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 Wednesday, January 13, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA'S NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SMALL FARMERS REJECTS MEASURES ANNOUNCED IN WASHINGTON ALLEGEDLY ALLEVIATING BLOCKADE 2.- PRESIDENT OF SURINAM WRAPS UP TWO-DAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA WITH CONDEMNATION OF WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE 3.- CUBA AND BELGIUM SIGN BILATERAL ACCORDS 4.- COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA ARRIVES IN CUBA ON THURSDAY FOR FOUR-DAY OFFICIAL VISIT 5.- CONSPIRACY TRIAL IN PUERTO RICO INVOLVING PLOT TO KILL FIDEL CASTRO GRANTED CHANGE OF VENUE TO MIAMI 6.- U.S. STUDY REVEALS THAT THE LIFTING OF WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF CUBA WOULD ALSO BENEFIT THE UNITED STATES 7.- DELEGATION OF CANADIAN LEGISLATORS VISITS CUBA 8.- ORBIS PROJECT ARRIVES IN CUBA ON SATURDAY 9.- SEYCHELLES AND CUBA SIGN EDUCATION AGREEMENT 10.- CUBA AND GUATEMALA SIGN AGREEMENT GRANTING PREFERENCES ON PRODUCTS FROM BOTH COUNTRIES CUBA'S NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SMALL FARMERS REJECTS MEASURES ANNOUNCED IN WASHINGTON ALLEGEDLY ALLEVIATING BLOCKADE Havana, January 13(RHC)-- Cuba's National Association of Small Farmers has rejected measures announced in Washington that allegedly alleviate the U.S. blockade against the island. In a declaration published in Wednesday's edition of the Cuban news daily Granma, the National Association of Small Farmers -- known by its Spanish acronym ANAP -- stated that "once again the U.S. government is attempting to confuse the world and the Cuban people." ANAP asks why Washington selectively earmarks funds for Cuban farmers when the Cuban Revolution's Agrarian Reform Law did not discriminate against any of the island's campesinos. "It was precisely this agrarian reform," adds the organization, "that led to the Bay of Pigs invasion and to the now almost 40 year blockade." Cuban farmers, insisted ANAP, "have the structures and systems through which they receive resources, production materials, credits, fair prices for their produce and insurance policies." Moreover, said the Cuban campesino organization, Cuban farmers have learned to read and write, and their educational and public health levels are guaranteed free of charge. ANAP asserted that Cuban farmers do not accept any other channels to receive the aid they need, "much less when the so-called aid is an effort to divide and weaken them internally." To accept this attempt at bribery, insisted the ANAP, "would be an offense." The Cuban farmer's organization concluded by saying that with this new affront to their dignity, they strongly refuse blackmail, hand-outs and disinformation and lies that will never become a wedge between their unity with the Cuban Communist Party, the Revolution and Fidel Castro. The Cuban Workers Confederation, the CTC, has expressed itself in similar terms, stating that it has received from friends abroad a torrent of messages indicating that they, too, were deceived by U.S. President Bill Clinton's announcement -- that they, too, believed that Washington was responding to the strong international outcry to do away with the blockade of Cuba. The CTC said it now wished to tell its friends around the world that "Washington's measures are nothing more than another episode in the dirty war launched against Cuba almost 40 years ago." This new smoke screen, declared the Cuban labor organization, "will not be able to stop the growing international campaign to end the blockade and will much less be able to halt the successful resistance of the Cuban people." PRESIDENT OF SURINAM WRAPS UP TWO-DAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA WITH CONDEMNATION OF WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE Havana, January 13(RHC)-- The President of Surinam, Jules Albert Wijdenbosh, has wrapped up a two-day official visit to Cuba with a condemnation of Washington's blockade of the island. Wijdenbosh and Cuban President Fidel Castro signed bilateral accords on the promotion and protection of investments and sports exchanges, as well as a letter of intent regarding cooperation between the two countries' foreign ministries. At a news conference in Havana, the Surinamese President also expressed his country's interest in bilateral cooperation with Cuba in the fields of agriculture, tourism, education and public health -- announcing that 52 Cuban health workers will soon arrive in Surinam. The Surinamese leader also informed local and foreign media that he has invited Cuban President Fidel Castro to visit Surinam. He expressed his hopes that the Cuban leader's visit will coincide with a gathering of the heads of state of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, in March of this year. CUBA AND BELGIUM SIGN BILATERAL ACCORDS Havana, January 13(RHC)-- Cuba and Belgium signed a letter of intent on Tuesday, agreeing to renegotiate the island's debt to the European country -- estimated at some 20 million dollars. The document, which includes a memorandum of understanding regarding legal cooperation, was signed in Havana by visiting Belgian Foreign Minister Erik Derycke and his Cuban counterpart, Roberto Robaina. Following the signing ceremony, the Cuban foreign minister told reporters that the visit of the Belgian official -- the first visit by a Belgian foreign minister since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 -- "has strengthened the ties between our two peoples and governments." Roberto Robaina also thanked Belgium for its firm position against the U.S. economic blockade against the island and its support of Cuba's status as an observer in the Lome Convention. For his part, Foreign Minister Erik Derycke expressed his hope that relations between Belgium and Cuba can continue to develop. The Belgian official concludes his five-day visit to the island tomorrow, Thursday. COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA ARRIVES IN CUBA ON THURSDAY FOR FOUR-DAY OFFICIAL VISIT Havana, January 13(RHC)-- Colombian President Andres Pastrana will arrive in Cuba tomorrow, Thursday, to begin a four-day official visit at the invitation of Cuban President Fidel Castro. Pastrana will be at the head of a large, high-ranking delegation that will include eight of his ministers. Top on the bilateral agenda will be drug trafficking and the Colombian peace process, though authorities from both countries have insisted that the agenda will also include numerous items aimed at boosting Cuba-Colombia relations. At a news conference in Bogota, the Colombian capital, Colombian Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernandez de Soto said his country's authorities do not have a preconceived idea of what will be the role of Cuba or any other country in his nation's incipient peace process. He said that will depend on the accords drawn up at the negotiation table with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces. On Sunday, the last day of President Pastrana's visit, Venezuelan President-elect Hugo Chavez will arrive in Havana to meet with the Colombian and Cuban Presidents in what some observers are calling a "mini-summit with a Latin American flavor." CONSPIRACY TRIAL IN PUERTO RICO INVOLVING PLOT TO KILL FIDEL CASTRO GRANTED CHANGE OF VENUE TO MIAMI San Juan, January 13(RHC)-- A U.S. federal judge in Puerto Rico has granted a change of venue to Miami, Florida for a trial involving seven Cuban-Americans accused of planning to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro. At the same time, the district attorney's office in Florida has admitted that a conviction in Miami will be very difficult. Puerto Rican federal judge Hector Laffitte ruled that the November 1997 assassination plot against the Cuban leader was planned, encouraged and put into action from Miami -- and that he therefore has no jurisdiction. Four of the accused reside in Miami -- among them, businessman Jose Antonio Llamas, member of the Board of Directors of the ultra right-wing Cuban-American National Foundation. Another person involved in the case is Jose "Pepe" Hernandez, one of the principal leaders of the Cuban-American National Foundation. But despite being the owner of one of the two 50-caliber sniper rifles found aboard a vessel off the coast of Puerto Rico, Hernandez was not charged. Besides the weapons, ammunition and night vision gear, the boat's computerized navigation equipment was zeroed in on Venezuela's Margarita Island, where President Castro was to attend the Iberoamerican Summit. This will be the first trial in U.S. territory against suspected Cuban-American terrorists accused of attempting to assassinate Fidel Castro -- despite documented evidence of at least 30 such plots since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. U.S. STUDY REVEALS THAT THE LIFTING OF WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE OF CUBA WOULD ALSO BENEFIT THE UNITED STATES Havana, January 13(RHC)-- The lifting of Washington's nearly 40 year blockade against Cuba would benefit not only the Caribbean island but the United States itself, according to a study conducted by the Cuba Caribbean Development Information Center. The Center asserts that putting an end to the blockade could mean five billion dollars in earnings during the first year for the U.S. state of Florida alone. Another study by the U.S. firm Babun concludes that a trade opening with Cuba would translate into immediate export opportunities from Florida to Havana in furniture, agricultural products, textiles, construction materials and other services. The study found that trade operations would benefit the ports of Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa, Palm Beach and also the Miami International Airport. Discontent among American business executives who want to invest in Cuba has given rise to several studies inside the United States --requested even by state governments-- on future business opportunities on the island. This is the case of a study requested from the Arthur Anderson Company by the State of Florida which called a trade opening with Cuba "big business" for Florida --the state with the largest concentration of Cuban residents in the U.S. Richard Groben, from the U.S. company Groben-Stamp Construction, stated that Cuba is an untapped mine of architectural treasures, whose reconstruction would generate millions of dollars. Nicholas Robins, from Tulane University's Institute on Cuban Studies, said the lifting of the blockade against Cuba would also benefit other U.S. states like New York and Louisiana. Robins recalled that before 1958, more than 35 percent of all commercial operations at the Port of New Orleans were destined for Cuba. DELEGATION OF CANADIAN LEGISLATORS VISITS CUBA Havana, January 13(RHC)-- A delegation of Canadian legislators from various political parties met in Havana with the President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon. Canadian parliamentarian Stan Dromisky told journalists that the trip's objective is to get a first-hand look at Cuban reality and to strengthen social and economic ties. The delegation will also visit western Pinar del Rio province, Varadero beach resort and other tourism facilities. Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, who traveled to Cuba last Thursday as part of a regional tour, signed an agreement with Cuban authorities on judicial cooperation in the joint fight against drug trafficking. ORBIS PROJECT ARRIVES IN CUBA ON SATURDAY Havana, January 13(RHC)-- A flying hospital that has toured the world on a number of occasions is scheduled to land Saturday at the Maximo Gomez International Airport in central Ciego de Avila province. The flying hospital is the ORBIS Project, which carries ophthalmologists and fully-equipped operating rooms aboard a DC-10 jumbo jet. The eye experts are scheduled to give classes to Cuban physicians on its jet as well as doctors at the Antonio Luaces Provincial Hospital. Some 310 eye specialists from across the island will witness operations performed on board the plane by way of a monitor that will be installed in the conference area of the plane itself as well as a room located in the airport. The ORBIS Project has traveled to the island three times since 1991 in gesture of solidarity that was highly praised by Cuban Health Ministry officials. The non-governmental ORBIS Project has completed 193 missions in 179 countries in an attempt to fight blindness. The project boasts highly qualified personnel from 13 countries. According to World Health Organization statistics, there are 45 million blind people in the world and another 135 million with vision problems who risk becoming blind. Those cases, says WHO, could be successfully treated with the proper equipment and knowledge. SEYCHELLES AND CUBA SIGN EDUCATION AGREEMENT Havana, January 13(RHC)-- Cuba's Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez and his counterpart from the Seychelles, Danny Fore, have signed a cooperation agreement which includes Cuban advisors in special education. The accord also includes educational research and activities for the improvement of teaching personnel as well as the contracting of Cuban teachers to teach in Seychelles and to train that country's primary teachers. During his stay in Cuba, Seychelles Minister of Education and Culture is scheduled to meet with Cuban education officials and to visit places of interest, including the University of Havana. CUBA AND GUATEMALA SIGN AGREEMENT GRANTING PREFERENCES ON PRODUCTS FROM BOTH COUNTRIES Guatemala City, January 13(RHC)-- Cuba and Guatemala are scheduled to sign an agreement that will grant preferences on several products from both nations, according to the Guatemalan Economy Minister Juan Jose Serra. The Guatemalan official pointed out that with this accord, Guatemala be able to export more of its products to Cuba, which will represent an opening of a new international market. Guatemala's economy minister added that in the next few days, the bilateral text of the agreement will be drafted, allowing for the strengthening of relations with Cuba. Cuba and Guatemala re-established diplomatic relations in January 1998. [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. For the complete RADIO HAVANA CUBA NEWSCAST and other features, please write for our daily broadcast schedule. We welcome your comments and suggestions. 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