Radio Havana Cuba-14 July 2000 21:00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 14 July 2000 22:00 . *EARLY U.S AGGRESSION AGAINST REVOLUTIONARY CUBA *NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF UPEC REVIEWS WORK OF CUBAN JOURNALISTS *VOLUNTARY DONORS PROVIDE 100 PERCENT OF BLOOD USED IN TRANSFUSIONS *VARADERO HOSTS CONGRESS ON TOURISM PUBLICATIONS *CUBA-NIGERIA INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION CONCLUDES TALKS *METANICA 2000 FAIR OPENS JULY 18 IN HAVANA *Viewpoint: WASHINGTON'S ECONOMIC WAR ON CUBA DOOMED TO FAILURE . *EARLY U.S AGGRESSION AGAINST REVOLUTIONARY CUBA Havana, July 14 (RHC)--Friday's ongoing roundtable series on Cuban TV opened by defining the time frame and motives for U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba. It was pointed out that U.S. hostilities towards the Cuban Revolution began during the war for national liberation between 1956 and 1959. U.S. support for the Batista dictatorship in the form of financial aid, arms, and logistical support in its war against the Cuban people - resulting in massive human rights abuses -indicated opposition to Cuban independence from the outset. Even as the revolutionary military victory was secured in the final months of 1958, the U.S. attempted to organize a coup among reactionary elements of the Cuban military in order to stymie a popular seizure of state power. Panelists noted that, in light of the fact that neither the coup plot nor an effort to buy off the revolutionary leadership succeeded, a U.S. blockade of the island was inevitable. Moreover, in the coming months after the revolutionary triumph, even before Cuba defined the socialist character of its revolution and before it had established relations with the former USSR, the U.S. war against the island was on. The roundtable stated that as early as January of 1959, plans to reduce the Cuban sugar quota were already being debated in the US Congress, with Washington later filing official protests against the Agrarian Reform Act and selective nationalizations of the sugar sector and telephone company. The panel concluded that, given the pattern of U.S. hostility towards Cuba before communism had even become an issue of contention, what the U.S. was really opposed to was Cuban independence and national sovereignty - a novelty in what it considered to be its own back yard. . *NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF UPEC REVIEWS WORK OF CUBAN JOURNALISTS Havana, July 14(RHC)-- The National Committee of the Association of Cuban Journalists -UPEC- met on Friday to review the organization's work over the past nine months. The meeting was scheduled to prepare for UPEC's 3rd Special Plenary Session, to be held this weekend at Havana's International Convention Center. During Friday's meeting, some 40 Cuban journalists, making up UPEC's National Committee, debated and approved a report presented by the organization's leadership on professional self-improvement in the field of journalism, as well as the island's advances in the sector. Outstanding features of UPEC's work over the last nine months, to be debated during this weekend's special plenary session, include the active participation of Cuban journalists in the battle of ideas for the return of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez and an end to Washington's aggressive policies toward Cuba. . *VOLUNTARY DONORS PROVIDE 100 PERCENT OF BLOOD USED IN TRANSFUSIONS Havana, July 14(RHC)-- Cuba is among the very limited number of nations in the Western Hemisphere where 100 percent of the blood used in transfusions comes from voluntary donors, according to Jose Manuel Ballester, Director of the Cuban Institute of Hematology and Immunology. Ballester explained that blood used in all of the 31 hematology and immunolgy services, provided on the island, is thoroughly examined to detect any possible contamination of infectious diseases such as the HIV virus, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis. The island's health centers receive and examine nearly 600,000 blood donations a year, allowing Cuban hospitals to conduct nearly half a million blood transfusions annually. . *VARADERO HOSTS CONGRESS ON TOURISM PUBLICATIONS Havana, July 14(RHC)-- The world famous Varadero beach resort, in the central Cuban province of Matanzas, will be the site of the 23rd Congress of the American Federation of Tourism Publications, set for October 3rd through the 6th. The encounter will gather some 200 journalists from Latin America and Europe. Top on the meeting's agenda is the designation of a new Executive Board and a new General Assembly. Participants will debate issues related to different aspects of the tourism industry in Cuba. The Congress of the American Federation of Tourism Publications is organized by the National Association of Cuban Journalists -UPEC-the Tourism Press Center and the Cuban Tourism Ministry. . *CUBA-NIGERIA INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION CONCLUDES TALKS Havana, July 14(RHC)-- The 2nd Meeting of the Cuba-Nigeria Intergovernmental Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation concluded on Thursday in Havana. The meeting was`presided over by Cuba's Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Marta Lomas, and Nigerian Foreign Minister Dubem Onyia. During the three-day encounter both officials expressed their hopes to expand cooperation in areas such as health, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, research, the sugar industry and sports. There are currently teams of Cuban health professionals offering their services in Nigeria, as part of a cooperation program implemented by the island's authorities to help create integral health care systems throughout the Third World. Cuban Foreign Trade Minister, Raul de la Nuez, pointed to the determination of the Cuban and Nigerian governments to expand and strengthen bilateral ties. . *METANICA 2000 FAIR OPENS JULY 18 IN HAVANA Havana, July 14(RHC)-- The 6th International Metanica'2000 Fair will be held July 18th through the 22nd at Havana's PABEXPO Exhibition Pavilion. On hand at the event will be representatives of firms from some 30 nations. The encounter will serve as a unique opportunity to promote Cuba's advances in areas such as metallics and the machinery industry. . *Viewpoint: WASHINGTON'S ECONOMIC WAR ON CUBA DOOMED TO FAILURE The heroic resistance of the Cuban people, their strong national unity and their determination to fight against all difficulties are the main factors that have contributed to the preservation of the island's national sovereignty and independence. Despite predictions of Cuba's economic collapse by the enemies of the Revolution, we're still here! For more than 40 years, Cuba has resisted the aggressions of the world's only economic, military and political superpower, which is constantly working to destroy this country and, along with it, one of Latin America's most important social projects. The worst of all these aggressions is the genocidal economic blockade, which attempts to force the Cuban people into submission by using hunger and disease. Cuba's unprecedented struggle to preserve its sovereignty has not only allowed the nation to survive, but has also given rise to social and economic growth, not to mention gaining international prestige. Among the most important measures taken by the Cuban government to readjust its economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union and socialist Europe was opening the economy to foreign investments, made in association with the Cuban state and with guarantees of shared profit. In spite of Washington's aggressive and extraterritorial laws against Cuba, foreign investment on the island has reached over 4 billion dollars. Currently, there are 390 associations, joint ventures and other forms of economic relations between Cuban and foreign companies. Interestingly, nearly 60% of these joint ventures were established after the Helms-Burton Law was approved in 1996. If the blockade is lifted and relations are normalized between Havana and Washington, many U.S. companies would be able to make profitable investments on the island. They could sell their products on the Cuban market with the same security and guarantees offered to the European, Asian and Latin American firms doing business here. Foreign, non-U.S. companies with investments on the Caribbean island have also faced restrictions imposed by the economic blockade. However, they have obtained good profits from their businesses, continuing and even expanding their operations. The blockade is affecting the interests of some major economic players in the United States, such as the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries. This situation has led to the introduction in Congress of several initiatives to lift the ban on food and medicine sales to Havana. These projects have been well received in the Senate, but have met some obstacles in the House of Representatives due to manipulations of anti-Cuba, ultra-right wing groups that promote a hostile policy toward the island. The most recent example is the amendment introduced by Republican Representative George Nethercutt, allowing the sale of food and medicine to Cuba. However, right wing representatives in the House have managed to stop debate before it gets to a plenary session, where they no longer have a majority that supports their anti-Cuba maneuvers. No matter what happens on Capitol Hill, the Cuban people are well aware that this is only the latest episode in the continuing saga of Washington's economic war against Cuba -- a policy doomed to failure. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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