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, May 14, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO ADDRESSES 51ST ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OF WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 2.- EUROPEAN UNION REITERATES REJECTION OF U.S. PROPOSAL CONCERNING APPLICATION OF EXTRATERRITORIAL LAWS AGAINST CUBA, LIBYA AND IRAN 3.- MOVEMENT OF NON-ALIGNED NATIONS SET TO CONDEMN U.S. BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA 4.- PARAGUAYAN PRESIDENT-ELECT ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO ESTABLISH FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA 5.- WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVE IN CUBA IS SATISFIED WITH ISLAND'S WORK IN THE HEALTH FIELD 6.- LATIN AMERICAN PARLIAMENT COMMISSIONS WILL MEET THIS WEEKEND IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL 7.- CANADA'S AMBASSADOR TO CUBA TOURS CIEGO DE AVILA PROVINCE 8.- INTERNATIONAL SUGAR MINISTERS SET TO MEET IN HAVANA CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO ADDRESSES 51ST ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OF WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION Geneva, May 14(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro addressed the 51st Annual Assembly of the World Health Organization today. The Cuban leader opened his speech with a eulogy to the WHO and other United Nations agencies which, he said, have fought hard to shape universal consciousness concerning the serious problems facing the world today and the immense challenges ahead. President Castro said that if between 1950 and 1997 the world economy has grown six-fold, and the production of goods and services has increased from five trillion to 29 trillion dollars a year, why do 33,000 children die every day from mostly curable diseases -- 12 million children a year? Nothing in the world, said the Cuban leader -- no genocide, no war -- has killed so many people every minute, every hour, every day, as have hunger and poverty. Of those children who survive, said President Castro, 500,000 are blind due to the lack of a simple vitamin that costs less than a pack of cigarettes. Why, he asked, are 200 million children undernourished? He also referred to the hundreds of millions of children forced to work, unable to go to school, with no health care services and living in absolute poverty. Cuban President Fidel Castro asked what is the price of a human life; how much does it cost humanity to withstand the unjust economic order prevailing today? According to United Nations estimates, he went on, the cost to achieve universal access to basic health services is 25 billion dollars a year -- just 3 percent of the amount currently earmarked for military spending worldwide, even in the absence of the Cold War. As the weapons trade continues on the rise, said President Castro, the price of medicines to save lives also increases. He said the transnationals that control pharmaceutical patents and markets are selling some of the latest generation of anti-biotics at 50 times their production cost. What's more, added the Cuban leader, developed countries -- with only 14.6 percent of the world population -- consume 82 percent of available medicines. The leader of the Cuban Revolution warned that old diseases are re- emerging while new ones are appearing. He said AIDS is just one of an estimated 30 new diseases that have appeared in recent times, noting that no poor HIV carrier can afford the 10,000 dollars a year for AIDS treatments -- which only prolongs life, without curing the disease. After also mentioning the diverse environmental problems threatening our planet, President Castro asked who is going to save the human species. Not, he said, the blind and out-of-control laws of the market, not neoliberal globalization, not an economy that grows for itself and by itself like a cancer that devours human beings and destroys nature. That cannot be the path to choose, he asserted -- and if it is, it will only be for a short period of history. President Fidel Castro wrapped up his address to the 51st Annual Assembly of the World Health Organization by presenting a panorama of Cuba's remarkable achievements in the health arena, saying that as early as 1983, Cuba had already complied with the WHO's goal for the year 2000 of Health for All -- despite, he added, Washington's cruel blockade against the island. The Cuban leader said the effort to commit genocide against the Cuban people multiplied the island's efforts and struggle to survive. And, he added, the world can also struggle and win. Earlier in the day, Cuban President Fidel Castro was distinguished with the WHO's Health For All Award. EUROPEAN UNION REITERATES REJECTION OF U.S. PROPOSAL CONCERNING APPLICATION OF EXTRATERRITORIAL LAWS AGAINST CUBA, LIBYA AND IRAN Brussels, May 14(RHC)-- The European Union reiterated today its rejection of Washington's proposals concerning the anti-Cuba Helms- Burton Law and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. According to observers, the lack of a quick agreement will cast a shadow over the upcoming EU- U.S. Summit in England next Monday. Spain and France reportedly are in the vanguard of an EU demand of a global and unambiguous commitment from Washington with respect to U.S. sanctions against European firms. At the center of EU demands is a U.S. commitment to not apply sanctions against past or future investments in Cuba, Libya and Iran, while the United States wants to limit the commitment only to past investments. MOVEMENT OF NON-ALIGNED NATIONS SET TO CONDEMN U.S. BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA Bogota, May 14(RHC)-- The Movement of Non-Aligned nations will once again condemn Washington's blockade against Cuba during a ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Bureau, slated to take place next week in Cartagena, Colombia. Colombian Foreign Minister Camilo Reyes revealed that the participants will insist on the need to end Washington's almost 40 year blockade against the island. According to the Colombian foreign minister, the meeting will also discuss other international issues, such as reforms of the United Nations Security Council and international lending agencies. PARAGUAYAN PRESIDENT-ELECT ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO ESTABLISH FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA Asuncion, May 14(RHC)-- Paraguay's President-elect, Raul Cubas Grau, says will re-establish full diplomatic relations with Cuba after formally taking office as president next August 15th. According to Paraguayan Senator Diogenes Martinez, the South American nation's foreign policy will change in relation to Cuba. He added that Paraguay's relations with China will also change, a country with which Paraguay currently does not have any commercial, consular or diplomatic relations. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVE IN CUBA IS SATISFIED WITH ISLAND'S WORK IN THE HEALTH FIELD Havana, May 14(RHC)-- The representative of the World Health Organization in Cuba, Dr. Patricio Yepez, said he is "satisfied, motivated and impressed" with the work Cuba is carrying out in the health sector. Yepez told Prensa Latina News Agency that Cuba has always been an active participant within the world institution as well as the Pan American Health Organization and recalled that the island achieved Health for All in 1983, a goal that has been set internationally by the World Health Organization for the year 2000. The WHO official added that after two years of work in Cuba and having had the possibility of traveling to other provinces, he can attest to the fact that the Caribbean island has a unique and strong health care system, in addition to an extraordinary human capacity. LATIN AMERICAN PARLIAMENT COMMISSIONS WILL MEET THIS WEEKEND IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, May 14(RHC)-- The Latin American Parliament's Environment, Health and Tourism Commissions will meet this coming Friday and Saturday in Havana. Cuban legislative sources report that the commissions will analyze a proposal for the protection of the region's bio-diversity, studies on the situation of AIDS and perspectives on the tourism industry in Latin America and the Caribbean. CANADA'S AMBASSADOR TO CUBA TOURS CIEGO DE AVILA PROVINCE Havana, May 14(RHC)-- Canada's Ambassador in Cuba, Keith Christie, toured agricultural cooperatives in the eastern province of Ciego de Avila to get a first-hand look at how Ottawa's financial donations are implemented in the region. The Canadian ambassador said he is impressed with the professional manner in which the donations from his country are being distributed and the ability of the cooperative farmers to carry out their work in just a few weeks. INTERNATIONAL SUGAR MINISTERS SET TO MEET IN HAVANA Havana, May 14(RHC)-- Fourteen sugar ministers from around the world have confirmed their participation at the upcoming meeting of the Council of the International Sugar Organization, which will take place in Cuba for the first time. Important sugar producers and consumers like China and Russia, as well as non-member nations will be present at the world forum, which gets underway on May 26th in the Cuban capital. The participants will exchange views and opinions at an inter-governmental level between the main nations in the industry. In addition to the 14 sugar ministers, some 150 delegates from over 20 nations are scheduled to attend in the meeting. [c] 1998, Radio Habana Cuba All rights reserved Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system without the consent of RHC. 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