Radio Havana Cuba, September 23, 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 Thursday, September 23, 1999. Today's stories: 1.- VISITING NAMIBIAN PRESIDENT SAM NUJOMA HOLDS OFFICIAL TALKS WITH CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO 2.- CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE CALLS ON NON-ALIGNED NATIONS TO JOIN FORCES 3.- U.S. LEGISLATION ALLOWING FOR THE SALE OF FOOD AND MEDICINE TO CUBA TABLED IN CONFERENCE COMMITTEE 4.- CUBAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH PARTICIPANTS OF IBERO-AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN MINISTERIAL MEETING OF PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATIOIN 5.- CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER WILL TAKE PART IN 41st COUNCIL OF THE PAN-AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION 6.- CUBA SHOWS DEMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS SIMILAR TO INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS 7.- PIANIST CHUCHO VALDES JOINS THE LATIN JAZZ HALL OF FAME VISITING NAMIBIAN PRESIDENT SAM NUJOMA HOLDS OFFICIAL TALKS WITH CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO Havana, September 23(RHC)-- Following an official welcoming ceremony, visiting Namibian President Sam Nujoma held official talks with Cuban President Fidel Castro today. The two leaders focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation, primarily in the fields of health, education and agriculture. President Nujoma arrived in Havana Wednesday evening and told reporters that Cuba was his "second home." The African leader recalled that Cubans and Namibians fought shoulder-to-shoulder against South Africa's apartheid regime for the independence of his country. On this, his sixth visit to Cuba, the Namibian president is accompanied by a large delegation comprised of his Foreign Minister Tuiliameni Kalomoh, among other high-ranking members of government. Included in President Nujoma's itinerary is a visit to Havana's Latin American School of Medicine, where some 2000 youths from Latin America and the Caribbean are studying free-of-charge. CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE CALLS ON NON-ALIGNED NATIONS TO JOIN FORCES New York, September 23(RHC)-- At the Non-Aligned Ministerial Summit, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque called on member nations to struggle for a world order "in which equality, justice and solidarity can be a reality for all the world's countries." In New York for the 54th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Cuban foreign minister urged the Non-Aligned nations to place a special emphasis on the South Summit, to be held next April in Havana. He said the gathering will be an extraordinary opportunity to coordinate positions leading up to the Millenium Summit, called by the United Nations for September 2000. Foreign Minister Perez Roque pointed out that the Third World today produces more, but makes less and that the prices of its export products are decreasing while prices of its imports increase. He said the type of order that the world needs is one in which "there is real cooperation between poor and rich nations," and in which "hunger and insecurity are eradicated from the face of the earth." Finally, the Cuban foreign minister said that "Cuba -- blockaded and attacked -- is nevertheless certain that with unity, no force in the world will be capable of stopping the Non-Aligned countries from securing a future with dignity and social justice." U.S. LEGISLATION ALLOWING FOR THE SALE OF FOOD AND MEDICINE TO CUBA TABLED IN CONFERENCE COMMITTEE Washington, September 23(RHC)-- U.S. legislation allowing for the sale of food and medicine to Cuba has been tabled in conference committee, and not effectively killed as previously reported. Tabled legislation is a postponement of a vote, but is often used to kill the measure. It's not certain when or if further discussions will ensue. Right wing members of the U.S. House of Representatives blocked efforts to partially lift sanctions against a number of countries, insisting that Cuba be omitted. The exemption of food and medicine sales would apply to Iraq, Libya, Sudan and North Korea. The sanctions language would be part of an agricultural funding bill nearing the final stages of congressional action. The Senate approved the amendment, including the partial lifting of sanctions against Cuba, in a 70 to 28 vote earlier this summer. One of the sponsors of the amendment, New York Representative Jose Serrano, told reporters Wednesday that the conference committee's action demonstrates the political power that right-wing Cuban- Americans in Miami still maintain. Serrano said that it was absurd and inhumane to deny food and medicine to people for political reasons. Farmers in the United States, pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among others, have been promoting the partial lifting of Washington's blockade against Cuba, arguing either humanitarian reasons or insisting that the proximity of Cuba makes it a logical market for U.S. products. CUBAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH PARTICIPANTS OF IBERO-AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN MINISTERIAL MEETING OF PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATIOIN Havana, September 23(RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro met with delegates of the Ibero-American and Caribbean Ministerial Meeting on Public Work and Transportation which wound up on Wednesday in Havana. During their meeting with the Cuban leader, delegates from 23 countries discussed issues related to transportation in the region as well as the international economic situation. Participants at the two-day ministerial meeting in Havana approved a provisional declaration which will be submitted to the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, slated for November in Havana. The text ratifies the need to establish stable ways for cooperation. The document also includes the creation of a maritime and air transportation system to support an increase in socio-economic, commercial and tourism development during the next century. Finally, the Third International Transportation Fair was inaugurated here in Havana with the participation of nearly 300 firms from 20 countries. CUBAN HEALTH MINISTER WILL TAKE PART IN 41st COUNCIL OF THE PAN-AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION Havana, September 23(RHC)-- Cuban Health Minister Carlos Dotres is scheduled to participate in the 41st Council of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), scheduled for September 27th in San Juan, Puerto Rico. During the meeting, participants will analyze issues related to preparations for emergency situations, AIDS in Latin America, vaccines and integral health care. They will also discuss worker's health care and persistent organic contamination, among others. In Puerto Rico next week, the Pan-American Health Organization's Immunization Award will be presented to Dr. Miguel Galindo Sardinas, head of the Cuban Health Ministry's National Immunization Program. The award was created to recognize outstanding national programs and efforts to control and eliminate preventable diseases. Cuba aspires to become a member of the Presidency of the Executive Committee of the Pan-American Health Organization. Cuba has been a member of PAHO for the past three years. CUBA SHOWS DEMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS SIMILAR TO INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS Havana, September 23(RHC)-- According to a United Nations report released in Havana on Wednesday, for the past several years, Cuba has been showing demographic patterns similar to industrialized countries, associated with the social development of the island. The Director of the Center of Population and Development Studies, Juan Carlos Alfonso, stated that the most recent estimated population in Cuba is 11 million 160,000 inhabitants. The report affirms that the Cuban population has a low-growth rate, while life expectancy is high -- estimated at 75 years of age for both men and women. These statistics are an example of an aging population -- a problem which is evidently positive, but one that the island must confront with creativity in the future. PIANIST CHUCHO VALDES JOINS THE LATIN JAZZ HALL OF FAME San Francisco, September 23(RHC)-- Two-time Grammy award winner, Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes, has joined the Latin Jazz Hall of Fame during a ceremony held in the U.S. city of San Francisco. In addition to the Cuban jazz star, pianist Lalo Schifrin of Argentina and Eddie Palmieri and Tito Puente, both from Puerto Rico, received special recognition. In 1982, Chucho Valdez received his first Grammy with his group Irakere. He won another Grammy in 1998 with his album "Havana Disco," together with U.S. trumpet player Roy Hardgrove and his Crisol Project. This year, Valdez has been nominated for the awards of the U.S. Academy of Music in the categories of Latin Jazz and Tropical Music. [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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