Radio Havana Cuba, October 5, 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, October 5, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO AND VISITING GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT ALVARO ARZU BEGIN OFFICIAL TALKS 2.- RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA 3.- THREE U.S. MAYORS PARTICIPATE IN CONFERENCE ON THE REFURBISHING OF HAVANA 4.- CUBA'S BIO-PHARMACEUTICAL LABORATORIES RECEIVE AWARD IN PERU 5.- U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT PROHIBITS U.S. EXPERTS FROM PARTICIPATING IN ERNEST HEMINGWAY COLOQUIM 6.- CUBAN ATHLETES REMEMBER VICTIMS OF THE SABATOGE OF CUBANA AIRLINER 7.- PRESIDENT OF CUBAN PARLIAMENT WELCOMES DELEGATION FROM THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO 8.- CUBA SHOWS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH AS TOURIST DESTINATION CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO AND VISITING GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT ALVARO ARZU BEGIN OFFICIAL TALKS Havana, October 5(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro and visiting Guatemalan President Alvaro Arzu began official talks today in Havana. President Castro formally received his Guatemalan counterpart this morning after Arzu placed a floral wreath at the monument to Cuba's national hero, Jose Marti. Although the Guatemalan delegation's visit has diverse objectives, Arzu's three-day stay in Cuba is particularly underscored by Cuba's medical aid to the Central American nation following Hurricane Mitch. More than 400 Cuban health specialists have offered their services to Guatemala free-of-charge. Havana's Latin American School of Medicine was Arzu's first stop-over, during which he chatted with the 260 Guatemalan youths studying at the institute. He told the students to never forget to thank the Cuban people for this opportunity. The Guatemalan president called the Cuban health professionals in his country "examples of discipline and apostles of health who have significantly reduced mortality rates wherever they have worked." President Arzu has also boasted of his country's leadership as the first nation in Central America to have signed an investment protection accord with Cuba. Last March, a mixed Cuba-Guatemala commission in Guatemala City defined 36 Cuban projects and 43 Guatemalan projects as the points of departure for prospective business deals. Among those projects is one called Beach-Maya World multi-destination tourism, in which the tourism package includes Cuba's beaches and Guatemala's ancestral Mayan attractions. President Arzu will deliver a conference this evening at the University of Havana on his country's rebel-government peace process and then tour areas of Old Havana. On Wednesday, he will visit Havana's Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center. RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA Moscow, October 5(RHC)-- Russia's Lower House of Parliament, the Duma, approved a resolution which calls on parliamentarians worldwide to condemn Washington's 37-year-old blockade against Cuba and attempts to tighten that blockade with the Helms-Burton Law. According to the document, the Russian Duma urges other legislators to support Cuba's statements during the United Nations General Assembly, in which Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque called Washington's blockade an act of genocide. The resolution was approved by more than 250 Russian deputies of the Lower House and demands an immediate end to the U.S. blockade against Cuba. The Russian lawmakers reaffirmed their solidarity with the Cuban people, calling Washington's aggressive policy a violation of international law. THREE U.S. MAYORS PARTICIPATE IN CONFERENCE ON THE REFURBISHING OF HAVANA Havana, October 5(RHC)-- Havana is undergoing a major facelift: statues and monuments are being refurbished, historic hotels and houses are being rebuilt and remodeled and buildings along the city's seaside drive, The Malecon, are getting new facades. During the opening of a conference in the Cuban capital on Tuesday -- attended by mayors from three U.S. cities -- architects, city planners and historians agreed that historic preservation is good for everyone. Mayor Joseph Riley of Charleston, South Carolina; the head of Baltimore's city government, Kurt Schmoke, and the mayor of the southern U.S. city of Knoxville, Tennessee, Victor Ashe, stressed that the importance of the preservation of a city's heritage and culture is bigger than political differences -- whether between Republicans and Democrats in the United States or between the governments of Havana and Washington. The U.S. mayors, who are participating in a two-day conference on historic preservation, sponsored by the Cuban NGO, Group for the Comprehensive Development of the Capital, agreed that making the city beautiful and socially-responsible, is vitally important to its inhabitants, no matter what their class or income. Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley stated that historic preservation is not some small elite preserving mansions. He said it is more important to the poor, who have only their city to enjoy. Meanwhile, Mayor Ashe of Knoxville, Tennessee stressed that all cities have similar problems, including building regulations and how to attract tourism without sacrificing the history and culture of the metropolis. Historian of the City of Havana Eusebio Leal, gave a detailed account of restoration and reconstruction underway in the capital's colonial section -- from monuments, statues and the seaside drive, to public libraries, daycare centers and other community areas. Leal noted that the city must serve the people and involve them, stressing the importance of tourism which has funded most of the restoration of the beautiful Old Havana area. The session ended with a tour of Old Havana lead by Eusebio Leal. Also attending the Tuesday morning session of the Havana conference on historic preservation was a former head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Wayne Smith, as well as the President of Cuba's Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, and some of the country's most noted architects. CUBA'S BIO-PHARMACEUTICAL LABORATORIES RECEIVE AWARD IN PERU Lima, October 5(RHC)-- Cuba's Bio-Pharmaceutical Laboratories, LABIOFAM, has received an award for the development of a vaccine against a disease that attacks the immunization system of poultry. The award was presented by the Latin American Poultry Association in Lima, Peru. In statements to reporters, the director of the institution, Jose Antonio Fraga Castro, said that the vaccine -- the first of its type in Latin America -- is the result of hard work by Cuban researchers and the Pedro Kouri Institute. Present during the award ceremony was Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori who expressed his satisfaction for the achievements of Cuba's Bio-Pharmaceutical Laboratories. U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT PROHIBITS U.S. EXPERTS FROM PARTICIPATING IN ERNEST HEMINGWAY COLLOQUIUM Havana, October 5(RHC)-- The U.S. Treasury Department has prohibited 100 experts from attending a colloquium on the life and work of U.S. writer Ernest Hemingway, to be held next week in Havana. The director of the Hemingway Museum, Danilo Arrate, told reporters that he regretted that the U.S. experts could not attend the colloquium on Hemingway, fearing reprisals from Washington if they traveled to the island. Unless granted a special license by the U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. citizens are prohibited to spend money in Cuba -- effectively limiting travel to the island. Those who violate the law are subject to fines and/or imprisonment. CUBAN ATHLETES REMEMBER VICTIMS OF THE SABATOGE OF CUBANA AIRLINER Havana, October 5(RHC)-- A special commemoration ceremony will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, to remember those killed in the sabotage bombing of a Cubana airliner in 1976. Wednesday, October 6th, marks the 23rd anniversary of the mid-air explosion over Barbados that killed all passengers on board. Fifty-seven Cubans -- including the island's entire fencing team, returning from competitions -- and 16 foreigners were killed in the sabotage attack. Cuban athletes will hold a special ceremony tomorrow at the Cerro Pelado Training Center in Havana. The commemoration will include a march to Havana's Colon Cemetery. In the afternoon, another event will be held at the Sports City Complex. Evidence showed that the bomb was placed by Cuban-American mercenaries, in the pay of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA. The two terrorists who admitted that they placed the bomb on the Cubana flight -- Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch -- are currently free and walking the streets. PRESIDENT OF CUBAN PARLIAMENT WELCOMES DELEGATION FROM THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO Havana, October 5(RHC)-- The President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon welcomed a delegation from the Republic of Congo, headed by its Foreign Minister Rodolphe Adada. During the meeting, the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Noemi Benitez, was also present. The Congolese official traveled to Cuba to head the 9th Cuba-Congo Joint Commission, which got underway on Monday in the Cuban capital. Cuba and the Congo have a long history of friendship and over 630 Cuban internationalists have offered their services in the fields of health, agriculture, construction and education. CUBA SHOWS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH AS TOURIST DESTINATION Havana, October 5(RHC)-- The Director of the Cubanacan, S.A. group, Juan Jose Vega, stated that Cuba is one of the tourist destinations that shows significant growth in the area, and is among the top six tourist spots in the region that has already reached one million vacationers so far this year. The Cuban official said that most of the vacationers are from Spain, Canada, Germany, Britain and France and pointed out that the island hopes to welcome one million 700 thousand visitors in 1999 and some two million during the year 2000. [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-27003 1999-Oct-06 15:27:39