Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit 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, November 25, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER VISITS GUATEMALA TO INSPECT DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE MITCH 2.- CLINTON ADMINISTRATION CONSIDERING PROPOSAL TO REVIEW U.S. CUBA POLICY 3.- INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM CONTINUES IN HAVANA 4.- CAPE VERDE MINISTER OF FOREIGN BUSINESS AND COMMUNITIES VISITS CUBA 5.- PERMANENT SECRETARIAT OF LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIC SYSTEM MEETS NEXT WEEK IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER VISITS GUATEMALA TO INSPECT DAMAGE CAUSED BY HURRICANE MITCH Guatemala City, November 25(RHC)-- Cuban Health Minister Carlos Dotres is heading a delegation to Guatemala and other Central American nations, to take a first-hand look at the damage caused by Hurricane Mitch. The Cuban health minister's tour follows one made by Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina, during which he announced the island's willingness to continue aiding the nations that were hardest hit by Hurricane Mitch. Cuba offered to send two thousand medical personnel to the region and to offer 500 scholarships a year for Central American students to study medicine on the island. In Mexico, the last leg of his Central American tour, Robaina said that he had found support for a proposed Iberoamerican health program to aid the region. Experts say that such a plan would annually save the same number of people killed by Hurricane Mitch -- approximately 30,000. More medical brigades continue to arrive in the region from Cuba, Spain and the United States in an attempt to stop the spread of epidemics arising from the lack of clean drinking water and general contamination. CLINTON ADMINISTRATION CONSIDERING PROPOSAL TO REVIEW U.S. CUBA POLICY Washington, November 25(RHC)-- The Clinton Administration says it is giving full consideration to the proposed creation of an official bipartisan panel to review U.S. policy toward Cuba. State Department spokesperson James Rubin told reporters in Washington D.C. that the suggestion was being positively considered. The chief congressional backer of the proposal is Senator John Warner, a Republican from Virginia, who said a bipartisan review of Cuba policy is warranted because there has been none since 1960. The review was proposed by 15 mostly-Republican senators, led by Senator Warner, who wrote to President Clinton last month, saying that more and more Americans were concerned about the effects of Washington's Cuba policy on U.S. interests and on the Cuban people. Since the letter was sent to the White House, six other senators have joined the effort, which is being endorsed by three former Secretaries of State: Henry Kissinger, George Schultz and Lawrence Eagleburger. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright met Tuesday with three Cuban-American legislators who staunchly oppose the initiative, designed to review the economic blockade against the island which has been rejected by the international community. INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM CONTINUES IN HAVANA Havana, November 25(RHC)-- A workshop headed by Dominican Juan Pablo Acosta on the theme: "There is no peace without development," was well received by participants at an International Human Rights Forum in Havana. Acosta pointed out that "no peoples live in peace nor can they say that they enjoy true human rights without minimal material development." Participants also emphasized the need to de-politicize the focus of human rights. The International Human Rights Forum was organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was approved by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948. CAPE VERDE MINISTER OF FOREIGN BUSINESS AND COMMUNITIES VISITS CUBA Havana, November 25(RHC)-- The Minister of Foreign Business and Communities of the Republic of Cape Verde, Jose Luis de Jesus, told reporters in Havana that was "an honor to be in Cuba once again," a country with which his nation has very good relations. The Cape Verde official and his delegation arrived on Tuesday for an official visit at the invitation of Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina. Jose Luis de Jesus pointed out that he will discuss issues related to technical assistance in various sectors, among them agriculture and air transportation. The African minister, who inaugurated the 11th Cuba-Cape Verde Joint Intergovernmental Commission, will meet with Cuban Foreign Ministry officials. He will also hold meetings with Cuban Communist Party Political Bureau members Juan Almeida Bosque and Jose Ramon Balaguer. PERMANENT SECRETARIAT OF LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIC SYSTEM MEETS NEXT WEEK IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, November 25(RHC)-- The Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American Economic System, SELA, will meet next Monday in Havana. The three-day meeting will analyze the Latin American International Economic Agenda which includes a follow-up plan on the application of the anti-Cuba Helms-Burton Law. SELA's yearly council will be presided over by its Secretary General Juan Carlos Moneta, who will speak about the eventual participation of small economies in the area of the Free Trade Zone of the Americas. Among the participants will be former Brazilian President Jose Sarney, former Prime Minister from Barbados Jarol Saint John and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America, Jose Antonio Ocampo. According to the program, SELA's annual report will include aspects related to its work plan and 1999 budget as well as to organizational restructuring and the election of a new Permanent Secretariat. [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