Radio Havana Cuba, Friday June 25, 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 Friday, June 25th, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA MODERNIZES STATE APPARATUS WITHOUT ABANDONING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES 2.- INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR EXPOCARIBE '99 CONTINUES IN EASTERN SANTIAGO DE CUBA 3.- 9TH U.S.-CUBA FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN MEETS WITH MEMEBERS OF CUBAN PARLIAMENT 4.- CUBAN REPRESENTATIVES ATTEND MEETING OF IBEROAMERICAN MAYORS IN EL SALVADOR 5.- CUBAN BUSINESS DELEGATION VISITS TURKEY 6.- CULINARY ASSOCIATION OF CUBA ORGANIZES CONTEST WITH CHEFS FROM ACROSS THE ISLAND 7.- US HUMANITARIAN GROUP TO DONATE ANOTHER 500 COMPUTERS TO CUBA'S PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM CUBA MODERNIZES STATE APPARATUS WITHOUT ABANDONING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Havana, June 25(RHC)-- Cuba's Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Minister Ibrahim Ferradaz pointed out on Thursday that Cuba is undergoing a modernization process of its state apparatus, without abandoning its social responsibilities. The statements were made to journalists following the first day of sessions of the Second Iberoamerican Ministerial Conference on State Reforms and Modernization of Public Administration taking place at Havana's International Convention Center. With the participation of eight ministers and representatives from 19 Iberoamerican countries, Ibrahim Ferradaz stated that Cuba believes it is necessary to design mechanisms and techniques to modernize the state's activities in benefit of the peoples of the region. Mexican Finance Secretary Arsenio Farell Cubillas said that his country will propose the increased use of informatics by Iberoamerican countries to improve state services to its citizens. The Second Iberoamerican Ministerial Conference on Public Administration is a meeting prior to the upcoming Iberoamerican Summit, slated to take place next November in the Cuban capital. INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR EXPOCARIBE '99 CONTINUES IN EASTERN SANTIAGO DE CUBA Santiago de Cuba, June 25(RHC)-- The Dominican Republic's Industry and Trade Secretary Luis Manuel Bonetti stated that the International Trade Fair EXPOCARIBE '99 is a encouragement to the efforts of the Caribbean nations to work for regional cooperation and economic intergration. Bonetti said that the governments of the Dominican Republic and Cuba have expressed their willingness to develop relations based on bilateral preferences. He also praised Santo Domingo's efforts to bring Cuba into the discussion for a new Lome Convention. During the presentation of the Finans Caribbean Financial House, CARIFIN, at the EXPOCARIBE '99 trade fair in eastern Santiago de Cuba, its representative, Albertus Lajy, explained the requirements needed to obtain credits in sectors that would revitalize short-term production. Lajy added that in Cuba's eastern region, there are important sectors and industries that, after revitalization, would contribute to the island's economic recovery. He told participants at the trade fair that the financial company was established in the Virgin Islands in 1996. 9TH U.S.-CUBA FRIENDSHIPMENT CARAVAN MEETS WITH MEMEBERS OF CUBAN PARLIAMENT Havana, June 25(RHC)-- Members of the 9th U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan met with members of the Cuban Parliament's International Relations Commission, headed by its Vice President Ramon Pez Ferro on Thursday in Havana. The Pastors for Peace caravanistas expressed an interest in Cuba's electoral process, the work of the National Assembly and the role of women in the legislature. Following the meeting, participants told reporters that they were impressed that 27 percent of the Cuban deputies are women, noting that in the United States, only eight percent of congressional representatives are women. The members of the 9th U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan also met with members of the Committees of the Defense of the Revolution in the municipality of Guanabacoa and were able to get a first-hand look at the organization's social, family and community work. Friday morning, the solidarity group visited Havana's Museum of the Revolution and also toured historic places of interest. And this afternoon, the caravanistas visited Tarara, located east of Havana, where they met with children from Chernobyl -- victims of the tragic nuclear accident in 1986 -- who are receiving medical attention on the island. The 9th U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan arrived in Havana last Friday with 100 tons of humanitarian aid for the Cuban people. CUBAN REPRESENTATIVES ATTEND MEETING OF IBEROAMERICAN MAYORS IN EL SALVADOR San Salvador, June 25(RHC)-The Mayor of San Salvador, Hector Silva, has announced that the Salvadoran government finally approved the entry visas for two Cuban representatives that will participate in the meeting of Iberoamerican mayors in that Central American nation. The Salvadoran government had previously denied visas to the Director of International Relations at Havana's Mayoral Office, Carlos Franco Parellada, and his assistant Nydia Cespedes. The Cuban representatives will offer a presentation on the island's experiences in public services and discuss investment in the tourism sector. The meeting, with the participation of 26 countries, was inaugurated on Thursday in San Salvador and is slated to wind up on Saturday. CUBAN BUSINESS DELEGATION VISITS TURKEY Istambul, June 25(RHC)-- A Cuban business delegation is in Istambul, Turkey at the invitation of that country's Chamber of Commerce. The representatives of Cuba's Chamber of Commerce, who are visiting Turkey for the first time, will also participate in the Second Session of the Cuba-Turkey Mixed Inter-governmental Commission to be held in Ankara. The Cuban delegation includes representatives from the food, steel and pharmaceutical industries, among others. They will meet with their Turkish counterparts in the search for information on production and services offered by that nation. CULINARY ASSOCIATION OF CUBA ORGANIZES CONTEST WITH CHEFS FROM ACROSS THE ISLAND Santiago de Cuba, June 25(RHC)-- Cuba's Culinary Association has organized an event that will gather chefs from across the island for the 19th Caribbean Festival, which opens next week in eastern Santiago de Cuba. During the event, a contest will be held and the winning dish will be selected as the insignia for the Caribbean Festival of Fire. The Secretary of the Executive Council for the Culinary Association, Roberto Alvarez Sanchez, said that a conference on Cuban cooking will be offered, as well as classes on Cuban and Caribbean foods. Cuba's Culinary Association was founded in January 1981 and has 25 thousand affiliates across the island. Among some of the group's objectives is to develop the art of cooking and recover the tradition of Cuban cuisine, with an emphasis on the contributions made by the Spanish, Chinese and French cultures. During the event, organizers will announce the 3rd International Culinary Festival entitled "A United Caribbean in Art and Flavor" -- scheduled for March in the year 2000 at Havana's International Convention Center. US HUMANITARIAN GROUP TO DONATE ANOTHER 500 COMPUTERS TO CUBA'S PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM Havana, June 25, RHC -- The humanitarian organization USA/Cuba InfoMed has announced that from the heart of Silicon Valley, in California, another 500 computers are leaving Monday bound for Cuban hospitals and clinics. In a press release sent to RHC by e-mail, the organization said that for the past year, volunteers of the USA/Cuba InfoMed have worked evenings and weekends to prepare the cargo, to be added to 800 computers that they've previously sent. Engineer David Wald, from Santa Clara and national director of the group, said many more are needed, adding that Cuba has hundreds of hospitals, thousands of clinics and a few hundred thousand health professionals -- all very eager to make good use of these tools for the benefit of their patients. The computers are to be connected to the Cuban pulbic health network and will allow individuals and institutions to access current medical information databases from Cuba and abroad, to consult with colleagues across the island and the world, as well as to post requests for scarce medicines and resources which may not be available locally for treatment of their patients. Dr Juan Reardon, Epidemiologist from Martinez, California -- and co-founder of the organization -- stated that the scarcity of resources for health in Cuba has a very simple explanation: the US embargo. He said that when the Cuban government channels 10 percent of the state budget and 8.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product into the health sector, as it did last year, the brutal US blockade of Cuba has cost the country's health system 1.2 billion dollars during the last 8 years -- adding that this fact has been reflected in the deterioration of some institutions, and shortages of medicines and other supplies. Dr. Reardon also said that what is really amazing is that under the harsh conditions of the US blockade of Cuba, the Cuban health care workers have continued to work selflessly to maintain and increase the population's current levels of health care. He compared Cuba's infant mortality rate of 7.1 per one thousand live births to the world average of 59, among other health indicators. [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. For further information, contact us at: Postal Address: Radio Havana Cuba P.O.Box 6240 Havana, Cuba Telephone: (53) (7) 791053 Fax: (53) (7) 795007 E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org WWW: http://www.radiohc.org rhc-eng-24604 1999-Jun-25 18:11:34