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 Wednesday, June 3, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- CONFERENCE ON ETHICS AND THE CULTURE OF DEVELOPMENT UNDERWAY IN HAVANA 2.- NUMBER OF ELDERLY IN CUBA CONTINUES TO INCREASE 3.- INTERNATIONAL RICE ENCOUNTER WILL TAKE PLACE IN HAVANA NEXT WEEK 4.- WEEK OF IBEROAMERICAN FILMS WILL BE SHOWN IN CENTRAL CITY OF CIEGO DE AVILA 5.- SECOND ENCOUNTER OF SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHEDULED THIS MONTH 6.- KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN HAVE OPEN INVITATION TO VISIT CUBA 7.- RENOWNED CUBAN-AMERICAN DANCER DIES IN EASTERN GUANTANAMO PROVINCE CONFERENCE ON ETHICS AND THE CULTURE OF DEVELOPMENT UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, June 3(RHC)-- Ethics and culture are issues being examined this week in Havana by hundreds of economists and other experts from around the world. The international conference, "Ethics and the Culture of Development: Building a Sustainable Economy," is being sponsored by the Cuban non-governmental organization Felix Varela Center, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) of the United States and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The week-long meeting has drawn more than one hundred U.S. participants including elected officials, leaders of the worldwide sustainable development movement, economists and business people. Also attending the conference are experts and activists from Latin America, Europe and Canada. The Cuban government is giving the conference top priority, with Cuban Minister of Economy and Planning Jose Luis Rodriguez opening Monday's session and the President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon scheduled to address the event on Friday. Cuban and foreign participants are working in four commissions entitled: Building a Sustainable Economy; the Role of Science and Technology; Education and Culture for a Sustainable Civilization; and Social Movements, Government Initiatives and the Right to Sustainable Development. Tomorrow, Thursday, participants will move out of the conference rooms of the Habana Libre Hotel and visit sustainable development projects throughout the city and countryside. The conference's closing session will be addressed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who is also taking part in the event. NUMBER OF ELDERLY IN CUBA CONTINUES TO INCREASE Havana, June 3(RHC)-- The fact that 13 percent of Cuba's population is over 60 years of age and that by the year 2010 the island will have more adults than children is a great achievement for the Cuban Revolution -- as important as the reduction of the infant mortality rate. This statement was made by Vice President of the Cuban Parliament Jaime Crombet during a meeting of a group that takes care of retirees of Confederation of Cuban Workers (CTC). The Cuban official noted that there were two ways of helping the elderly: one through the trade union and the other through the community -- with support from political and grassroots organizations, health centers, education and culture. Jaime Crombet emphasized the importance of stimulating the lives of the elderly to make them feel useful. The coordinator of the group, Angel Luis Mena, stressed the importance of working to make retirees feel capable of helping society. For his part, the Director of the Health Ministry's attention to the elderly, Enrique Vega, explained that Cuba can be proud of its record in the protection of the elderly. Cuba will be the site of the International Gerontology Congress in 1999. That year has been proclaimed the International Year of the Elderly -- Toward a Society for All Ages. INTERNATIONAL RICE ENCOUNTER WILL TAKE PLACE IN HAVANA NEXT WEEK Havana, June 3(RHC)-- Researchers, producers and officials from Latin American nations and other parts of the world will participate in the First International Rice Encounter which will begin next Tuesday in Havana. The event, which is organized by the International Institute of Rice Research and other institutions, will hold conferences, technical visits and expositions to promote the product. For Cuba, this event is of utmost importance as rice is a basic nutrient in the Cuban people's diet. The island currently cultivates more than 120,000 hectares of rice, an amount that is expected to increase in the coming years. WEEK OF IBEROAMERICAN FILMS WILL BE SHOWN IN CENTRAL CITY OF CIEGO DE AVILA Ciego de Avila, June 3(RHC)-- Over 40 films and some 20 documentaries will be shown during the Week of Iberoamerican Films which will begin on Saturday in the central city of Ciego de Avila. According to the organizing committee, most of the films will be shown for the first time. They are from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Chile and Spain, which will present the largest number of films. The Cuban entries at the 5th edition of this Iberoamerican film event will include titles like "Kleines Tropicana," "Zafiros, Locura Azul" and "Elpidio Valdes Against the Eagle and Lion" -- an animated children's film. The documentary "Now" will be shown in memory of the late documentary film-maker Santiago Alvarez. SECOND ENCOUNTER OF SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHEDULED THIS MONTH Havana, June 3(RHC)-- Some 1600 teachers from around the world have confirmed their participation in the II World Encounter of Special Education to take place in Cuba from the 15th to the 20th of this month. One of the program coordinators of the event and Director of the Latin American Center for Special Education, Ileana Musilbay, said that the event's objective is not only to sit down and talk. She said one of the main reasons to hold the international meeting is to exchange experiences, especially regarding the way in which Cuba has put its theory into practice. The event is sponsored by the Latin American Center for Special Education, the World Association of Education and Cuba's Education Ministry. Participants will be able to visit schools and other educational facilities in the Cuban capital. KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN HAVE OPEN INVITATION TO VISIT CUBA Seville, June 3(RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Jose Ramon Fernandez said that the Cuban people will offer Spain's King and Queen the same warm welcome given to Pope John Paul II when he visited the island last January. Fernandez, who is also president of the Cuban Olympic Committee and currently visiting Seville, pointed out that the only confirmation that Havana has on the possible visit of King Juan Carlos of Spain is his participation at the Iberoamerican Summit which will take place in Havana next year. The Cuban official reiterated that King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia have an open invitation to visit the island. During his stay in Spain, Fernandez met with the President of the Government of Andalusia Manuel Chavez and thanked the people from that Spanish region for their solidarity with Cuba. RENOWNED CUBAN-AMERICAN DANCER DIES IN EASTERN GUANTANAMO PROVINCE Guantanamo, June 3(RHC)-- The renowned Cuban-American dancer Elfrida Maler has died of a heart attack in eastern Guantanamo province. Maler became a ballerina at an early age and was the founder of the Cuban National Dance School. She later became a teacher of generations of dancers and choreographers on the island. Born 81 years ago in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, Elfrida Maler came to Cuba in the 1960's and based herself in Guantanamo in 1980, where she continued her cultural work. She had received numerous awards from the Cuban Culture Ministry for her non-stop work in the development of art on the island. [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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