Radio Havana Cuba, Tuesday, June 22, 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 Tuesday, June 22, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- CUBA WILL DOUBLE ITS MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN HAITI; HAITIAN PRESIDENT RENE PREVAL WRAPS UP VISIT 2.- PASTORS FOR PEACE CARAVANISTAS APPLAUD CUBA'S ACHIEVEMENTS IN HEALTH CARE 3.- CUBAN FORENSIC EXPERTS IDENTIFY SKELETAL REMAINS OF INTERNATIONALISTS WHO FOUGHT ALONGSIDE CHE GUEVARA 4.- INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR EXPO-CARIBE '99 UNDERWAY IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA 5.- CUBAN LEGAL INSTITUTIONS WILL PRESENT PARLIAMENT WITH ANTI-DRUG BILL 6.- FIRST DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF BELARUS VISITS CUBA 7.- CUBAN DOCTORS TREAT NEARLY 200,000 PATIENTS IN GUATEMALA 8.- RENOWNED CUBAN-AMERICAN DOCTOR DIES AT THE AGE OF 90 CUBA WILL DOUBLE ITS MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN HAITI; HAITIAN PRESIDENT RENE PREVAL WRAPS UP VISIT Santiago de Cuba, June 22(RHC)-- Visiting Haitian President Rene Preval has announced that Cuba will soon send another 400 doctors and medical personnel to Haiti. Speaking with reporters in Santiago de Cuba on Monday, the Haitian president said that the move will double the number of Cuban doctors working in his country -- from the present 400 to 800. At the same time, Preval stated that another 120 Haitian students will enroll at Santiago's School of Medicine next year -- joining the present enrollment of 123 students from Haiti. The Dean of the school, Nayda Pujal, told journalists that Haiti's presence will enrich the institution's history, which she added was the first of its type created by the Cuban Revolution in eastern Cuba and has graduated 17,000 doctors, dentists, nurses and other medical personnel from Cuba and the Third World. The Haitian president pointed out that the situation in his country is very difficult, given that the infant mortality rate is 74 for every 1000 live births -- compared with Cuba's rate of seven for every one thousand. Preval also noted that life expectancy in Haiti is only 54 years of age -- compared with Cuba's life expectancy of 75 years. President Rene Preval praised Cuba's assistance to the Haitian people, which he described as selfless -- adding that Cuban doctors and medical personnel are not competing with their Haitian counterparts because the Cubans are willing to go into remote areas where there are no local doctors. The Haitian president wrapped up his four-day official visit to Cuba on Tuesday. PASTORS FOR PEACE CARAVANISTAS APPLAUD CUBA'S ACHIEVEMENTS IN HEALTH CARE Havana, June 22(RHC)-- Pastors for Peace caravanistas applauded Cuba's achievements in health care during a gathering with Cuban Health Minister Carlos Dotres. After thanking the humanitarian organization for its donation to Cuba of 100 tons of medical supplies -- valued at some 23 million dollars -- Dotres gave a detailed explanation of Cuba's health care system, fielding numerous questions from the 89 solidarity activists for three hours. Dotres explained to the caravanistas that Cuba currently has 64,000 doctors -- one for every 170 inhabitants -- of which approximately 30,000 offer their services in community clinics that place an emphasis on prevention. The Cuban health minister spoke of the 2500 Cuban doctors serving in 50 Third World countries, adding that there are 10,000 more ready to offer their solidarity even in the United States -- where, he emphasized, 48 million Americans have no health coverage. The Pastors for Peace activists also learned that with the necessary raw materials, Cuba has an industrial capacity to produce 90 percent of the medicines the island needs -- which allows for a reduction in costs between five and ten- fold. The caravanistas asked a number of questions concerning AIDS in Cuba, the smoking habit, alcoholism, drug addiction, attention to the elderly, the control of infectious diseases, medical attention in rural areas, psychiatric attention and care for the disabled, among others. Following the gathering, Pastors for Peace leader the Reverend Lucius Walker stated that as he was listening to the Cuban health minister he couldn't help but think about how much his own country would gain by following Cuba's example and how much could be done if all the resources used to bomb other countries were earmarked for health care, not only in the United States, but around the world. CUBAN FORENSIC EXPERTS IDENTIFY SKELETAL REMAINS OF INTERNATIONALISTS WHO FOUGHT ALONGSIDE CHE GUEVARA Havana, June 22(RHC)-- Cuban forensic specialists in Bolivia have positively identified seven recently discovered skeletal remains as belonging to seven internationalist combatants who fought alongside Ernesto Che Guevara. As was presumed, the remains correspond to three Cubans and four Bolivians. The forensic team identified the remains of Cubans Juan Vitalio Acuna, Israel Reyes and Ricardo Gustavo Machin, and Bolivians Walter Ayala, Moises Guevara, Apolinar Aquino and Freddy Maymura. As occurred following other discoveries of graves, a religious service was held for the deceased in the jungle region where the remains were found, while area residents laid flowers at the grave site. The remains will be taken to the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz and from there flown to Cuba for burial at the Che Guevara Mausoleum in Santa Clara. Since investigations began in 1996, the forensic team led by Doctor Jorge Gonzalez has discovered 24 skeletal remains, including those of Che Guevara and Tamara Bunke Bider -- known in Cuba as Tania the Guerrilla. INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR EXPO-CARIBE '99 UNDERWAY IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA Santiago de Cuba, June 22(RHC)-- The International Trade Fair EXPO-CARIBE '99 is underway in eastern Santiago de Cuba with conferences offered by the Director of Monetary Policy of Cuba's Central Bank, Jose Manuel Sanchez Cruz, and the Dominican Republic's Secretary of Industry and Trade, Luis Manuel Bonetti. EXPO-CARIBE '99 is a member of the Association of International Fairs of Latin America. This is the eighth annual fair and members of Madrid's Chamber of Commerce and business representatives of other countries are in attendance. There are also representatives of more than 900 companies from 41 countries, primarily from the European Union. On Monday, Cuban Economy and Planning Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez offered a conference in which he emphasized that the island's economic recovery is proof of the success of the reforms adopted in 1993 to stop the economic crisis and reduce the budget deficit. The Cuban official added that during the first four months of this year, 15 of the 21 key sectors of the economy obtained better results and that 74 percent of the island's companies showed a profit, despite the drop in prices of important products. Visitors to EXPO-CARIBE '99 showed interest in new regulations for investments, the advantages of commercial tariffs and the salary policy in sectors that do not receive bonuses in dollars -- where the Cuban government invested 100 million dollars in 1998. CUBAN LEGAL INSTITUTIONS WILL PRESENT PARLIAMENT WITH ANTI-DRUG BILL Havana, June 22(RHC)-- The Cuban Justice Ministry, parliamentarians and experts from other institutions are working hard to develop anti-drug legislation that will be submitted to the Parliament for approval. This is one of four pieces of legislation that will be debated by the Parliament's Commission on Constitutional and Legal Affairs. Although Cuba does not need to create specific legislation on drugs, observers believe it is necessary to improve the laws that already exist in the island's Criminal Code. One of the jobs of the Parliament's Commission on Constitutional and Legal Affairs is to work on consolidating existing laws that are almost unknown by the Cuban people. FIRST DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF BELARUS VISITS CUBA Havana, June 22(RHC)-- The First Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus, Serguey Martynov, is heading a delegation to Cuba that will participate in the Second Inter-Governmental Session of Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation. Upon his arrival in Havana, Martynov told reporters that his country was interested in trade in various sectors of the island -- mainly the sugar industry, health and agriculture. The Belarus delegation will meet with the Ministers of Health, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. They will also meet with members of the Cuban Parliament and tour Varadero Beach Resort as well as historic, economic and scientific places of interest. CUBAN DOCTORS TREAT NEARLY 200,000 PATIENTS IN GUATEMALA Guatemala City, June 22(RHC)-- Cuban doctors in Guatemala have treated nearly 200,000 patients affected by Hurricane Mitch since their arrival in that Central American country. According to Dr. Elia Rosa Lemus, Coordinator of the Cuban Cooperation Program in Guatemala, medical personnel have treated 900 women who have given birth without registering one single infant death. There are currently 18 Cuban medical brigades in Guatemala -- amounting to a total of 382 doctors, nurses, x-ray technicians, anesthesiologists and laboratory specialists. Cuban professors are also in Guatemala as part of a special training program. RENOWNED CUBAN-AMERICAN DOCTOR DIES AT THE AGE OF 90 Tampa, June 22(RHC)-- The pioneer of radiation therapy against cancer, Doctor Juan del Regato, died in a Tampa hospital where he had undergone surgery after suffering a serious fall. The 90-year-old Cuban-born doctor had lived in the United States since the 1940's. Dr. Juan del Regato was born in the eastern province of Camaguey, studied medicine in Havana and graduated from the University of Paris. In 1949, after moving to the United States, he established the first training center for radiation therapy. The Cuban-American doctor also received credit for coordinating the first clinical tests on radiation treatment of cancerous prostate tumors. In 1948, he was named Director of the Penrose Cancer Hospital in Colorado Springs. Del Regato was also the founder of the North American Society of Therapeutic and Cancer Radiology. He received numerous distinctions, among them the Bruninghaus Award, presented by the French Academy of Medicine in 1979. [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-20215 1999-Jun-22 20:27:11