Radio Havana Cuba, July 28, 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 Wednesday, July 28, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN DELEGATION AT WINNIPEG PANAM GAMES DENOUNCES BIASED ATTITUDE OF ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 2.- CUBAN EXPERTS DISCOVER THAT VITILIGO CAN BE TRANSMITTED THROUGH BLOOD 3.- MATANZAS GEARS UP FOR RALLY TO COMMEMORATE CUBA'S NATIONAL DAY OF REBELLION 4.- ACTIVITIES AROUND THE WORLD TO CELEBRATE CUBA'S NATIONAL DAY OF REBELLION 5.- SURVIVOR OF JULY 26th ACTION DIES IN HAVANA CUBAN DELEGATION AT WINNIPEG PANAM GAMES DENOUNCES BIASED ATTITUDE OF ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Winnipeg, July 28(RHC)-- The President of Cuba's Sports Institute -- Humberto Rodriguez -- has formally denounced the docile and biased attitude of the Organizing Committee concerning the adoption of arbitrary decisions at the continental sports encounter. Rodriguez stated that problems in the selection of competitive groups and the presentation of some sports disciplines have affected competitions in wrestling, ping pong, karate and rowing. He also denounced what he called "the unbridled media coverage given to the scouts attempting to buy-off Cuban athletes," to convince them to desert their delegation. The charge comes on the heels of a similar denunciation issued by Cuban President Fidel Castro during his speech before tens of thousands of Cubans during festivities for the island's July 26th celebrations. The Cuban leader charged that dozens of gold medals have been eliminated in seven sports disciplines in which Cuba obtained an average 60 percent of the titles, while the United States and Canada together only obtained 30 percent. In what he called "an effort to displace Cuba from its traditional second place" and smear Cuba's sports movement, Fidel Castro pointed to the numerous media outlets in Canada giving space to the frustrated enemies of the Cuban Revolution. He also pointed to the introduction of professional players in baseball and a change in rules of this sport, noting that even if Cuba wins all the games in its competitive group, this does not enhance its possibilities for a first place or for obtaining a ticket to the Olympics. The Cuban leader said Panamerican baseball is another example of the move towards the commercialization and marketing of sports activity. He also noted how rich nations -- the only countries capable of hosting large competitions -- buy-off Third World athletes in disciplines in which they themselves are unable to produce champions and in this way humiliate Third World countries. Cuba's denunciations have been echoed in Germany's Deutsch Press News Agency. Datelined Winnipeg, July 27, and published in the Wednesday edition of the Cuban newspaper Granma -- DPA correspondent Sebastian Fest stated that doubts concerning the clean nature of the Panam Games have been steadily on the rise since Fidel Castro's denunciation. Fest pointed to the pre- classification of U.S. and Canadian wrestlers without taking into consideration the world ranking. He quoted Oscar Santos, chief of the Argentinean Winnipeg delegation, who stated that several delegations considered a boycott against wrestling competitions and in ping pong, where the competitive groups were chosen before the arrival of the delegations. Santos said Canada and the United States were clearly favored in wrestling and ping pong. Finally, the DPA correspondent noted how rowing competitions took place in a river, where there is more current near the river banks. He said U.S. and Canadian rowers were always given the middle lanes, with Cubans and others assigned to lanes near the river banks. CUBAN EXPERTS DISCOVER THAT VITILIGO CAN BE TRANSMITTED THROUGH BLOOD Havana, July 28(RHC)-- According to Cuban experts from Havana's Tissue Therapy Center, vitiligo or progressive depigmentation of the skin could be transmitted through a blood transfusion from a contaminated person to a healthy one. Professor Carlos Miyares Cao, head of the group of experts at the research institution, briefed journalists in the Cuban capital about the symptoms of vitiligo in a monkey which researchers had previously given a blood transfusion from patients with the disease. It has been said that vitiligo, which affects nearly 180 million people around the world, could be a direct consequence of emotional shock. According to experts, this new discovery confirms that the disease can be transmitted through the blood. In line with this discovery, the island's Health Ministry has issued a ruling that those with vitiligo cannot donate blood. MATANZAS GEARS UP FOR RALLY TO COMMEMORATE CUBA'S NATIONAL DAY OF REBELLION Matanzas, July 28(RHC)-- Preparations continue in central Matanzas province to celebrate Cuba's National Day of Rebellion next Monday, August 2nd. Matanzas was chosen, along with Cienfuegos, as the venue of this year's main rallies to commemorate the 46th anniversary of the attacks on the Batista dictatorship's Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Garrisons -- the action that ignited the spark of the Cuban Revolution. August 2nd is also the date for the inauguration of a mural at the city's Central Park with the poem "Canto a Mi Bandera," written by renowned Cuban poet Bonifacio Byrne. Also coinciding with the August 2nd rally in Matanzas, activities will be held to mark the 25th anniversary of the first elections for delegates to the newly organized People's Power -- held in Matanzas in 1975. The success of People's Power in what is called the "Athens of Cuba" led to the establishment of this system of government island-wide in 1976. ACTIVITIES AROUND THE WORLD TO CELEBRATE CUBA'S NATIONAL DAY OF REBELLION Havana, July 28(RHC)-- Chileans are holding activities to commemorate the 46th anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks. Over 1500 members of Solidarity with Cuba groups as well as student and labor associations marched through the streets of Santiago de Chile, the capital, to commemorate the historic action. In Nicaragua, more than 300 people attended a rally to mark Cuba's National Day of Rebellion, July 26th. Also on hand was the General Secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, the FSLN, Daniel Ortega. The rally was broadcast live by local media. A cultural gala was held in La Paz, Bolivia, to commemorate July 26th. Participants highlighted the significance of the attack carried out by Cuban revolutionaries in 1953 against the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Barracks -- two of the most important military garrisons in Cuba and strongholds of the bloody Batista dictatorship. Meanwhile, Laotian graduates from Cuban universities held a friendly encounter in Vientiane, the capital, to commemorate the historic Moncada action. Laotian Doctor Bouthong Phousarith, from the Asian nation's Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Committee and member of the first group of Laotian professionals trained in Cuba, sent a message of congratulations to the Cuban government and people. Phousarith, representing all Laotian professionals trained on the island, expressed his gratitude to the Cuban Revolution and recalled that without the revolutionary action of July 26th, 1953, no foreign youth would have had the opportunity to study in Cuba on scholarships granted by the Island's authorities. Zambia, for its part, marked Cuba's National Day of Rebellion with a rally held at the country's Technological University. The rally was attended by the President of the Zambia-Cuba Friendship Association, Jerry Munthali, as well as Cuba's Ambassador to the south-central African nation, Silvio Rivera. The Cuban official briefed participants on different aspects of the island's reality. And in Barranquilla, Colombia, Colombians and Cubans celebrated with a political, cultural gala at the Casa Caribe. SURVIVOR OF JULY 26th ACTION DIES IN HAVANA Havana, July 28(RHC)-- Outstanding Cuban revolutionary, Pedro Celestino Aguilera Gonzalez, was buried Tuesday at the Colon Cemetery. The eulogy was delivered by Ramon Pez Ferro, President of the Havana-based Organization of Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL). The president of OSPAAAL highlighted Aguilera Gonzalez' participation in university struggles in the 1940s, his later involvement in the July 26th events as commander of one of the revolutionary groups that carried out the attack on the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Garrison in Bayamo, as well as his numerous responsibilities after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959. Also on hand for the funeral ceremony were Communist Party's Political Bureau member Jose Ramon Balaguer, Cuban heroine Melba Hernandez and the head of the Ideological Department of the Communist Party's Central Committee, Rolando Alfonso Borges, as well as other survivors of the July 26th action and Havana residents, representing the entire Cuban people. 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