CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org The following news from Cuba was broadcast by Radio Havana Cuba in English on the 23rd September 1998: 1. CUBAN VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE IN FRANCE 2. FIDEL CASTRO SAYS PEOPLE HARMED BY HURRICANE WILL BE LOOKED AFTER 3. MIAMI GROUPS QUESTION RECENT ARRETS OF ALLEGED CUBAN SPIES 4. CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER ATTENDS PANAMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION MEETING 5. FIRST INTERNATIONAL FAMILY MEDICINE CONGRESS SET FOR OCTOBER 6. GENERAL SECRETARY OF BANGLADESH WORKER'S PARTY VISITS CUBA 7. 5TH CONGRESS OF COMMITTEES FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE REVOLUTION 8. CUBA'S FIRST DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 9. CUBA'S NATIONAL BALLET ON EUROPEAN TOUR IN FRANCE, VISITING CUBAN VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE RECEIVED BY FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC Havana, September 23, (RHC) On the third day of an official visit to France, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage was today received by French President Jacques Chirac. Lage took the opportunity to tha the French government for its initiative to include Cuba in an upcoming European Union & Latin America Summit which will be the first of its kind. Chirac launched the idea during a South America tour in March of last year. The Cuban Vice President said Cuba willmost certainly be present at the event, slated for nextJune in Rio de Janeiro. The French President also applauded Cuba's Caribbean integration efforts, and said that France and the French people were pleased when Pope John Paul II visited the island last January. Also on Wednesday, France's National Council of Employers offered Lage a reception that according to observers reflected the French business community's growing interest in the Cuban economy. The leader of this business association, Pierre Desgeorges, pointed out that at the first such gathering between Cuban officials and French business executives, in 1992, only 15 business representatives participated, while in today's gathering there were close to one hundred. At the reception, Lage called on the French business community to step up its investment in Cuba, saying that the Caribbean island is a country without political turmoil or financial turbulence. Answering a question concerning Cuba's economic opening and reforms, the Cuban Vice President said this process will continue. He stressed, however, that Cuba will not promote private enterprise in small and medium-size businesses unless they are associated with foreign capital. He recalled that in 1992 Cuba's economic opening was strictly in tourism, but that now that process has extended into numerous other sectors, with the exception of education, health and national defense. In a press conference offered late Tuesday in Paris, Lage highlighted the 18 percent growth in trade between Cuba and 20 French-Cuban mixed associations, while 27 French firms have permanent offices on the island. He said French tourism to Cuba is steadily growing, already this year surpassing 100,000 visitors. Lage said France is the country that last year registered the largest increase in its tourism investments in Cuba -- at more than 40 percent. Responding to a question concerning foreign investment inCuba in exchange for a political opening, Cuban Vice President Lage said that Cuba's political liberalization occured on January 1st, 1959, when the Cuban Revolution triumphed. France is Cuba's 8th most important trade partner, ranking number two among the countries of the European Union. CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO SAYS NO ONE IN CUBA AFFECTED BY HURRICANE GEORGES WILL BE LEFT BY THE WAYSIDE Havana, September 23, (RHC) Cuban President Fidel Castro has vowed that no one in Cuba affected by Hurricane Georges will be forsaken or left by the wayside. The Cuban leader visited early Wednesday morning Havana's Meteorological Institute where he spoke with weather experts and a group of journalists. He said all the necessary measures are being adopted, with the Cuban armed forces stand by with helicopters and boats, and authorities preparing supplies of construction materials, matresses and household goods for those whose homes are affected or destroyed. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the eastern provinces of Guantanamo, Holguin, Camaguey and Santiago de Cuba. The Cuban population in these regions has mobilized, fastening down windows and doors, storing water, and cleaning from balconies and roofs objects that could be hurled by hurricane winds. Public and private vehicles are helping to evacuate tourists, taking them north towards Havana. Hurrican Georges slammed into Guantanamo at midday today, and is expected to hit Holguin this evening and Camaguey on Thursday. In reference to the damage that the storm could cause, President Fidel Castro said Cuba can do much with its own resources, while at the same time recognizing the backing that the island has received from international institutions like the Food and Agriculture Program. He mentioned, however, the anti-Cuba propaganda that accompanied humanitarian aid sent from Florida following last year's Hurricane Lili. The Cuban leader said Cuba cannot accept aid from those who blockade us, adding that the humanitarian shipment from Florida last year amounted to only one percent of what th n countries like Haiti, the DominicanRepublic and Barbados, saying Cuba would be willing to send doctors or other kinds of aid to these neighboring countries. IN MIAMI, MODERATE CUBAN-AMERICAN EXILE GROUPS QUESTION RECENT ARREST OF ALLEGED CUBAN SPIES IN SOUTH FLORIDA Havana, September 23, (RHC) In Miami, moderate Cuban-American exile groups have questioned the recent arrest of alleged Cuban spies in south Florida. In a press conference on Tuesday, groups like the Antonio Maceo Brigade, the Alliance of Cuban-American Workers and the Miami Coalition Against the Blockade of Cuba said the arrests could respond to pressure from the ultra-right wing Cuban-American National Foundation in an effort to deflect attention from this organization's involvement in terrorist activities. Andres Gomez, spokesperson for the Antonio Maceo Brigade, pointed to recent revelations in news dailies like The New York Times and the Miami Herald concerning ties between the Cuban-American Nation Foundation, the CANF, and Cuban-American terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. Gomez also pointed to the 7 Cuban-Americans -- including a member of the CANF's executive board -- recently arraigned in a federal court in Puerto Rico on charges of attempting to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro. The moderate Cuban-American organizations also asked why authorities have not brought charges against the CANF's president, Pepe Hernandez. Hernandez was owner of one of the two high-powered rifles discovered on board a vessel off the coast of Puerto Rico reportedly heading for the Venzuelan island of Margarita, where President Castro was to attend an Iberoamerican Summit. They called on federal authorities to continue investigating the CANF's activities. CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER PARTICIPATES IN PANAMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION MEETING Havana, September 23 (RHC)-- Cuban Health Minister, Carlos Dotres has urged his counterparts in the region to find effective formulas to solve the problem of poverty. The Cuban health official was speaking at a ministerial meeting of the Panamerican Health Organization in Washington, D.C. Dr.Dotres pointed out that there are nations that are economically powerful, but in which large segments of the population are without access to basic health care. He also outlined the role of the Panamerican Health Organization in identifying problems and defining priorities, as well as mobilizing resources. Cuba's Health Minister noted that in many cases governments respond to the health crisis by turning over the responsibility of health care to private concerns that run health insitutions for profit. Dr Dotres added that his counterparts in the region must find effective ways to provide basic health care to its peoples. FIRST INTERNATIONAL FAMILY MEDICINE CONGRESS SET FOR EASTERN SANTIAGO DE CUBA IN OCTOBER. Havana, September 23 (RHC) The first International Family Medicine Congress will take place from October 7th to the 11th in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba. The congress' princiapl objective is for Cuban and foreign specialists to exchange experiences on community health. According to Dr. Leonardo Cuesta, member of the Cuban Community Health Society, participants will discuss topics including Cuba's family medicine model and the world's conception of family medicine. Cuesta said that some 350 Cuban and over 150 foreign expertsmainly from Mexico, Spain, and Brazil will attend the event. Cuba currently has over 28,000 family doctors, 19,000 of whom are working directly in the community. Others have been assigned to workplaces and schools and other institutions such as day care centers. GENERAL SECRETARY OF BANGLEDESH WORKERS PARTY IS VISITING CUBA. Havana, September 23 (RHC)-- The general secretary of Bangledesh's Workers Party, Rashed Kan Menon, arrived Tuesday in Havana at the invitation of the Central Committeeof Cuba's Communist Party. Upon his arrival at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport the Bangladesh leader said that his visit will permit an exchange of opinions with his Cuban counterparts, especially now that his country is organizing an Asia-Pacific Solidarity with Cuba Conference scheduled for November of 1999. Kan Menon added that for Bangledesh, Cuban President Fidel Castro is a very important figure because he always hassupported his people's struggle for liberation. THE 5TH CONGRESS OF THE COMMITTEES FOR THE DEFENSE OF THEREVOLUTION SET TO BEGIN ON FRIDAY Havana, September 23 (RHC)-- The 5th Congress of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, CDR, will take place in Havana from the 25th to the 28th of this month. Participants will disucss the organization's objectives taking into consideration the new national and international situation. The head of the CDR's International Relations Department, Orestes Perez, told the press in Havana that a thousand national delegates and representatives from various international organizations will rticipate in the Congress. The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, were created in 1960 as grassroots organizations on a neighborhood block level to respond to the interests of residents and the Revolution. Among the CDR's main activities is keeping the neighborhood clean, collecting blood donations, organizing volunteer work and neighborhood crime watches and collecting recyclable goods. CUBA'S FIRST DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Havana, September 23 (RHC) Cuba's first deputy Foreign Minister, Jorge Bolanos, met with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, on Tuesday in New York. The meeting took place in what was characterized as a friendly and respectful atmosphere. During their talk the UN official mentioned her meeting with Cuban President Fidel Castro during the World Trade Conference in Geneva. Bolanos refered to the recent visit to Havana of the assistant to the UN Secretary General, Angela King, who also is the special UN envoy on Women's Issues. First deputy foreign minister, Jorge Bolanos, who is participating in the 53th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, told Mary Robinson that Cuba is interested and willing to continue cooperating in the area of Human Rights as long as that cooperation is not selective or discriminatory. CUBA'S NATIONAL BALLET COMPANY CONTINUES EUROPEAN TOUR AS PART OF ACTIVITIES COMMEMORATING ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY The Cuban National Ballet company was widely applauded in Paris for its production of Swan Lake. The Paris performance is part of a European tour to commemorate the National Ballet's 50th anniversary. Cuba's prestigious ballet company was created by prima ballerina Alicia Alonso who is also the troupe's director. The Cuban National Ballet company is scheduled to perform in other French and and European cities as part of its current tour. [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