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, July 28, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA'S CARIBBEAN NEIGHBORS GEAR UP TO RECEIVE VISIT OF CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO 2.- FIRST U.S.-CUBA FRIENDSHIP CONFERENCE UNDERWAY IN HAVANA 3.- GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO COUNTERACT EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT IN EASTERN HOLGUIN PROVINCE 4.- NICARAGUA-CUBA FRIENDSHIP GROUP ENDS VISIT TO CUBA 5.- UNESCO'S GENERAL DIRECTOR INAUGURATES INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY 6.- CUBA'S HORIZONTES HOTELS EXPANDS ROOM CAPACITY 7.- LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN BRIGADE IN CUBA CUBA'S CARIBBEAN NEIGHBORS GEAR UP TO RECEIVE VISIT OF CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO Havana, July 28(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro's upcoming visit to Jamaica and Barbados has generated extensive commentaries in the media outlets of these two Caribbean neighbors. The Jamaican "Daily Gleaner" highlighted the importance of President Castro's visit to three countries, including Grenada, that belong to the Caribbean integration group CARICOM. The news daily also recalled the Cuban leader's expressions concerning the courage of small Caribbean countries that stand up to Washington's blockade of Cuba and tell the truth, in English, directly to the U.S. government. The Jamaican newspaper "The Daily Observer" noted that Washington's Cuba policy is illogical and that Jamaica's relations with Cuba spark anger on Capital Hill. The Barbados daily "The Nation" highlighted today Fidel Castro's upcoming participation in the inauguration of a monument to the victims of the 1976 terrorist bomb that killed 73 innocent people aboard a Cuban civilian airliner shortly after taking off from Bridgetown, the capital. "The Nation" also revealed that the Cuban leader will participate in Barbados in the Emancipation March, a festive ceremony held every August 1st throughout the Caribbean to celebrate the abolition of slavery. During his speech Sunday evening, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the revolutionary assault against the Batista dictatorship's Moncada military garrison in Santiago de Cuba, Fidel Castro announced his upcoming itinerary in the Caribbean, stating that he did so to challenge any would-be assassins. This was the first time that Cuban authorities reveal ahead of time any of President Castro's travel plans abroad due to necessary security measures. The Cuban leader dedicated a significant portion of his more than five hour speech to the terrorist attacks against Cuba and the assassination plots against him that have been planned in the United States. He said he had the dubious privilege of holding the world record of assassination attempts against political leaders. FIRST U.S.-CUBA FRIENDSHIP CONFERENCE UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, July 28(RHC)-- The First U.S.-Cuba Friendship Conference got underway Tuesday in the Cuban capital with the participation of more than 300 solidarity activists from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Among those taking part in the three-day solidarity conference are members of the 8th Pastors for Peace Caravan, the Venceremos Brigade and a delegation from the U.S.-Cuba Labor Exchange. During the morning plenary session of the conference, the President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) Sergio Corrieri stated that one of the most important tasks of solidarity activists is to break the information blockade against the island. Referring to the 100th anniversary of U.S. intervention in Cuba, Corrieri said that for the past 100 years, the United States has been carrying out "an offensive of lies about Cuba, which must be confronted with the truth." He urged solidarity activists to report back to their countries exactly what they see on the island -- both the positive and negative aspects -- putting that information in the context of the brutal economic blockade and the criminal war of aggression carried out by Washington against the island. The head of the Cuban friendship institute thanked the activists for their demonstrations of solidarity, pointing to the many different manifestations of support -- from protests against the blockade, to sister-city projects and travel challenges against U.S. restrictions to visit Cuba. During the afternoon, participants of the solidarity conference broke into several groups and toured a number of communities in Havana. One group visited a local office of the Cuban Worker's Confederation (CTC), another group met with members of a local Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) and another toured a pediatric hospital in the Cuban capital. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO COUNTERACT EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT IN EASTERN HOLGUIN PROVINCE Holguin, July 28(RHC)-- Political Bureau member and Cuban Communist Party General Secretary of Cuba's eastern province of Holguin, Jorge Luis Sierra, urged for a major efficiency and organization overhaul in counteracting the effects of the worst drought in the region since 1982. In less than 72 hours, provincial president Ramon Diaz declared the province in a state of alert due to the severe drought affecting the region and activated the civil defense offices in the event of a catastrophe. According to Cuba's daily Granma, the Cacoyuguin reservoir that supplies 70,000 people in the city of Holguin only has enough water for a little more than 20 days, while in Guirabo with a population of some 45,000 people, has water left for some 40 days. The same is said for the city of Gibara with 513,000 inhabitants. Local authorities are supplying the population with water by trucks. The province has received equipment to pump water from new wells to facilitate the supply to the population. According to experts, the severe drought hitting the island's eastern regions are due to the meteorological phenomenon known as El Nino. NICARAGUA-CUBA FRIENDSHIP GROUP ENDS VISIT TO CUBA Havana, July 28(RHC)-- Parliamentarians from the Nicaragua-Cuba Friendship Group have ended a seven-day visit to the island. The group participated last week in the first ordinary session of the 5th Legislature of the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power. During their meetings with Cuban authorities, the visiting Nicaraguan deputies reiterated their solidarity with Cuba and condemned Washington's nearly 40 year old blockade against the island. The Nicaragua-Cuba Friendship group also toured economic and scientific places of interest, such as the Biotechnology Center, the Cardiocenter of the William Soler Pediatric Hospital and the Sports Medicine Center, which are all located in the Cuban capital. UNESCO'S GENERAL DIRECTOR INAUGURATES INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY Mexico City, July 28(RHC)-- UNESCO's General Director Federico Mayor Zaragoza inaugurated on Monday an international seminar entitled: "Participatory Democracy, Governability and Peace Culture." The mayors from some 16 Iberoamerican nations, among them Cuba, are present for the seminar. During his opening remarks, Zaragoza called for an end to cultural wars and violence and urged for new formulas to live with each other in search of integral development. Participants at the international seminar discussed issues linked to urban policy, citizen participation, the construction of cities and generating employment. CUBA'S HORIZONTES HOTELS EXPANDS ROOM CAPACITY Havana, July 28(RHC)-- The Horizontes hotel chain, which has 50 installations with more than 7000 rooms, is carrying out an expansion and renovation program of its hotels together with an aggressive marketing campaign. The objective is to cater to about 680,000 of the 2.3 million tourists who are expected to visit Cuba in the year 2000, the chain's executives stated. To date, ten of its hotels have been renovated and equipped with hi-tech systems to offer guests more comfort. In another eight -- in the provinces of Havana, Matanzas, Camaguay and Santiago de Cuba -- other improvements are underway. The company is going through a period of expansion with its own investments or with the participation of foreign capital. LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN BRIGADE IN CUBA Havana, July 28(RHC)-- Over one hundred members of the Latin American and Caribbean Brigade are in Cuba to express their solidarity with the Revolution. The group is currently doing voluntary work in the provinces of Havana and Villa Clara as well as visiting places of interest. The solidarity brigade will remain in Cuba until August 10th and is composed of young people from Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Martinique, Guadaloupe, Jamaica and Honduras. [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