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 Friday, October 30, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- HAITIAN PRESIDENT RENE PREVAL TO VISIT CUBA 2.- CONFERENCE ON THE EURO CURRENCY TO TAKE PLACE NEXT WEEK IN HAVANA 3.- FOURTH LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN ENCOUNTER IN SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA BEGINS NEXT WEEK IN HAVANA 4.- CUBA'S ENTRY INTO THE LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION ASSOCIATION TO BE DISCUSSED IN URUGUAY 5.- CUBAN SINGER/SONGWRITER COMPAY SEGUNDO CONTINUES PROMOTING CUBAN MUSIC 6.- BRITISH TRADE MINISTER TO VISIT CUBA 7.- TUNISIAN SECRETARY OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT VISITS CUBA HAITIAN PRESIDENT RENE PREVAL TO VISIT CUBA Havana, October 30(RHC)-- Haitian President Rene Preval is to make his first official visit to Cuba beginning next November 9th, according to Cuba's Foreign Ministry. The Haitian president will participate in the first Cuba-Haiti inter-governmental mixed-commission gathering. Cuban President Fidel Castro recently offered to send Cuban doctors to Haiti to help not only with recuperation efforts following Hurricane Georges, but to also provide general support to the country's public health care system. Haiti has an explosive infant mortality rate of 135 per one thousand live births. Fidel Castro said Cuba would be willing to send an entire graduating class of doctors, if countries like Canada, France and Japan would provide the medicines. Last February, Haitian Foreign Minister Fritz Longchamp was in Havana for the opening of Haiti's embassy -- two years after former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba, broken in the early 1960s. CONFERENCE ON THE EURO CURRENCY TO TAKE PLACE NEXT WEEK IN HAVANA Havana, October 30(RHC)-- An international encounter on the EURO currency will take place in Havana on November 2nd and 3rd with the participation of representatives of the principal banks of Europe and Latin America. The President of Cuba's Central Bank, Francisco Soberon, explained that among the issues to be discussed are practical concerns regarding the introduction of the European currency, the current financial crisis, the system of payment and foreign trade. Soberon pointed out that the appearance of the EURO next January 1st will be an important event on the international financial scene -- the repercussions of which are still unpredictable, especially regarding the dominance of the U.S. dollar in today's world. FOURTH LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN ENCOUNTER IN SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA BEGINS NEXT WEEK IN HAVANA Havana, October 30(RHC)-- The Fourth Latin American and Caribbean Encounter in Solidarity with Cuba will begin Tuesday, November 3rd, here in Havana. Some 300 delegates from more than a dozen countries, will attend the event, which runs through Saturday, November 7th. Sergio Corrieri, President of the Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), compared the last Latin American and Caribbean solidarity event, which took place in April 1996, with this year's gathering -- noting that the l998 event reflects the continuation of a solidarity process with the island that is expanding both in quantity and quality. ICAP's president added that there are currently 436 solidarity with Cuba organizations in the region. During the encounter, which will take place in Havana's Capitol building, an action plan to end Washington's blockade against the island will be hammered out and delegates will exchange experiences on solidarity work abroad and on disinformation campaigns against Cuba. On the last day of the Havana solidarity meeting, participants will visit the mausoleum in the central city of Santa Clara that holds the remains of legendary guerrilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara. CUBA'S ENTRY INTO THE LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION ASSOCIATION TO BE DISCUSSED IN URUGUAY Montevideo, October 30(RHC)-- The General Secretary of the Latin American Integration Association, Antonio Antunes, stated that Cuba's membership in the regional institution will be advantageous for all member nations, especially economically. Antunes added that Cuba's entry as full-member into the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) will be discussed in next week's foreign ministers meeting in Uruguay. He pointed out that the island's membership would be beneficial for all since Havana maintains commercial relations with nearly all of the region's nations. Meanwhile, the leader of the group's Representative Committee, Jose Cardenas, said that the objective of the Montevideo Treaty is to add new regional members and Cuba, as other Central American and Caribbean nations, has stressed more sub-regional integration than a more broad type of integration. According to an ALADI report, Cuba's trade with the institution's member nations increased 41 per cent between 1989 and 1996. CUBAN SINGER/SONGWRITER COMPAY SEGUNDO CONTINUES PROMOTING CUBAN MUSIC Madrid, October 30(RHC)-- One of Cuba's most revered musicians, Francisco Repilado, better known as "Compay Segundo", has won a Gold Record in Spain for the sales of his recent LP in that country. He also received the Ondas Prize as the best latin singer. During the awards ceremony, which took place in Madrid's Casa America, Compay Segundo stressed the everlasting ties that unite Cuba and Spain. The 91-year-old Cuban singer/songwriter just ended a successful tour through Europe to debut his latest CD, which he made in collaboration with renowned Cuban musicians Silvio Rodriguez and Omara Portuondo. BRITISH TRADE MINISTER TO VISIT CUBA London, October 30(RHC)-- British Trade Minister Brian Wilson will travel to Cuba this week-end to open the first-ever British Pavilion at the Havana International Trade Fair. Susan Poysner of the London Radio Service stated that Cuba is seen as a growing market for UK goods and services. She said that the U.S. blockade has hit British trading interests in the area, but that Cuba is now considered a place for British companies to do business. According to Poysner, so far this year, British exports to Cuba have more than doubled and stand at 43 million dollars. Some of the firms involved are now hoping to tap into the market even further. A group of 26 of them are off to the Caribbean island to try to improve trade links. They'll be joined at the Havana International Trade Fair on Monday by the UK's Trade Minister Brian Wilson, who reiterated the UK and Europe's opposition to the sanctions imposed by the Helms-Burton Law. For his part, British Trade Minister Brian Wilson told reporters in London that both the UK, and the European Union strongly disagree with Washington's approach to the extraterritorial sanctions, in which they threaten companies. He stated that he will hold talks with Cuban ministers before travelling to Colombia -- another market with significant trade opportunities for the UK. TUNISIAN SECRETARY OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT VISITS CUBA Havana, October 30(RHC)-- Cuba's Foreign Trade Minister Ricardo Cabrisas has received Tunisa's Secretary of International Cooperation and Foreign Investment, Fethi Merdassi, who is heading a business delegation that will participate in Havana's International Trade Fair, scheduled to get underway on Sunday. The meeting in Havana between the Cuban and Tunisian officials was characterized as friendly and mutually beneficial. The two discussed economic perspectives for Cuba and Tunisia and ways to increase bilateral commercial exchange. Upon his arrival in Havana on Thursday, the Tunisian Secretary of International Cooperation and Foreign Investment thanked his Cuban hosts for the opportunity to participate in one of Latin America's largest trade fairs. [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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