Radio Havana Cuba, Wednesday, May 12, 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 1.- CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROBERTO ROBAINA CONDEMNS U.S.-LED NATO BOMBARDMENT OF CHINESE EMBASSY IN BELGRADE 2.- OSPAAAL STRONGLY CONDEMNS NATO ATTACK AGAINST CHINESE EMBASSY 3.- ECUADORAN INDIGENOUS GROUP PROTESTS RECENT VOTE AT UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 4.- CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER MEETS WITH U.S. DOCTORS 5.- INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY APPROVES COOPERATION PROJECTS WITH CUBA 6.- CUBA AND RUSSIA EXPECTED TO SIGN NEW COOPERATION AGREEMENT 7.- PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA'S SPORTS INSTITUTE VISITS CUBA CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROBERTO ROBAINA REITERATES CONDEMNATION OF U.S.-LED NATO BOMBARDMENT OF CHINESE EMBASSY IN BELGRADE Havana, May 12(RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina has charged that the recent NATO bombardment of China's embassy in Belgrade is "an effort to intimidate the diplomatic community that has remained in the Yugoslav capital and which is a witness to the crimes being perpetrated against that nation." In statements on Radio Rebelde, Robaina said the U.S.-led NATO attack is "nothing more than an effort by Washington to reinforce its dominance in the world, tie the hands of the United Nations and threaten countries like China and Russia." The Cuban foreign minister said that the excuses for the so- called `accidental attack' against the Chinese embassy are "ridiculous and outrageous." Referring to an out-of-date map by the CIA, Robaina said it was impossible to believe that the world's greatest power, "which planned the aggression for months and has studied and selected its targets, can insult the intelligence of the international community with such cynical excuses." Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina also said that Washington's attempt to portray the aggression as an action in favor of human rights is "gross and disgraceful." Meanwhile, the U.S.-led NATO attacks against Yugoslavia late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning have been called the most intense yet by Serb media outlets. According to local reports, some 600 bombing missions were carried out -- with the destruction of eight bridges, five runways and a camp for Bosnian refugees, among other civilian targets. OSPAAAL STRONGLY CONDEMNS NATO ATTACK AGAINST CHINESE EMBASSY Havana, May 12(RHC)-- The Organization in Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America (OSPAAAL) has strongly condemned the brutal aggression by U.S.-led NATO forces against the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. OSPAAAL emphasized that this new attack is "a systematic violation of the most elemental norms of International Law and the United Nations Charter." The Havana-based solidarity organization affirmed that "the bombing of the Chinese embassy is yet another attack against civilian installations." OSPAAAL pointed out that these aggressions have killed more than one thousand civilians and have wounded another 5000 -- among them women, children and elderly. According to OSPAAAL, "no excuse can justify the uncivilized, inhumane and genocidal actions of the U.S. and NATO." The Organization in Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America "calls on all international organizations, renowned personalities and men and women of goodwill "to stand up and protest the terrible holocaust being committed against the Yugoslavian people." ECUADORAN INDIGENOUS GROUP PROTESTS RECENT VOTE AT UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Quito, May 12(RHC)-- Ecuador's powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities has written an open letter to Ecuadoran President Jamil Mahuad deploring that country's recent anti-Cuba vote at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Published in today's edition of the Cuban news daily Granma, the open letter says the Ecuadoran government played a "sad role in bowing to the obvious pressure exerted by the U.S. government." Referring to the announcement of an agreement between Ecuador and the International Monetary Fund just days after the vote, the indigenous activists charged that this submission was "the price paid to increase the country's foreign debt and further impoverish Ecuador." The Ecuadoran Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities -- representing some 2.5 million members of indigenous and ethnic groups -- rejected the vote cast in the name of Ecuador, recalling the friendship and solidarity between the two nations that dates back to the independence struggles of the last century. The open letter expressed its solidarity with Cuba which, it added, has oftentimes expressed its unconditional solidarity with Ecuador by carrying out medical and humanitarian campaigns to help those affected by natural disasters, with compatriots that have become professionals in Cuban universities and by offering 50 Ecuadoran young people scholarships to study medicine in Havana at absolutely no cost. The Ecuadoran Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities said that if President Mahuad still has any dignity and honor left, he will express his condemnation of Washington's blockade at the upcoming Iberoamerican Summit in Havana, "despite the pressures from money lenders and loan sharks." CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER MEETS WITH U.S. DOCTORS Havana, May 12(RHC)-- Cuban Health Minister Dr. Carlos Dotres has met with a delegation of U.S. doctors currently visiting the island. The delegation, composed of eight doctors, is visiting Cuba from the city of Baltimore. Dotres told the visiting physicians about the Cuban medical brigades that are currently offering their services in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti. He also spoke about the medical students from those countries, including the Dominican Republic, who are studying at the Latin American School of Medicine as part of a scholarship program. The visiting U.S. doctors from Baltimore expressed their satisfaction with the visit so far and told reporters that they have already learned a great deal. They also said they were very impressed with Cuba's health care system. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY APPROVES COOPERATION PROJECTS WITH CUBA Havana, May 12(RHC)-- The International Atomic Energy Agency has approved seven cooperation projects with Cuba for 1999 through the year 2000, according to the President of the island's Nuclear Energy Agency, Wenceslao Carrera. Several of the projects that were approved are linked to the medical, agricultural and industrial sectors. The International Atomic Energy Agency was created in 1957 with an intergovernmental character for scientific and technical cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful means. CUBA AND RUSSIA EXPECTED TO SIGN NEW COOPERATION AGREEMENT Moscow, May 12(RHC)-- Cuba and Russia are expected to sign an economic and trade cooperation accord during the Third Session of the Bilateral Economic Commission which got underway in Moscow on Wednesday. During the meeting, both sides are expected to create a joint association to find investors for the completion of Cuba's Juragua nuclear plant in the central province of Cienfuegos. Another issue on the meeting's agenda is a plan to construct a nickel plant in Cuba with Russian participation. After the collapse of the former Soviet Union in December 1991, some 600 projects with Cuba were left uncompleted. PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA'S SPORTS INSTITUTE VISITS CUBA Havana, May 12(RHC)-- The President of Venezuela's Sports Institute, Raul Salmeron, is scheduled to arrive in Havana on Thursday. During his visit, the Venezuelan sports official will meet with his Cuban counterpart, Humberto Rodriguez, and both sides are expected to sign an exchange agreement for the mutual development of sports. The president of Venezuela's Sports Institute will also visit training centers, including the sports center where Cuban athletes are currently training for the Pan American games in Winnipeg this summer. He will also meet with the sales manager of Cuba Sports S.A., Roberto Gonzalez, as well as other sports officials. Cuba and Venezuela have long maintained a sports cooperation program, which includes the exchange of equipment as well as Cuban sports trainers and technicians working in that Latin American nation. [c] 1999, Radio Habana Cuba All rights reserved Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system without the consent of RHC. 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