Radio Havana Cuba-16 August 2000 22:45 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 16 August 2000 22:45 *CUBA ACCUSES RICH COUNTRIES OF PROMOTING SPORTS TALENT DRAIN *INS AWARDS AGENTS WHO RESCUED ELIAN GONZALEZ *KHOURI INSTITUTE FIGHTING TROPICAL DISEASES *TEST RESULTS ENCOURAGING FOR VACCINE AGAINST PROSTATE CANCER *LATIN AMERICAN MEDICAL STUDENTS OBSERVE ECUADORAN ANNIVERSARY *HANOVER FAIR 2000--CUBAN PAVILION IS A HIT *CLEANING UP GUACANAYABO GULF *Viewpoint: THE THEFT OF ATHLETES IN AN INCREASINGLY COMMERCIALIZED WORLD *CUBA ACCUSES RICH COUNTRIES OF PROMOTING SPORTS TALENT DRAIN Havana, August 16 (RHC)-- Cuba has accused rich countries of promoting a sports talent drain from Third World nations and came out once again in support of its right to abide by International Olympic Committee (IOC) rulings. Cuban sports officials defended the island's right to deny permission for long jumper Niurka Montalvo to compete under the Spanish flag. She received Spanish citizenship in 1999 and therefore does not comply with the three years stipulated by the IOC for an athlete who acquires a new citizenship to compete for a new country. During a televised roundtable Tuesday, the president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Jose Ramon Fernandez, said an agreement between Cuba and Spain regarding this case is not possible. He stated that the Spanish media are trying to present Montalvo's case as a story of romance, after having married a Spanish citizen, and that Cuba is playing the role of an inhuman monster. Fernandez revealed that she left the island's official team in 1997 without requesting official permission, went to Spain and got married two years later. The president of the Cuban Olympic Committee called on the IOC to take measures to prevent national federations from stealing sports talents. He reiterated that Cuba's position is not against the Spanish government or its people, expressing concern with the way that the Spanish Track and Field Federation has been handling the case -- describing its attitude as "insulting, aggressive and arrogant." The Cuban veto over the Montalvo case sparked indignation among Spanish sports officials, who announced they will re-examine their relations with Cuba's track and field movement. During the televised roundtable discussion Tuesday evening, the opening of the international school for the promotion of physical education instructors and sports was announced as well as that of an anti-doping lab. Meanwhile, media reports coming from Spain indicate that the president of the Cuban Track and Field Federation, Alberto Juantorena, will offer a news conference in Madrid tomorrow at the Cuban embassy. In related news, Cuba's Sports Institute president Humberto Rodriguez, currently in Europe, said that the island will not allow water polo expert Ivan Perez to represent Spain at the upcoming Olympic games. Perez, also married to a Spanish citizen, does not comply with the time period requested by the IOC and, therefore, his country of origin has the right to deny permission for competing under a different flag. *INS AWARDS AGENTS WHO RESCUED ELIAN GONZALEZ Atlanta, August 16 (RHC)-- INS agents who rescued Elian Gonzalez from his kidnappers in Miami last April received recognition for their bravery and sacrifice during a special ceremony held in Atlanta on Tuesday. The director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Doris Meissner, awarded nearly 140 agents who took part in the April 22nd raid on the Miami house where the six-year-old was being held. The INS director stated that her agents conducted themselves professionally, pointing out that no one was injured during the rescue operation. Meissner emphasized that the Immigration and Naturalization Service was proud of those who participated in the raid to free Elian from his kidnappers and, if faced with a similar situation, the agency would act in the same way. Just hours after the rescue operation, Elian Gonzalez was reunited with his father and friends who were waiting in Washington, DC. Following numerous legal maneuvers by his kidnappers and right wing elements in the Cuban-American community and on Capitol Hill, the six-year-old boy was finally allowed to return home to Cuba two months later. *KHOURI INSTITUTE, FIGHTING TROPICAL DISEASE IN THIRD WORLD Havana, August 16 (RHC)-- The General Director of the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute, Gustavo Kouri, told reporters that Cuba's aid to fight tropical diseases in Third World countries constitutes one of the most important tasks for the Institute. Kouri told journalists in Havana that September 21st will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of his father -- the founder of the Tropical Medicine Institute. Founded in 1957, the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute has significantly grown since its creation and now has 128 full time researchers. The Institute is in charge of evaluating all vaccines that are produced in Cuba. *TEST RESULTS ENCOURAGING FOR VACCINE AGAINST PROSTATE CANCER Havana, August 16 (RHC)-- Cuban scientists say that the results of clinical tests for a vaccine against prostate cancer are very encouraging. Researchers from the Biotechnology Center in eastern Camaguey province say that if the vaccine is a success, it would be the first of its type on the island. In statements to journalists, the director of Camaguey's Biotechnology Center, Roberto Basulto, said that the vaccine has been known to halt the advancement of prostate cancer. According to the Cuban scientist, the product should improve the quality of life and life expectancy for patients that suffer from prostate cancer, which causes over 1000 deaths each year on the island. *LATIN AMERICAN MEDICAL STUDENTS OBSERVE ECUADORAN ANNIVERSARY Havana, August 16 (RHC)-- The 190th anniversary of Ecuador's independence was commemorated on Tuesday with an activity at Havana's Latin American School of Medicine. With the presence of foreign students and professors, Ecuador's ambassador to Havana, Eduardo Tobar Fierro, thanked the Cuban government for its generosity and human spirit in receiving hundreds of Ecuadorian students to study medicine on the island as part of a Cuban government scholarship program. During the activity, the President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Sergio Corrieri, said that Ecuadorians have long shown great solidarity with Cuba. *HANOVER FAIR 2000--CUBAN PAVILION IS A HIT Havana, August 16 (RHC)-- The Cuban Pavilion at the Hanover 2000 Fair in Germany is one of the most visited since opening day last June 1st, according to the General Director of the Cuban delegation to the Fair, Carlos Concepcion. He added that German television, as well as newspapers, have highlighted Cuba's presence at the Hanover Fair and many renowned personalities have visited the Cuban stand, including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The Cuban stand represents an 18th century, two-floor colonial mansion with a fountain in the center and takes up 414 square meters. It also includes information on the island's social, economic, cultural and health achievements since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. The Hanover 2000 Fair includes the participation of 180 countries under the slogan "Humanity, Nature and Technology" and will run through October 31st. *CLEANING UP GUACANAYABO GULF Bayamo, August 16 (RHC)-- A group for the environmental improvement of the Guacanayabo Gulf, located in the eastern part of the island, is currently working with other institutions in the decontamination of the area. The work includes projects for the year 2001, which involve an increase in financing for the clean-up in order to solve the environmental problem in that region. A representative from Cuba's Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, Ruben Estrada Aliaga, said that work is being done to avoid the dumping of toxic residues from the coastal industrial complexes, along with the Manzanillo hospital. The project to improve the region's environment includes decontamination, reforestation and a climatic evaluation with the objective of preserving the flora and fauna of the Guacanayabo Gulf. *Viewpoint: THE THEFT OF ATHLETES IN AN INCREASINGLY COMMERCIALIZED WORLD In an overtly unethical move that ignores the good relations enjoyed between Spain and Cuba, some Spanish sport officials who purchased the services of Cuban long jumper Niurka Montalvo are attempting to secure permission for her to perform for the Spanish team in the upcoming Sydney Olympics. Niurka Montalvo defected to the European nation two years ago while representing Cuba at a sports meet and was granted Spanish nationality just one year ago. Article 46 of the Olympic Charter states that an athlete that has been granted citizenship by another nation within the previous three years must be authorized by their country of origin to be able to participate in the Olympic Games. Niurka Montalvo, an accomplished athlete in Cuba, became long jump champion while representing Spain in Seville's World Championship after her defection. There was evidently no appreciation of Olympic principles in this competition. Now the Spanish Sports Federation is trying to also use Montalvo for the Olympic Games and Cuba has turned down the request. In a similar case, Morocco has refused a petition from the French Sports Federation to allow three Moroccan athletes with recently acquired French nationality to represent Paris in Sydney. It is sad to witness the original, noble ideals of the Olympic Games being tainted with corrupt commercialism. If Cuba accedes to the Spanish Sports Federation demand, those proudly representing their countries in the competition will no longer carry any meaning and victory will depend on simple economic power. Sports talent has always been a symbol of a nation's identity but more and more athletes are being turned into representatives of trade interests that buy and sell them as human merchandise. Through great sacrifice and dedication, Cuba has become a Third-World sports power. The island is able to compete in almost every sports discipline and has won gold medals in the most difficult competitions and under the most trying circumstances. This success belongs, in the first place, to the Cuban Revolution, which has allowed every individual in the country to develop their ability and potential in the most diverse spheres of human activity. This is why Cuba defends and guards the prestige of its athletes so firmly. Such was the case of high jumper Javier Sotomayor and the weight lifters that were recently accused of doping at Winnipeg's Pan-American Games. Winning an Olympiad by buying athletes as if they were racehorses is denigrating for both the athletes that accept such a trade and their opportunist human negotiators. Cuba will not be a party to such practices and regrets that other less-principled individuals and organizations do not assume a similar attitude. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= rhc-eng-22765 2000-Aug-16 23:13:05