Radio Havana Cuba, September 21, 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, September 21, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE HOLDS NUMEROUS BILATERAL ENCOUNTERS AT 54th UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2.- PRESIDENT OF NAMIBIA, SAM NUJOMA, ARRIVES IN HAVANA TOMORROW 3.- IBERO-AMERICAN SERIES OF ONCOLOGY CONGRESSES BEGINS IN HAVANA 4.- CUBA AND HONDURAS TO SIGN NEW AGREEMENT FOR MORE DOCTORS 5.- PUERTO RICAN INDEPENDENCE ACTIVIST THANKS CUBA FOR SOLIDARITY 6.- CUBA'S CULTURE MINISTER VISITS CHINA 7.- PRESIDENT OF CUBA'S NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE VISITS VIETNAM CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE HOLDS NUMEROUS BILATERAL ENCOUNTERS AT 54th UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY New York, September 21(RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has held numerous bilateral encounters at the 54th United Nations General Assembly. Perez Roque has met with his counterparts from Malaysia, Italy, Sudan, Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela and numerous other countries. His Tuesday agenda began with a working encounter with South African Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo and members of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Cuban foreign minister also spoke with U.S. Democratic Senator Jim McDermott, who spoke of the growing calls in his country to ease or lift Washington's blockade of the island. The blockade is Item Number 33 on the agenda of this General Assembly session. Accompanying Perez Roque are members of the Cuban Ecumenical Council -- including the Reverend Raul Suarez, director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Havana -- and Cuban student representatives who will visit several public schools in New York City. Meanwhile, the theme of international military interventions in national conflicts has been dominating the speeches at the General Assembly session. The issue has taken on considerable importance with the U.S.-led NATO intervention in Kosovo without Security Council authorization, the current operation in East Timor and the persistent rumors of a military intervention in Colombia. U.S. President Bill Clinton today defended the Kosovo intervention in his speech before the General Assembly, following UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's criticism Monday -- during the inaugural session -- of Washington's and NATO's disregard of the international community. Annan had also stated that it's necessary to recognize that an armed intervention is essentially the result of a failure in prevention. PRESIDENT OF NAMIBIA, SAM NUJOMA, ARRIVES IN HAVANA TOMORROW Havana, September 21(RHC)-- The President of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, will begin an official visit to Cuba on Wednesday. Nujoma first visited the island in 1976, just months after assuming leadership of the South West African People's Organization, SWAPO, which had launched an armed struggle against South African occupation forces. He has since visited Cuba on a number of occasions. One of the high-points in Cuba-Namibia relations was Cuban President Fidel Castro's visit to that African nation last year while en route to South Africa for the Non-Aligned Summit. Though brief, the visit was charged with emotion, particularly when the Cuban leader met with survivors of the Casinga massacre who had studied in Cuba and now hold high-ranking government posts in Namibia. During his speech Monday at the United Nations General Assembly session, President Nujoma blasted Washington's on-going economic, trade and financial blockade of Cuba. He said that with the end of the Cold War, "we all hoped to share the dividends of peace," but that this hasn't been the case with respect to Cuba. IBERO-AMERICAN SERIES OF ONCOLOGY CONGRESSES BEGINS IN HAVANA Havana, September 21(RHC)-- The opening ceremony of the Ibero-American series of Oncology Congresses in Cuba took place Tuesday morning in Havana. The ceremony was presided over by Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, Vice President of Cuba's Council of State; Dr. Luis Cordova, Cuba's Deputy Health Minister; Dr. Jose Jimenez Medina, president of the event's organizing committee; and Salvadoran Dr. Saul Lara, President of the Latin American Federation of Cancerology Societies. Over 600 delegates from 30 countries are attending the Ibero-American event, underway at Havana's International Convention Center. During his address to participants of the event, the island's Deputy Health Minister Dr. Luis Cordova focused on the evolution of oncology in Cuba -- from the 1930's to date and highlighted the work done by Dr. Zoilo Marinelo, the founder of Cuba's National Oncology Group. Dr. Cordova also pointed to the World Health Organization's recognition of Cuba's successful Cancer Control Program in 1993 and 1996 and mentioned as one of the island's achievements, a program for the early detection of breast cancer which has made it possible to detect 40 percent of the cases in the first stages. Within Cuba's Cancer Control Program, the Cuban official also mentioned one devoted to cancer in children and the treatment and care of patients in the final stages of the disease with the help of family doctors. The island's deputy health minister acknowledged the work done by those who promote and support the island's movement called "For Life" and mentioned the contribution made by tourism workers and private employees who have already donated some six and a half million dollars for the purchase of drugs needed to fight cancer. A special roundtable discussion on Cuban vaccines against cancer is scheduled for Wednesday. These vaccines are now being tested on patients at various hospitals here in Havana. CUBA AND HONDURAS TO SIGN NEW AGREEMENT FOR MORE DOCTORS Tegucigalpa, September 21(RHC)-- Cuba and Honduras will sign a new agreement to send some 100 Cuban doctors to the Central American nation, replacing the current medical personnel offering their services in that country. Honduran Foreign Minister Roberto Bermudez said on Monday that Tegucigalpa is willing to sign an accord with Havana, providing for continued service by Cuban medical brigades in that country. The new brigade will arrive in Honduras next month and is part of a contingent of 10,000 health workers offered by Cuba to Central American and Caribbean countries affected by Hurricanes Georges and Mitch. PUERTO RICAN INDEPENDENCE ACTIVIST THANKS CUBA FOR SOLIDARITY Havana, September 21(RHC)-- Puerto Rican independence activist Elistan Escobar, who spent nearly 20 years in U.S. prisons for demanding independence for his country, thanked the Cuban people and President Fidel Castro for their constant solidarity with his cause. Escobar is one of 16 Puerto Rican political prisoners sentenced to up to 99 years for their struggle against U.S. colonialism. U.S. President Bill Clinton recently granted conditional clemency to 11 of the political prisoners, none of whom renounced their convictions and promise to work for an end to U.S colonial domination of their homeland. CUBA'S CULTURE MINISTER VISITS CHINA Beijing, September 21(RHC)-- Cuban Minister of Culture Abel Prieto is in China for an official visit aimed at signing bilateral agreements that include an exchange of experiences in the field of artistic education. The Cuban official's agenda includes a meeting in Beijing with Chinese artists and writers as well as Communist Party officials. During his visit to China, Abel Prieto and the rest of the Cuban delegation will also visit the tombs of the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall and the Imperial Palace as well as a number of cultural centers in the industrial city of Shanghai. PRESIDENT OF CUBA'S NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE VISITS VIETNAM Hanoi, September 21(RHC)-- The President of Cuba's National Audit Office, Lina Olinda Pedraza Rodriguez, has begun a one-week official visit to Vietnam aimed at exchanging experiences with her Vietnamese counterparts. The Cuban official met on Tuesday in Hanoi with the Vietnamese Deputy Finance Minister, Vu Mog Giao, together with Cuba's ambassador to that Asian nation, Fredesmam Turro. During her stay in Vietnam, the Cuban minister and her accompanying delegation will meet with officials of the country's economic sector and visit Ho Chi Minh City. 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