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 Monday January 4th 1999. Today's stories: 1. US BLOCKADE COST CUBA 800 MILLION DOLLARS IN 1998, ACCORDING TO NEWS WEEKLY TRABAJADORES 2. CUBA ACHIEVES NEW RECORD INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN 1998 3. CUBA'S AGRICULTURE MINISTER ANNOUNCES THAT CITRUS PRODUCTION INCREASED IN 1998. 4. RENOWN PERSONALITIES TO ATTEND INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ENTITLED: "CULTURE AND REVOLUTION 40 YEARS LATER" 5. THE SOUTH AMERICAN SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA BRIGADE TO VISIT CUBA THIS MONTH 6. THE PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN INSTITUTE OF FRIENDSHIP WITH THE PEOPLES, ICAP, SAYS INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA INCREASED THE PAST YEAR 7. CUBA'S CENTER ON YOUTH STUDIES BECOMES ADVISORY MEMBER OF THE UN NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE. 8. THE PRODUCTION OF CUBAN CIGARS CONTINUES TO INCREASE US BLOCKADE COST CUBA 800 MILLION DOLLARS IN 1998, ACCORDING TO NEWS WEEKLY TRABAJADORES Havana, January 4, RHC -- Washington's blockade cost Cuba 800 million dollars in 1998, according to today's edition of the Cuban news weekly Trabajadores. And editorial in Trabajadores asserted that this amount represents 20 percent of the island's import capacity. Cuba, wrote the news weekly, was forced to pay an additional 130 million dollars in transportation costs, since ships that dock in Cuban ports are not allowed to do so in US ports because of the Toricelli Law. Due to the pressure exerted by the blockade, Cuba also had to pay an additional 155 million dollars, and another 200 million in extra import costs. Because the blockade does not allow Cuba to carry out foreign trade operations in US dollars, currency exchange operations in 1998 cost Cuba an extra 260 million dollars. The trabajadores editorial pointed to the case of a young child who recently died of cancer -- very possibly because the blockade denied her access to advanced pharmaceutical only produced in the United States. The editorial stated that in almost 4 decades of Washington's economic war, Cuba has lost a total of 60 billion dollars -- but that no one will ever know the sum total of the pain of a policy that attempts to subjugate the Cuban people by trying to create chaos, hunger and sickness. CUBA ACHIEVES NEW RECORD INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN 1998 Havana, January 4, RHC -- Cuba registered a new, record infant mortality rate in 1998 with 7.1 deaths for every one thousand live births. The 1997 figure was 7.2 deaths, which translates into the survival of 28 more babies last year among the 151 thousand births. The information was published in the weekend edition of the Cuban news daily Granma. According to statistics from the United Nations Children's Fund, the average infant mortality rate in Latin America and the Caribbean is 33, while in industrialized countries its 6. The news daily pointed out, however, that the infant mortality rate in the United States is higher than Cuba's, with the US registering an average 8 deaths for every one thousand live births. That rate is much higher for sectors like the African-American population. CUBA'S AGRICULTURE MINISTER ANNOUNCES THAT CITRUS PRODUCTION INCREASE IN 1998. Havana, January 4(RHC)-- Cuba's Agriculture Minister Alfredo Jordan announced in Havana that during 1998, the country achieved its highest citrus production in the last few years with an estimated one million 850 thousand tons. Last year's high yield came despite the bad weather experienced by the island. The Cuban official noted however, that the figure is still not enough to cover the nutritional needs of the population and he pledged that production will increase in 1999. Regarding hard currency earnings obtained by Cuban agricultural products , Jordan pointed out that tobacco topped the list this past year, but he also underscored the importance of other sectors like coffee, honey and sales in tourist areas. Citrus production last year grew by almost 6 per cent, a sector which, according to the Agriculture Minister,is also important to the island's economy. and he said there are plans to increase four of the island's largest citrus plantations. In Cuba's agriculture sector there are currently 20 associations using foreign capital, most of them created in 1998. RENOWNED PERSONALITIES TO ATTEND INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ENTITLED: "CULTURE AND REVOLUTION 40 YEARS LATER" Havana,January 4 (RHC)-- 1998 Nobel Literature Prize winner , Portuguese Jose Saramago is in Cuba to participate in an international workshop entitled: "Culture and Revolution 40 Years Later". The gathering is aimed at analyzing Cuba's cultural experience during the last four decades. Ecuadoran painter Oswaldo Guayasamin and writers Jorge Enrique Adum and Pedro Jorge Vera.are also attending the Havana event. Other renowned Iberoamerican intellectuals have confirmed their participation in the workshop including Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal, Brazilian Thiago de Melo, filmaker Jorge Fons of Mexico, Argentinean philosopher Leon Rozitchner and Haitian writers Suzy Castor and Gerard Pierre Charles. The participants attended festivities for the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution which took place in eastern Santiago de Cuba. THE SOUTH AMERICAN SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA BRIGADE TO VISIT CUBA THIS MONTH Havana, January 4 (RHC)--Over 200 Argentineans, Uruguayans, Chileans, Bolivians and Paraguayans are part of the South American Solidarity with Cuba Brigade that will visit Cuba from January 18th to the 31st. Members willdo volunteer work in agriculture in Havana province. The Julio Antonio Mella international camp on the outskirts of Havana will house the visitors Organizers say brigade members will reaffirm their historic ties with the island. The South American solidarity with Cuba Brigade will also visit schools, hospitals, and production centers as well as Santa Clara 's Revolution Plaza where they will pay homage to Ernesto Che Guevara and his comrades who died in combat in Bolivia and who are buried in that central Cuban city. Important Cuba solidarity groups exist in Europe and Latin America where they condemn Washington's almost 40 year blockade against the island and inform people about the realities of the Cuban Revolution. THE PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN INSTITUTE OF FRIENDSHIP WITH THE PEOPLES, ICAP, SAYS INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA INCREASED IN 1998. Havana, January 4 (RHC)-- The President of Cuba's Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, ICAP, Sergio Corrieri has announced that international solidarity with Cuba increased significantly in l998 . Corrieri, explained that during 1998 important international encounters were organized by friendship associations in the Nordic countries, Italy, Spain, Britain, Bulgaria, Australia and Latin America . According to the president of ICAP, the growth of solidarity with Cuba has been influenced by growing affinity with Cuba around in the world, and by the efforts of the Cuban people to confront the difficulties imposed by Washington's blockade against the Caribbean country. CUBA'S CENTER ON YOUTH STUDIES BECOMES ADVISORY MEMBER OF THE UN NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE. Havana, January 4 (RHC)-- The Center on Youth Studies, the only institute of its type in Cuba has been chosen as a member with advisory status of the UN's Non Governmental Organizations Committee. The Center 's director , Yonazan Quiroz told the press that the membership is a great honor and that the Youth center will contribute with its experiences and will have the right to comment and criticize diverse issues like social development and human rights. The objective of the Center on Youth Studies is to research all the themes concerning Cuban young people including sexuality, the family, the impact of the emigration of youth and recreation. THE PRODUCTION OF CUBAN CIGARS CONTINUES TO INCREASE Havana, January 4 (RHC)-- Cuba produced 160 million Habano cigars in l998 , surpassing the sector's proposed plan. Last year's production also exceeded the 1997 yield by 60%, said the director of Cuba's National Cigar company, Osvaldo Encarnacion. The Cuban official pointed out that the volume of production has registered earnings valued at some 380 million dollars. For 1999, the workers of the cigar industry pledge to increase production 25 per cent, and are aiming at a figure of 200 million cigars for export. [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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