Radio Havana Cuba-19 July 2000 01:00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 19 July 2000 01:00 *CLINTON SUSPENDS TITLE III OF HELMS-BURTON LAW... AGAIN *U.S. EXPERTS TO STUDY IMPACT OF WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE *JULY 26: PINAR DEL RIO's AGRICULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS RECOGNIZED *INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA ON THE RISE *CUBA CONTINUES REINFORCING ANTI-DRUG TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION *PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION DIRECTOR GENERAL IN HAVANA *Viewpoint: ECONOMIC BLOCKADE ATTEMPTS TO BREAK THE WILL OF CUBANS *CLINTON SUSPENDS TITLE III OF HELMS-BURTON LAW... AGAIN Washington, July 18 (RHC)-- U.S. President Bill Clinton has announced the suspension of Title III of the Helms-Burton Law. According to White House Spokesman Joe Lockhart, Clinton sent a notice to the U.S. Congress several days ago, stating his intentions to suspend the legislation for another six months. The anti-Cuba legislation was signed into law in March 1996. Title III -- which has been suspended every six months since then -- would allow for U.S. citizens or Cuban-born U.S. naturalized citizens to take foreign companies to court for doing business with properties expropriated by the Cuban Revolution. Due to its extraterritorial nature, that specific part of the legislation has come under strong fire by the European Union and other countries that have business interests on the island. Many observers believe that the U.S. president is forced to suspend Title III of the Helms-Burton Law in order to avoid an international confrontation over the issue. Tuesday's official announcement by the White House marks the ninth time that Clinton has decided to suspend implementing the controversial legislation. *U.S. EXPERTS TO STUDY IMPACT OF WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE Havana, July 18 (RHC)-- Two experts contracted by the U.S. government are in the Cuban capital to carry out an investigation on the impact of Washington's economic blockade against the island. Jonathan Coleman and James Stamps are reportedly part of a delegation from the International Trade Commission and plan to interview Cuban officials and experts in Havana this week. The Commission was assigned to conduct the study by the U.S. Congress and is Washington's first official inquiry since the blockade was imposed nearly 40 years ago. *JULY 26: PINAR DEL RIO's AGRICULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS RECOGNIZED Havana, July 18 (RHC)-The accelerated investment process in the agricultural sector in Cuba's westernmost province of Pinar del Rio has created close to 21 thousand new jobs in less than one year. The achievement, along with results in production and economic efficiency in the agricultural sector, were decisive for Pinar del Rio, together with Havana City and Villa Clara provinces, to be selected to host activities commemorating the 47th anniversary of the attacks on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Garrisons which sparked the beginning of the Cuban people's struggle against the Batista dictatorship. Since July of 1999 until May of this year, Pinar del Rio's Agricultural sector has inaugurated five new tabacco stripping factories, created over 200 urban gardens AND four brigades to improve the soil and constructed a cotton processing plant called CUBAQUIVIR. *INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA ON THE RISE Havana, July 18 (RHC)-The Vice President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People's, Ricardo Rodriguez, asserted in Havana that solidarity with the island has dramatically increased in recent years in response to Washington's anti-Cuba policies. This movement, said the Cuban official, commemorates its 40th anniversary due to Cuba's resistance and example to other opressed nations. Rodriguez pointed out that there are currently some one thousand 700 solidarity and friendship organizations with Cuba located in 128 countries. The statements come as preparations continue for the 2nd International Conference in Solidarity with Cuba scheduled to be held November 11th throught the 14th in the Cuban capital with the participation of close to five thousand delegates from around the world. *CUBA CONTINUES REINFORCING ANTI-DRUG TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION Santiago de Cuba, July 18 (RHC)-Cuban attorneys and legal experts are working on draft legislation to further strengthen the fight against drug trafficking. Experts from the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba explained that the legislation is part of an overall drive to prioritize the anti-drug war, particularly since South American drug cartels have increasingly used the waters of the Caribbean as transhipment points to the North America and Europe. Cuba's Criminal code includes stiff sentences for drug trafficking, including life imprisonment. In recent years, Cuba has stepped up anti-drug cooperation efforts with the United Nations, with nations here in the Caribbean and with Europe. *PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION DIRECTOR GENERAL IN HAVANA Havana, July 18 (RHC)-The Director General of the Pan American Health Organization, George Alleyne called inequality the worst disease in the Americas. Speaking at the inauguration of the 35th Meeting of the Pan American Health Organization's Advisory Research Committee, the health official came out in favor of adopting programs and intiatives here in the region to address the issue. Alleyne said the majority of the region's nations have at least accepted the challenge of providing information on the most acute socio-economic situations in their respective countries, while at the same time congratulating Cuban authorities for their report on each of the island's provinces. This is the second time that the annual meeting of the Pan American Health Organization's Advisory Research Committe is held in Cuba. During the gathering, Cuba will make special presentation on its policies and strategies in terms of research in this sector. *Viewpoint: ECONOMIC BLOCKADE ATTEMPTS TO BREAK THE WILL OF CUBANS Much has been said about Washington's economic blockade against Cuba. Prestigious international entities and organizations, including the United Nations General Assembly, have repeatedly condemned the genocidal measure against the U.S.'s small neigbor island nation to the south. The blockade is a clear effort to punish an entire nation, imposed by the former neo-colonial power on a Third World country that has gained its independence and is now a truly sovereign nation, daring to choose its own path and demanding to be treated as an equal. The lawsuit against the U.S government filed last March by eight Cuban grassroots and social organizations, representing all segments of the population, brought to light irrefutable evidence of the economic damage suffered by the Caribbean island, subjected to the longest and most cruel blockade in history. When the Revolution triumphed in 1959, over 60 percent of all Cuba's foreign trade was in the hands of U.S. transnationals that responded entirely to Washington's interests --a situation which the newly born Cuban government was quick to change. In response, Washington imposed an economic and trade blockade aimed at overthrowing the first ever truly sovereign government on the island. The corrupt, pro-U.S. government officials overthrown by the Revolution looted the public treasury and fled to the United States, where they were welcomed as heroes and provided with all the opportunities to become even richer. Alongside the impunity they've benefitted from as torturers, assassins and thieves, they and their descendants continue exerting an unprecedented influence over Washington's Cuba policy. The 40-year long US economic war against Cuba is perfectly in tune with Washington's continued attempts to break the will of a people, whose only crime was to rid themselves of the control of a superpower that has financed civil wars, dictatorships and structural poverty throughout this hemisphere. (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-30953 2000-Jul-19 01:16:50