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 11, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- SURINAMESE PRESIDENT JULES ALBERT WIJDENBOSH AND BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ERIK DERICKE ARRIVE IN CUBA FOR OFFICIAL VISITS 2.- VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT-ELECT HUGO CHAVEZ TO DISCUSS COLOMBIAN PEACE PROCESS WITH CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO AND COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA 3.- CUBAN STUDENT LEADER JULIO ANTONIO MELLA REMEMBERED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA 4.- 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF U.S. WRITER ERNEST HEMINGWAY WILL BE COMMEMORATED IN JULY 5.- WASHINGTON POST SPOTLIGHTS TOURISM ON THE ISLAND 6.- PRESIDENT OF THE SPANISH SENATE CURRENTLY VISITS CUBA 7.- CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AGE WILL RECEIVE THE HEMOPHILUS INFLUENZA VACCINE 8.- FIFTH CUBAN MEDICAL BRIGADE ARRIVES IN HAITI; DOCTORS PRAISED IN NICARAGUA SURINAMESE PRESIDENT JULES ALBERT WIJDENBOSH AND BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ERIK DERICKE ARRIVE IN CUBA FOR OFFICIAL VISITS Havana, January 11(RHC)-- The President of Surinam, Jules Albert Wijdenbosh, and the Foreign Minister of Belgium, Erik Dericke, arrived today in Cuba on official visits. The 57-year-old Surinamese leader has worked towards boosting his country's relations with Cuba since he took office in September 1996. Before that, in May 1995, Cuba and Surinam agreed to renew high-level contacts and exchange ambassadors during a visit to Paramaribo, the Surinamese capital, by Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina. Surinam is one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean basin, with a population of 450,000 that depends primarily on agriculture -- although the country has virtually untapped wealth in bauxite. Dericke's visit, meanwhile, is the first of a Belgian foreign minister to Cuba since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. President Wijdenbosh will be in Havana one day, while Foreign Minister Dericke has planned a five-day visit. VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT-ELECT HUGO CHAVEZ TO DISCUSS COLOMBIAN PEACE PROCESS WITH CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO AND COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA Havana, January 11(RHC)-- Venezuelan President-elect Hugo Chavez has announced plans to travel to Cuba to discuss the Colombian peace process with Cuban President Fidel Castro and Colombian President Andres Pastrana. Chavez's visit to Cuba next weekend will coincide with Pastrana's arrival in Havana. Chavez insisted that Venezuela is neutral and does not want to interfere in Colombia's internal affairs, stating that his country is only interested in contributing to peace in Colombia. The statements came over the weekend, shortly before the Venezuelan President-elect began a tour of Europe taking him to Spain, France, Italy and Germany and making stop-overs in Canada and Cuba during his return trip. Chavez' tour of Europe is aimed at reporting on his administration's program, in search of support for what he is calling "a democratic and peaceful revolution of a nationalist character." In Spain, Chavez today insisted that Venezuela is going to build its own democracy "with justice, equality and social development." CUBAN STUDENT LEADER JULIO ANTONIO MELLA REMEMBERED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA Havana, January 11(RHC)-- The President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, said that following in the footsteps of young martyrs like student leader Julio Antonio Mella allows us to think that the future will be better and that the Cuban people will be capable of achieving it. Alarcon presided over the main activity in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the assassination in Mexico of Julio Antonio Mella, one of the founders of Cuban Communist Party. Mella, who was also a leader of the Federation of the University Students, was also remembered in eastern Granma province. Due to Mella's revolutionary activities, he spent time in prison and was persecuted by the government. To pay tribute to Julio Antonio Mella and the heroism that his life represented, a delegation of Cuban youth headed by the First Secretary of the Union of Young Communists, Otto Rivero, will travel to Mexico on Wednesday. 100th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF U.S. WRITER ERNEST HEMINGWAY WILL BE COMMEMORATED IN JULY Havana, January 11(RHC)-- Experts on the life and work of U.S. writer Ernest Hemingway will meet in Havana from July 8th through the 12th to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. The event includes discussions on issues such as Hemingway's relation with tourism and fishing as well as his presence in the Cuban press in 1930. The event, organized by the Hemingway Department of the Jose Marti International Journalism Institute, is the continuation of previous activities. It will also include tours of places visited on the island by the 1954 Nobel Literature Prize laureate. The organizing committee reported that so far, several professors, journalists and photographers from Latin America and the United States have expressed interest in participating in the event. WASHINGTON POST SPOTLIGHTS TOURISM ON THE ISLAND Havana, January 11(RHC)-- The U.S. daily The Washington Post published an article over the weekend, acknowledging that tourists in Cuba had quadrupled over the last 12 years. The newspaper pointed out that during 1998, some 1.4 million tourists visited the island while in 1997, only 300,000 traveled to the Caribbean nation. Saturday's Washington Post added that due to Cuba's beautiful beaches, it has become a favorite among vacationers from Europe, Canada and Latin America and stated that tourists to the island would reach five million a year if the United States would end the almost 40 year-long blockade against Cuba. PRESIDENT OF THE SPANISH SENATE CURRENTLY VISITS CUBA Havana, January 11(RHC)-- The President of the Spanish Senate, Juan Ignacio Barrero, is currently in Cuba on a four-day visit at the invitation of the Ibero Cultural Center based in Havana. Barrero is scheduled to participate in a number of conferences on the 20th anniversary of the current Spanish constitution and meet with the President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon. Madrid's Parliamentary Assembly President, Juan Val Jalen, also arrived on the island for an official visit. He is scheduled to meet with Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage. CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AGE WILL RECEIVE THE HEMOPHILUS INFLUENZA VACCINE Havana, January 11(RHC)-- All Cuban children younger than five years of age will be given their first dose of the hemophilus influenza vaccine. Hemophilus influenza is a bacteria which primarily attacks children under five years of age and is responsible for nearly 40 percent of the meningitis cases on the island. The vaccination includes a second dose for one-year-old children as well as the application of several doses during 1999 for babies from seven to 11 months. The Italian-made vaccine will reduce the infant mortality rate and decrease serious respiratory problems among children by up to 30 percent. This vaccine will also reduce the mortality rate of children under five that could be affected by this bacteria or its side-effects in the central nervous system, as well as deafness. FIFTH CUBAN MEDICAL BRIGADE ARRIVES IN HAITI; DOCTORS PRAISED IN NICARAGUA Havana, January 11(RHC)-- Cuban Health Ministry official Alfredo Potero told Radio Havana Cuba that the fifth medical brigade, which includes 40 health professionals, has arrived in Haiti to work in the country's rural areas. There are currently 200 Cuban health personnel offering their services in Haiti. A sixth Cuban medical brigade is scheduled to leave for that Caribbean nation next Sunday. Meanwhile, the Nicaraguan daily La Prensa published an article entitled "Population Pleased with Cuban Medical Personnel," outlining the medical brigades' services to the victims of Hurricane Mitch. The article added that the people from the municipality of San Juan de Limay in the Department of Esteli, some 200 kilometers north of Managua, said they are happy and very grateful for the Cuban health personnel's assistance. Dr. Barbaro Fraginal was quoted saying that the Cuban medical brigades are pleased and very proud to offer their services to the Nicaraguan people. The Cuban medical brigade located in San Juan de Limay began working last November 23rd, offering an average of nearly 100 patients a day. From November to December, the Cuban medical brigade had offered services as well as educational talks to some 1700 people from that municipality in the Department of Esteli. The Cuban doctors have confronted ailments like diarrhea, respiratory problems, malaria, parasites, malnutrition, urinary infections and leptospirosis among other diseases that are mainly due to the bad living conditions in that area. [c] 1999, 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. 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