Radio Havana Cuba, August 20th, 1999 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 English Language Service for Friday, August 20, 1999. Today's stories: 1.GUATEMALAN FOREIGN MINISTER EDUARDO STEIN ANNOUNCES CUBA VISIT OF GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT ALVARO ARZU 2. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE RECOGNIZES CUBA'S POTENTIAL TO HOST 2008 GAMES 3. YUCATAN TRADE DELEGATION TO VISIT CUBA 4. MORE CUBANS THAN EVER TAKE CAMPING HOLIDAYS 5. CONGO REPUBLIC SEEKS FURTHER BILATERAL COOPERATION WITH CUBA 6. HIV VIRUS DISCOVERER TO ATTEND HIV/AIDS CONFERENCE IN HAVANA GUATEMALAN FOREIGN MINISTER EDUARDO STEIN ANNOUNCES CUBA VISIT OF GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT ALVARO ARZU Havana, August 20(RHC)-- In Havana, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Eduardo Stein Barillas has announced Guatemalan President Alvaro Arzu will visit the island. In statements to local and foreign press correspondents shortly after his arrival in Havana Thursday afternoon, the Guatemalan Foreign Minister said his visit is, in part, to prepare the details of Arzu's trip to Cuba, slated for late September. Stein Barillas stated that his country also hasn't lost hope in the possibility that Cuban President Fidel Castro will honor Guatemala with a visit to that Central American nation. He said the invitation has already been forwarded, but that his government understands the Cuban leader's limitations in terms of agenda -- particularly with respect to Havana's hosting of the November Iberoamerican Summit. The Guatemalan Foreign Minister said there are many areas in which the two countries are developing ties -- particularly in the arena of human development. As an example, he had words of praise for the work of the 380 Cuban doctors currently giving medical assistance to the residents of Guatemala's most remote regions. The Guatemalan Foreign Minister added that the best way to exemplify the capacity and dedication of the Cuban doctors in his country is to point out that in all the regions where Cuban health professionals are providing assistance, the maternal mortality rate has been reduced to zero. The visiting official said this has occurred without exception, particularly among indigenous populations that were accustomed to the deaths of new-born babies and their mothers during delivery. Guatemalan Foreign Minister Eduardo Stein Barillas also took the opportunity to thank the Cuban government for providing scholarships to medical schools for 260 Guatemalan students. The visiting Foreign Minister is expected to wrap up his visit Saturday. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE RECOGNIZES CUBA'S POTENTIAL TO HOST 2008 GAMES Havava, 20 August 1999 (RHC) -- The Spanish president of the Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, said Friday that he was pleased that Cuba had shown interest in holding the 2008 Olympic Games on the island. In a telephone interview with the Cuban newspaper Granma, Samaranch said that Cuba had proved itself worthy in the world of sports and had demonstrated its ability to organize large events such as the Pan American Games that were held in Havana in 1991. The Cuban authorities, having proposed that the island host the 2008 games, will also offer to host those of 2012 if turned down for 2008. YUCATAN TRADE DELEGATION TO VISIT CUBA Havana, 20 August 1999 (RHC) -- A trade mission from the Mexican state of Yucatan will be visiting Cuba next week to explore the possibilities of commercial ties, announced the Mexican embassy to Cuba on Friday. The delegation will be headed by the Yucatan's Development Secretary, Ricardo Dajer Nahum, along with the President of the Chamber of Commerce. There will be representatives from the tourism industry as well as clothing, food and construction industries. Figures presented by the Mexican embassy indicate that as of the end of last May the trade balance between the two nations was $400 million in Cuba's favor reflecting an important increase in Cuban exports over the past four years. MORE CUBANS THAN EVER TAKE CAMPING HOLIDAYS Havana, 20 August 1999 (RHC) -- More than 234,000 Cubans took camping holidays in the first seven months of this year, the president of the Cuban Camping Group, Oscar Gonzalez reported this week. This increase was the result of more cabins being built in the countryside and the creation of new holiday parks throughout the island. Services had also been improved with the state now investing more than $2 million a year in the industry. There are 78 camping grounds in Cuba, most of which house holiday-makers in wood cabins - the Cuban notion of camping being different from other nations' love affair with canvas. Food can be cooked on site or is provided in canteens. The improvement of this canteen food is also seen as another factor in the rise of campers. The Cuban Camping Group says that by the end of summer more than 300,000 Cubans are expected to have taken their vacations in one of their locations. CONGOLESE AMBASSADOR SEEKS FUTHER COOPERATION BETWEEN HIS COUNTRY AND CUBA Havana, 20 August 1999 (RHC) -- On the occasion of the 39th anniversary of the independence of the Congo, the new Congolese ambassador to Cuba, Pascal Onguenby, held a press conference in Havana Thursday, in which he expressed his desire to improve cooperation between the two nations. He mentioned especially the fields of public health, education, agriculture, sports and construction and recalled that he had received a diploma in Agricultural Engineering in 1967 at the Technical University (ISPJAE) in Havana. He never thought, he said, that he would return to Cuba as the ambassador of his country. According to Onguenby the new conditions of peace and security that prevail in his country lend themselves to seeking help to improve the lot of the population. There was a need to develop the Republic of Congo's lost institutions such as public health, the army and state structure which has degenerated into a conglomerate of tribal clans. The ambassador reminded those present of Cuba's support in his nation's war of independence and the disinterested participation of Cuban doctors in improving the health of the Congolese population. FRENCH DISCOVERER OF HIV VIRUS TO ATTEND HIV/AIDS CONFERENCE IN HAVANA Havana, 20 August 1999 (RHC) -- The famous French doctor and researcher who's team discovered the HIV virus, Dr Luc Montagnier, will be attending the next conference on HIV/AIDS in Central America and the Caribbean that will be held in Havana in January of 2000. Dr Jorge Perez Avila, the director of the Havana AIDS Sanatorium and one of the principal authorities on the virus on the island, reported this week that the number of cases in Central America and the Caribbean were increasing and that Cuba, with an infection rate far lower than those of any other nation in the region - although also increasing, would like to share its experiences in prevention and information of HIV/AIDS. Some 20 nations will be represented in the conference at a time when the global level of infection has risen to 30 million people. 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