a Grammy Award earlier this year. 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