Radio Havana Cuba, 18 July 2000 07:00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 18 July 2000 07:00 *CUBA CRITICIZES INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS FOR CUTTING AID TO THIRD WORLD *THE 3RD PLENARY SESSION OF CUBA'S JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION CONTINUES IN HAVANA *CUBAN HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO OFFER SERVICES IN REPUBLIC OF MALI *HAVANA HOSTS THE 35TH MEETING OF THE PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S ADVISORY RESEARCH COMMITTEE *INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA MEETING READY TO BEGIN NEXT NOVEMBER *Viewpoint: SHARP CONTRADICTIONS - US COLONIALISM *CUBA CRITICIZES INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS FOR CUTTING AID TO THIRD WORLD New York, July 17 (RHC)-- Cuba has criticized industrialized, donor countries that place greater and greater conditions on official development aid. Havana's representative before the United Nations, Rafael Dausa, took to the floor of the Economic and Social Council on Monday -- calling for increased international cooperation to help underdeveloped countries. The Cuban diplomat affirmed that the constantly decreasing contributions to development aid have negatively affected UN funds and programs for the Third World. Dausa stated that assistance to poor countries should be increasing, not decreasing -- emphasizing that such a situation is greatly affecting the credibility of the United Nations Organization. As an example, the Cuban representative to the UN pointed to the fact that the money alloted to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, dropped from 679 million dollars to 558 million between 1994 and 1998. According to Rafael Duasa, given the increasingly dismal situation for children around the world, funds for UNICEF should be increased, not reduced. The Cuban representative also referred to the commitment by industrialized nations to earmark 0.7 percent of their Gross Domestic Product to development aid -- noting that in most cases, all the rich nations have managed to come up with is less than 0.3 percent. He told delegates to the UN Economic and Social Council that if the situation is not urgently improved, international development programs and even the future of humanity is at risk. *THE 3RD PLENARY SESSION OF CUBA'S JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION CONTINUES IN HAVANA Havana, July 17 (RHC)-The 3rd Plenary Session of theCuban Journalists and Writers Association, UPEC, continued on Monday with the presence of President Fidel Castro. The meeting, with the participation of over 200 journalists from across the island and invited guests, is focusing on mass media and culture. During discussions with the delegates, President Fidel Castro expressed interest in the development of new methods and technology for the dissemination of Cuba's reality, making reference to the media offensive in the case of Elian Gonzalez and the need to continue that offensive against other aspects of Washington's hostile Cuba policy. *CUBAN HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO OFFER SERVICES IN REPUBLIC OF MALI Havana, July 17 (RHC)-Some 100 Cuban health professionals will soon offer their services free of charge in the Republic of Mali as part of Cuba's medical cooperation with several African nations. During a meeting between Cuba's Health Minister and his counterpart Mali, Diakite Fatoumata N'Diaye, both officials announced in Havana that the Cuban medical personnel will work in the country's most remote areas. Mali's Health Minister expressed his admiration of the island's results in health care despite the island's economic crisis and Washington's blockade against the Caribbean island. During his stay on the island the African official will visit Cuban health installations. *HAVANA HOSTS THE 35TH MEETING OF THE PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S ADVISORY RESEARCH COMMITTEE Havana, July 17 (RHC)-The 35th Meeting of the Pan American Health Organization's Advisory Research Committee began Monday in Havana with the participation of foreign guests. The PAHO's General Director, George Alleyne, inaugurated the meeting together with Committee president, Jorge Allende. The Health official praised Cuba's contribution to public health in Central America and the Caribbean. Delegates are expected to visit Havana's Latin American School of Medicine, among other institutions. *INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA MEETING READY TO BEGIN NEXT NOVEMBER Havana, July 17 (RHC)- Another International Solidarity with Cuba Meeting is scheduled to be held in Havana from November 11th to the 14th, with the presence of some four thousand delegates from 109 countries. The President of Cuba's Institute of Friendship with the People's, Sergio Corrieri, termed as impressive the growing awareness worldwide concerning Cuba's situation with respect to the hostile policies of the United States' government, and its achievements despite that hostility. *Viewpoint: SHARP CONTRADICTIONS - US COLONIALISM AT THE END OF THE 20TH CENTURY Puerto Rico is considered a Latin American nation on a number of different levels. The Puerto Rican people are like any other Spanish speaking people in Latin America. They have distinct customs and traditions that make the island a unique and complex cultural entity. However, Puerto Rico is not an independent nation. It should have gained independence in the 19th Century when Spain lost all its colonial dominions in the Western Hemisphere. But like Cuba, which never asked for U.S. military intervention in its anti-colonial war against Spain in the late 1890s, Puerto Rico became Washington's possesion. Just as Cuba was turned into a neo-colonial republic of the United States, Puerto Rico was also a victim of an equally outrageous foreign policy that converted the small Caribbean nation into a so-called Free Associated State of the American Union. Due to its colonial status, Puerto Rico has never had a President but, rather, maintains a local government as in any U.S. state. It has no diplomatic representation before the United Nations or any other international organization, like any sovereign country, because Washington dictates Puerto Rico's foreign policy. Puerto Ricans are considered U.S. citizens and, consequently, have fought in every war that the powerful northern nation has been involved in, including the criminal Vietnam War. Strong historical ties unite the peoples of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Cuban National Hero Jose Marti linked both nations' future in the strategic political objective of winning independence from Spain. A famous Puerto Rican poet of the time, Lola Rodriguez de Tio shared Marti's ideas. She wrote: "Cuba and Puerto Rico are two wings of the same bird." Cuba has always been in the forefront in the struggle for Puerto Rican independence. The United Nations Decolonization Committee just unanimously approved a Cuban-sponsored resolution condemning the colonial status of Puerto Rico. Moreover, the resolution demands an end to all U.S. military maneuvers in the Puerto Rican island-municipality Vieques, in total disregard for the health and well-being of its residents. Just as one day international public opinion will become fully aware of the injustice of Washington's blockade of Cuba, so, too, will the world realice that into the 21st century, the United States was the only colonial power on the face of the earth. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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