Radio Havana Cuba-13 July 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 13 July 2000 *CUBAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 5TH LEGISLATURE SESSION REPORT *CUBA COMMENTS ON UN SUPPORT FOR PUERTO RICAN DECOLONIZATION *ROUNDTABLE: EXAMPLES OF ECONOMIC DAMAGE CAUSED BY US US BLOCKADE *REPORT: ARMANDO HART RETURNS FROM NEW YORK VISIT *VENCEREMOS BRIGADE VISITS TOURIST INDUSTRY FACILITIES *ELIAN GONZALEZ ENJOYING END-OF-SCHOOL-YEAR ACTIVITIES *CUBAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEETS SATURDAY *CAMAGUEY: INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS *GERARDO ALFONSO TO PERFORM IN HAVANA AFTER CHILE TOUR *Viewpoint: MESSAGE FROM THE RICH TO THE POOR *CUBAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 5TH LEGISLATURE SESSION REPORT Havana, July 13 (RHC)-The Ordinary Session of the Cuban National Assembly's 5th Legislature wound up Thursday at Havana's Convention Center. During the two day Ordinary Session, Cuban deputes discussed and approved the proclamation of the National Assembly on the Cuban Adjustment Act, which condemns the U.S. legislation promoting illegal migration to U.S. territory. A second proclamation was also approved on the almost 40 year U.S. blockade of Cuba which reiterates the determination of the Cuban people to maintain their ideological struggle, demanding the lifting of Washington's unilateral financial and economic measures against the Cuban people. Another prioritized topic on the agenda was the approval by the Assembly of a draft bill on the performance of community governing bodies known as People's Councils. Deputes were also able to address the production results of the island's light industry and fishing sectors. Ministers of both sectors submitted their presentations to the Assembly for discussion and approval. During debates Thursday, deputes stressed the need to increase food supply - and improve its quality - to the Cuban population. They also welcomed the trend of economic recovery experienced by these important sectors over the past 5 years, since they have a direct impact on the people's standard of living. The Ordinary Session of the Cuban National Assembly's 5th Legislature concluded with words of congratulation by Cuban President Fidel Castro for the fishing industry's achievements over the past 5 years. The President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, extended the National Assembly's greetings to the peoples of the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Havana, and the central province of Santa Clara, for having won the venues of national celebration for the coming 26th of July celebration of the attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba during the Batista regime - seen as the start of the Cuban Revolution. *CUBA COMMENTS ON UN SUPPORT FOR PUERTO RICAN DECOLONIZATION Havana, July 13 (RHC)-The Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque today commented on the United Nations Decolonization Committee's resolution effectively supporting Puerto Rican self-determination. The resolution is based on the 1960 UN resolution 1514 on the granting of independence of all colonial territories, also stresses that the United States pave the way for the implementation of that resolution in the case of Puerto Rico and for the release of all Puerto Rican political prisoners. The approved document also urges Washington to put an end to all military exercises on the Puerto Rican island municipality of Vieques. Felipe Perez Roque said that although the United Nation's ad hoc Decolonization Committee has approved other similar Cuban resolutions in the past, this is the first time in 28 years that such an important UN body approved an initiative without submitting it to a vote. That means, said the Cuban diplomat, that none of its member states are against the resolution. Cuba's Foreign Ministry considers that the approval of the Cuban resolution on Puerto Rico stands for an increasing awareness by the international community over the long time struggle waged by the Puerto Rican people, and another step towards the independence of Puerto Rico and full participation in the Latin American context of which Puerto Rico is an inseparable element. The United Nation's Decolonization Committee last year approved a similar Cuban-sponsored resolution with 12 votes in favor, none against, and 5 abstentions. Seven countries belonging to the Committee did not attend that vote. *ROUNDTABLE: EXAMPLES OF ECONOMIC DAMAGE CAUSED BY US US BLOCKADE Havana, July 13 (RHC)-Thursday's Cuban TV round table detailed some of the economic consequences of the US blockade against the island through 1998. The blockade has directly cost Cuba some $67 billion in unnecessary or additional costs associated with currency exchange, cost of trade and transportation, and higher international credits. The round table panel divulged that 63% of US companies and 58% of European companies that has expressed an interest in doing business with Cuba were prevented from doing so due to the Helm Burton Act and US threats and sanctions on such business. Some 14% of the world's food is produced or controlled by the Unites States. Some 50% of all pharmaceutical products and 90% of all biotechnological products are produced or controlled by the United States. The consequences for Cuba are clear, said the round table participants who were mostly economists. An example of how US action can directly affect Cuban trade on an international basis - hence the use of the word blockade instead of embargo - is the action taken by Bacardi in the US. The former Cuban company that left Cuba at the time of the Revolution and has funded right wing attempts against the island ever since, attempted to take over the Cuban trademark Havana Club and market their own rum as if it came from Cuba. Havana Club and its French partner Pernod Ricard have fought this theft of the trademark on an international scale. The losses to Havana Club and thus to the Cuban treasury have been significant but the tide is turning. In an interview with Hellen Yaffe from the British organization Rock Around the Blockade, panellists heard about a national campaign against Bacardi in the UK has had very good results. Sales of Bacardi rum - especially in student bars - has dropped significantly and Havana Club marketed by Pernod Ricard has grown. The campaign entitled "Don't drink Bacardi, it'll leave a bad taste in your mouth" involved occupying the London office of the Bacardi corporation to draw attention to its attempt to fool its customers and undermine the important social gains of the Cuban Revolution. *REPORT: ARMANDO HART RETURNS FROM NEW YORK VISIT Havana, July 13 (RHC)-Member of the Central Committee of Cuba's Communist Party, Armando Hart, wrapped up a visit in New York on Wednesday. He attended conferences and discussed preparations for the 150 anniversary of the birth of Cuba's National Hero, Jose Marti, to be held in New York in the year 2003. Hart, who is director of the National Office of Studies on Jose Marti, told Prensa Latina news agency, upon his arrival to Havana, that people in New York are working to create the Jose Marti Cultural Society and that there is special interest in the works of Cuba's most important independence leader. According to the Cuban official, during his stay in New York, he met with a wide range of cultural and social personalities from different ethnic and national backgrounds. Armando Hart added that talks with the North American religious and academic communities was a success, including visits to important institutions like Saint Patrick's Cathedral and Hunter College. *VENCEREMOS BRIGADE VISITS TOURIST INDUSTRY FACILITIES Havana, July 13 (RHC)-The US solidarity organization Venceremos Brigade is currently enjoying the natural beauties of the northern coast of central Ciego de Avila province where the Jardines del Rey tourism facility is located and considered the third most important tourist sites on the island. The brigadistas will have the opportunity to visit four and five star hotels in the Coco and Guillermo Keys, where some two thousand 300 rooms are available for vacationers. Officials from the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, ICAP, stressed the importance for the members of the Venceremos Brigade to learn about gains and future prospects in the Cuban tourism sector. *ELIAN GONZALEZ ENJOYING END-OF-SCHOOL-YEAR ACTIVITIES Havana, July 13 (RHC)-Cuban television on Wednesday showed recent images of six year old Elian Gonzalez, alongside his family and closest friends, at Havana's Pabexpo exhibition as part of the end of the school year activities. The images show signs of the child's impressive recovery after he was detained by his distant relatives, and the ultra right wing Cuban American mafia, in Miami against his fathers will for a period of 7 months. According to the report, Elian's teachers and other specialists, that have worked with the child since his return to the island with his father, said that the six-year-old will most likely be able to successfully complete the school year. *CUBAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEETS SATURDAY Havana, July 13 (RHC)-The third meeting of the National Committee of the Cuban Journalists Association will be held on Saturday with the objective of discussing the current role of the press and its relation to culture. Delegates and guests that participated in last year's 7th Congress of the Journalists Association will participate in Saturday's meeting and will look into the results of the agreements reached during last October's event. *CAMAGUEY: INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS Camaguey, July 13 (RHC)- The 4th International Festival of Contemporary Music, "Camaguey 2000," kicked off on Thursday in the eastern city of Camaguay with the participation of artists, composers and musicians from 8 countries. Symphonic works and Chamber music from Cuban and foreign composers, among them a ballet opera based on Don Quijote by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, will be presented during the event. Cuban singer songwriter Silvio Rodriguez and composers Harold Gramatch and Jose Loyola, together with Camaguey's ballet and symphony orchestra, as well as theatre figures from the eastern city of Holguin, will represent Cuba. Other important artists participating in the contemporary music festival come from a variety of countries including Italy, Britain, Spain, Japan, Germany, Argentina and Denmark. *GERARDO ALFONSO TO PERFORM IN HAVANA AFTER CHILE TOUR Havana, July 13 (RHC)--On Friday, Havana's Casa de las Americas cultural institution will host a concert by Cuban singer and composer Gerardo Alfonso. The event will launch his most recent CD-Recuento. The music of Gerardo Alfonso, who has just returned from a tour of Chile, has been the subject of musical interpretation by many Cuban groups and soloists. Alfonso joined the island's New Song Movement in 1980 to, in his own words, use music as a means of self-expression. His song "Sabanas Blancas" -the theme of a weekly national television program called Andar La Habana, hosted by Havana Historian Eusebio Leal- has won him recognition in both Latin America and Europe. Gerardo Alfonso's CD Recuentos will be the first to be released under the recently created Casa de Las Americas' CASA record label. *Viewpoint: MESSAGE FROM THE RICH TO THE POOR: 'STAY HOME... AND HAVE A NICE DAY' The United States -- the nation of immigrants -- is quickly closing the door to future residents. Apparently, to many in Washington, it seems that the only way to stop the constant flow of illegal immigrants -- seeking to improve their economic situation -- is to simply lock itself in. The European Union, also affected by this social phenomenon, is implementing measures to obstruct and control the flow of illegal immigrants to European countries from the Third World. Washington and Brussels have traditionally responded to this migratory problem with repression and the immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants, thus ignoring the real causes of the problem. In addition, the situation appears to be worsening rather than improving. More than two-thirds of the world's population -- amounting to over 4.5 billion people -- live in underdeveloped countries. If they could enjoy acceptable conditions of employment and social services like education, health care and access to food in their own countries, they would not need to leave their homes and seek better opportunities in foreign lands. However, social justice is also missing from the so-called First World and those who arrive in those rich nations are exposed to inhuman exploitation and suffering. Most of them are manual workers with little education and a low cultural level - able only to find the hardest, dirtiest and worst paid jobs. Many of them are forced into crime in order to just survive, thus becoming victims of the repression implemented by the wealthy. The United States has become the world's leader in crime. Its social structure isolates those who don't qualify for an economy that generates massive lay-offs and does not respond to the interests of the people. In addition, of course, the same is true in the industrialized countries of Europe. The message is clear: there just isn't enough room for everyone in that part of the world. Moreover, it is even clearer that new economic policies must be adopted in order to achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth. Otherwise, the devastating consequences of the current social order are, at best, unpredictable. (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-19446 2000-Jul-14 03:21:53