Radio Havana Cuba, December 2nd, 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 news service for Thursday, December 2, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOULD NOT ONLY CONTRIBUTE TO ECONOMIC GROWTH, BUT SHOULD ALSO BENEFIT UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS 2.- CUBA HOPES WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION CONFERENCE WILL COME OUT IN FAVOR OF FAIR TRADE, NOT JUST FREE TRADE 3.- HAVANA WARNS WASHINGTON THAT RELATIONS COULD WORSEN IF FIVE-YEAR-OLD BOY IS NOT RETURNED TO HIS FATHER 4.- CUBA HAS RECORD LOW GROWTH IN HIV/AIDS 5.- CUBAN DOCTORS RETURN TO HAVANA FROM HAITI 6.- LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: HAVANA'S 21st INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF NEW LATIN AMERICAN FILM IS UNDERWAY INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOULD NOT ONLY CONTRIBUTE TO ECONOMIC GROWTH, BUT SHOULD ALSO BENEFIT UNDERDEVELOPED NATIONS Seattle, December 2(RHC)-- Cuba believes that international trade should not only contribute to economic growth but should also benefit underdeveloped nations. Speaking before the Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Seattle on Wednesday, Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade Ricardo Cabrisas stated that it was necessary to guarantee that poor countries have greater access to products and services. The Cuban minister said that in order to do this, preferential treatment for underdeveloped countries is absolutely necessary. Ricardo Cabrisas told representatives of more than 135 nations gathered in Seattle that trade preferences should be a fundamental principal and not an exception of the World Trade Organization. The Cuban minister of foreign trade called on Third World countries to work for unity and solidarity, which he called "essential to demand the revision, rectification and reform of current policies governing international trade." During his speech before the WTO ministerial conference, Ricardo Cabrisas condemned the use of unilateral, extraterritorial measures against small and poor countries, applied to force political or economic concessions. He said that Cuba is a perfect example -- a small and poor country which is subjected to an economic blockade by the most powerful nation on the face of the earth. The Cuban minister of foreign trade added that this blockade not only prohibits commerce between Washington and Havana but also affects trade with other members of the World Trade Organization. Ricardo Cabrisas stated that growing inequalities between nations can no longer be tolerated and that finding solutions to the problems of development benefit both rich and poor countries -- because there can be no future without peace and stability. CUBA HOPES WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION CONFERENCE WILL COME OUT IN FAVOR OF FAIR TRADE, NOT JUST FREE TRADE Seattle, December 2(RHC)-- Cuba hopes that the Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization will come out in favor of fair trade, not just free trade. According to the head of the Cuban delegation to the WTO meeting in Seattle, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, Havana's position is extremely critical of the current process of neo-liberal globalization -- which has only produced greater poverty and inequalities among the nations of the world. The Cuban foreign minister told reporters gathered in Seattle to cover the event that the discussion should not be about free trade and opening markets to the rich, but about the impossibility of poor nations to compete with giant transnational corporations and the need to establish favorable trade conditions and guarantee protection. Felipe Perez Roque added that the issue of the foreign debt should also be on the agenda of the WTO ministerial meeting. Referring to the massive street demonstrations against the policies of the World Trade Organization, the Cuban foreign minister said that the on-going protests are a reflection of popular discontent with the process of globalization. He stated that Cuba agrees with many of the demands of the protesters and believes that the demonstrators should be heard and their demands taken into consideration. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque added that the images of running street battles and rising clouds of tear-gas are a new experience for most of the Cuban journalists covering the WTO ministerial conference. Referring to the clashes between protesters and police, as well as the state of emergency decreed in Seattle, Perez Roque said that these scenes are completely foreign to the Cuban delegation -- pointing out that for nearly 40 years, there was not been a state of emergency or curfew on the streets of Havana or any other Cuban city. HAVANA WARNS WASHINGTON THAT RELATIONS COULD WORSEN IF FIVE-YEAR-OLD BOY IS NOT RETURNED TO HIS FATHER Havana, December 2(RHC)-- Cuba has warned the United States that relations between the two countries could worsen if U.S. authorities do not return five-year-old Elain Gonzalez, illegally taken from the island by his mother. Alejandro Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Cuban Foreign Ministry, told reporters at a news conference on Thursday that the child must be returned to his father in Cuba. Elian Gonzalez is one of three survivors of a group of 13 who illegally left Cuba last week on a raft. The raft apparently capsized and the five-year-old boy was found clinging to an inner tube by a fisherman on November 25th, off the coast of Florida. Ultra right-wing Cuban-Americans in Miami are urging U.S. authorities to allow the boy to stay in Florida, but the child's father and grandparents are demanding legal custody. The boy's mother -- who was one of the drowning victims -- put the small child on a raft and left Cuban without the knowledge or permission of his father. CUBA HAS RECORD LOW GROWTH IN HIV/AIDS Havana, December 2(RHC)-- Fourteen years after creating the island's AIDS Control and Prevention Program, Cuba has a very slow growth in the number of people affected by the epidemic. According to Cuban Health Minister Carlos Dotres, the work done in epidemiological control, integral care, research and education has contributed to this result. Doctor Dotres said, however, that more could be done in the areas of epidemiological control and care provided to people affected by the HIV virus. The Cuban health minister pointed out that worldwide, the AIDS epidemic has claimed the lives of 16 million people and that two -thirds of those affected by the HIV virus live in Africa. Since 1986, more than 2800 Cubans have been infected with the virus and nearly 900 of them have developed full-blown AIDS. Some 650 have died. Carlos Dotres emphasized that Cuba is the only Third World nation which has been working on an AIDS vaccine since 1992. Due to the work carried out by Cuban health authorities, the United Nations will continue supporting research on the island. CUBAN DOCTORS RETURN TO HAVANA FROM HAITI Havana, December 2(RHC)-- The first contingent of Cuban doctors who worked in Haiti for 11 months is back home. The group -- made up of 71 doctors, nurses and technical personnel -- arrived in Santiago de Cuba on Wednesday. The Cuban health personnel treated poor residents in areas severely damaged by Hurricane Georges, which hit that Caribbean nation last year. Thanks to a cooperation agreement, Cuban doctors and nurses are working in several countries around the region, including Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The Cuban government established the Latin American School of Medicine, where Central American and Caribbean students are studying free-of-charge. After they graduate, the doctors will return to their respective countries. LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!!! 21st INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF NEW LATIN AMERICAN FILM IS UNDERWAY Havana, December 2(RHC)-- Havana's 21st International Festival of New Latin American Film opened last night in the Cuban capital. Directors, actors, producers and film buffs from around the world crowded into Havana's Karl Marx Theater to watch the Brazilian film "Orpheus," directed by Carlos Dieguez and based on the novel by poet and composer, Vinicius de Moraes. The movie is re-make of the 1959 Brazilian film classic, "Black Orpheus," by Marcel Camus. Through music dance, it reveals the emotions and social conditions of the favela dwellers, sunk in poverty and violence. The movie's soundtrack was performed by the renowned Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso, who performed to a standing-room-only audience last night at the Karl Marx Theater. Once again, Argentina will be presenting the most feature-length films along with Mexico and Brazil. Retrospectives include Mexican Bunuel and France's Claude Caharbrol. There will be independent American films, contemporary Japanese, Spanish, Italian, German and Canadian productions, as well as concerts, seminars and film poster exhibition. Havana's 21st International Festival of New Latin American Film runs through December 11th. [c] 1999, 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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