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, September 17, 1998. Today's stories: 1.- UNITED STATES HOLDS WORLD RECORD IN SPYING AGAINST AND DESTABILIZING OTHER COUNTRIES 2.- CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO MEETS CATALONIAN DELEGATION 3.- WORLD FOOD PROGRAM AND CUBA SIGN AGREEMENT IN HAVANA 4.- CUBA NAMES AMBASSADOR TO GUATEMALA 5.- CUBAN CARDINAL SAYS CHURCH-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ARE IMPROVING 6.- NEW BLOOD DONATION RECORD IN CUBA 7.- CUBA WILL INCREASE ITS FORESTS TO 27 PERCENT OF TOTAL AREA BY THE YEAR 2000 8.- CUBAN-BRITISH COMPANY WILL START OPERATING IN THE INSURANCE BUSINESS NEXT MONTH UNITED STATES HOLDS WORLD RECORD IN SPYING AGAINST AND DESTABILIZING OTHER COUNTRIES Havana, September 17(RHC)-- Cuba's Foreign Ministry asserted Thursday that the United States holds the world record in spying against and destabilizing other countries. During his weekly news conference in Havana, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alejandro Gonzalez said the Cuban government neither confirms nor denies reports by U.S. authorities concerning this week's arrest of an alleged ring of Cuban spies in Miami. Gonzalez did say, however, that for the past 40 years Washington has employed all types of covert and overt actions against the security, stability and well-being of the Cuban people. And in response to reports from U.S. media outlets that this is the first such arrest of its type, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said U.S. authorities have arrested and taken action against hundreds of persons accused of spying on behalf of Cuba, and that the island is accustomed to Washington's anti-Cuba campaigns. CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO MEETS CATALONIAN DELEGATION Havana, September 17(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro met last night with a delegation of the autonomous Spanish region of Catalonia. The delegation is made up of members of the Democratic Union Party, headed by Josep A. Duran, who is also the Vice President of the International Christian Democratic Organization and was invited to visit the island by the Cuban Communist Party. During Wednesday night's meeting, President Castro and the Catalonian delegation exchanged views on current world affairs and on relations between Spain and Cuba. On the group's last day in Cuba, the visitors toured the municipality of Santa Cruz del Norte and the famous Varadero Beach Resort in Matanzas province, where they observed the participation of Catalonia's autonomous government in the restoration of the Monserrate Ermita hermitage. The Catalonian delegation wound up its visit to Cuba on Thursday. WORLD FOOD PROGRAM AND CUBA SIGN AGREEMENT IN HAVANA Havana, September 17(RHC)-- The Cuban government and the United Nations World Food Program have signed a letter of intent in the Cuban capital to begin the implementation of an emergency aid program in the island's five eastern provinces. The area has been hard hit by a severe drought over the last few months. Under the agreement, the World Food Program will provide nearly 21 million dollars to buy 34,000 tons of food for the health and education sectors in the eastern provinces of Las Tunas, Holguin, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo. The accord will benefit some 615,000 people. During the signing ceremony, Cuba's Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ibrahim Ferradaz said that the UN aid will complement the Cuban government's efforts to ease the effects of the drought in the eastern provinces. He added that the cooperation by the World Food Program was organized quickly and efficiently. The first operation by the UN World Food Program in Cuba was implemented after Hurricane Flora swept across the island in 1962. Since then, it has implemented 11 emergency and eight cooperation programs on the island. The World Food Program will begin distributing food in October, following the importation of rice, vegetable oil, flour and canned fish. CUBA NAMES AMBASSADOR TO GUATEMALA Havana, September 17(RHC)-- Cuba has named Freddy Arenis Torres as the island's new ambassador to Guatemala. The designation comes following the resumption of relations between the two countries earlier this year and coincides with the Guatemalan vice president's current visit to the Caribbean island. Arenis Torres holds a university degree in social communications and has written several books. At the time of his designation, the new ambassador was working as an official in the Cuban Communist Party Central Committee's International Relations Department. Arenis Torres has served as a diplomat in Nicaragua and Mexico. CUBAN CARDINAL SAYS CHURCH-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ARE IMPROVING Paris, September 17(RHC)-- Havana's Archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, told reporters in Paris that since Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in January, relations between the Catholic Church and the Cuban government have made progress. In statements to the Paris daily La Croix, the prelate recalled that prior to the Pope's visit, joint efforts were already underway by the Catholic Church and the government that helped create favorable bilateral relations that continue today. The Cuban Cardinal added that the Church expects a favorable response to its request to receive more foreign religious personnel on the island. NEW BLOOD DONATION RECORD IN CUBA Havana, September 17(RHC)-- The Cuban Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), have contributed 569,981 blood donations to the island's blood banks -- a new record. The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution is the island's largest grassroots organization. The number of blood donations is 9,865 more than projected for the current period, which runs from October last year to September 1998. According to CDR activists, in 1997 the organization reached the World Health Organization's goal for the year 2000 -- one blood donation for every 20 inhabitants - - a goal set for developed countries. Today, one out of every 19.3 Cubans has given a blood donation. Since the voluntary blood donation drive sponsored by the grassroots organization began in 1962, the CDRs have donated over 8 million 806,284 donations. The quality of the donated blood is not only supported by the Cuban people's good health indexes but also by doctors and nurses, as well as rigorous tests for syphilis or HIV 1 and 2. Re-agents for those tests are provided by the Cuban Immunoassay Center. The Medicine Quality Control Center also regulates the activity. The security of the testing process is such that the World and Pan American Health Organizations have asked Cuba to advise other Third World nations on the issue. Cuba has not imported blood derivatives since 1982. CUBA WILL INCREASE ITS FORESTS TO 27 PERCENT OF TOTAL AREA BY THE YEAR 2000 Havana, September 17(RHC)-- Cuba will increase its forests to 27 percent of its total land surface by the year 2000, according to Cuban Deputy Agriculture Minister Fidel Ramos. The official made the statement at the Second Cuban Forestry Congress that wound up thursday in Havana. The deputy vice minister said that this is part of the island's forestry strategy, in line with Agenda 21. Ramos noted that the island's reforestation efforts over the past four decades have raised the area of natural forests on the island to more than 240 million hectares. CUBAN-BRITISH COMPANY WILL START OPERATING IN THE INSURANCE BUSINESS NEXT MONTH London, September 17(RHC)-- The British insurance company Heath and Cuba's Esicuba have set up a joint venture insurance business. The new firm, called Heath de Cuba, will begin operations October 1st at its Havana offices. According to the London daily newspaper The Financial Times, the company will primarily provide services to foreign investors and companies doing business on the island. Under the agreement constituting the joint venture, Esicuba will hold 51 percent of Heath de Cuba. [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. 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