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, October 21, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO ARRIVES HOME AFTER VISITS TO PORTUGAL AND SPAIN 2.- CUBAN SALSA GROUP WILL PERFORM AT MIAMI DISCOTHEQUE DESPITE BOMB EXPLOSION 3.- JAPANESE DELEGATION CONTINUES VISIT TO CUBA 4.- BILATERAL TALKS UNDERWAY BETWEEN CUBA AND ARGENTINA 5.- CUBAN CULTURE DAY CELEBRATED AROUND THE WORLD 6.- CUBA'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION ASSOCIATION WILL BE DISCUSSED EARLY NEXT MONTH CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO ARRIVES HOME AFTER VISITS TO PORTUGAL AND SPAIN Havana, October 21(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro arrived in Havana early Wednesday morning after visiting Portugal and Spain. In Oporto, Portugal, the Cuban leader participated in the 8th Iberoamerican Summit -- whose 9th summit will be held next year here in Cuba. Fidel Castro also paid an official visit to the Spanish autonomous region of Extremadura and them made a quick stop-over in Madrid for further bilateral talks with Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar. Just hours before returning to the Cuban capital, President Castro made reference to the arrest in London of former Chilean dictator August Pinochet -- calling his detention "morally just, but legally questionable and politically risky." He said the action would turn Pinochet into a martyr of the Chilean armed forces and divide the country's progressive forces. The Cuban leader said Pinochet wasn't the only person responsible for crimes against humanity during the dictatorship, saying that those in the United States who encouraged the bloody coup should also be put on trial. President Fidel Castro said he would not include Richard Nixon on that list, since the former U.S. president is deceased. CUBAN SALSA GROUP WILL PERFORM AT MIAMI DISCOTHEQUE DESPITE BOMB EXPLOSION Miami, October 21(RHC)-- A molotov cocktail was reportedly tossed at a Miami discotheque where the Cuban salsa group "Manolin: El Medico de la Salsa" was scheduled to perform Tuesday night. A spokesperson for the Miami Fire Department, Luis Garcia, said there were no injuries and that the fire was quickly brought under control. Miami police are investigating the incident, which took place at the Amnesia Discotheque in Miami Beach. Despite the incident, promoters of the Cuban group and the Amnesia Discotheque told reporters that the Cuban group will perform Wednesday night as planned. This is the first time that "Manolin: El Medico de la Salsa" has performed in the United States and the first performance by Cuban musicians since the successful tours of Isaac Delgado and Chucho Valdes last June in Miami. JAPANESE DELEGATION CONTINUES VISIT TO CUBA Havana, October 21(RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage received a Japanese delegation headed by the General Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Office of Japan's Foreign Ministry, Tomoyuki Abe. The Japanese official said he was pleased to have met the Cuban vice president. He said they exchanged views on the world economic crisis and its influence on Japan's economy. The Japanese delegation traveled to Cuba to participate in the first Cuba-Japan Bilateral Exchange, which began on Tuesday in Havana and was presided over by the island's Deputy Foreign Minister Isabel Allende. BILATERAL TALKS UNDERWAY BETWEEN CUBA AND ARGENTINA Havana, October 21(RHC)-- An Argentinean delegation currently visiting Havana began talks with Cuban authorities on economic and commercial relations between the two countries. The visiting delegation is headed by the Secretary of the Argentinean Foreign Ministry's International Economic Office, Jorge Campbell. Campbell is scheduled to meet with Cuban Foreign Trade Minister Ricardo Cabrisas and the Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ibrahim Ferradaz. CUBAN CULTURE DAY CELEBRATED AROUND THE WORLD Havana, October 21(RHC)-- Cuban Culture Day was celebrated in numerous countries on Tuesday. In Mexico, the Director of the island's Office of Marti Studies, Armando Hart, called for unity throughout Latin America in order to confront the challenges of globalization in the region. Cuba's former minister of culture participated in the inauguration of the Cuba-Mexico Fine Arts Salon at the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City. In the Dutch city of Groningen, an exhibition of Cuban ceramics and paintings was inaugurated yesterday to commemorate Cuban Culture Day. And a book exhibit was opened in Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Korea. The exhibit is sponsored by the Committee in Solidarity with Cuba. CUBA'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION ASSOCIATION WILL BE DISCUSSED EARLY NEXT MONTH Havana, October 21(RHC)-- Cuba's membership in the Latin American Integration Association will be discussed during its Council of Ministers meeting, scheduled to take place November 5th and 6th. Membership must be approved by at least eight of the ten member nations, without a negative vote and with three abstentions or less. Other issues that will be discussed during next month's meeting are the region's integration process and the election of the institution's officers. [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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