Radio Havana Cuba-28 July 2000 23:00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 28 July 2000 23:00 *TV ROUNDTABLE ON CUBA'S INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL PROGRAM *VILLA CLARA HOSTS OPEN TRIBUNE FOR JULY 26TH ANNIVERSARY *VENEZUELA: EMBASSY HONORS CUBAN MEDICS WHO OFFER FREE HEALTH CARE *DOCUMENTARY "FIDEL" AIRED ON NICARAGUAN TV A BIG HIT *OAKLAND MAYOR ENDS VISIT TO SANTIAGO; SIGNS SISTER CITY PACT *Viewpoint: THIRD-WORLD ECONOMIES CONTINUE TO SUFFER GRAVE PROBLEMS *TV ROUNDTABLE ON CUBA'S INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL PROGRAM Havana, July 27 (RHC)-- A roundtable discussion was broadcast live on Cuban radio and television Thursday evening, analyzing the island's program to send doctors and medical personnel to Third World nations. Panelists included reporters from the Cuban media who have coveredthe health-cooperation program in Central America, the Caribbean and Africa. Relating personal experiences during their journalistic endeavors, they painted a vivid picture for the radio and television audience of daily life for Cuban doctors in remote areas. One of the participants in the roundtable discussion -- a journalist with Radio Rebelde -- talked about how the idea originated. She stated that after Hurricane Mitch devastated the Caribbean and Central America in late 1998, the Cuban government sent doctors and medical personnel to those countries affected. It was then that Cuban President Fidel Castro came up with the idea of establishing a permanent program, helping Third World nations to strengthen their infrastructure in health care. Another panelist taking part in the roundtable Thursday evening spoke about the difficult conditions under which Cuban medical personnel work in many countries where they volunteer to serve. He pointed out that Cuban doctors treat people in remote areas -- places where local doctors refuse to go. And the journalist affirmed that residents in many areas had never even seen a doctor or nurse before the Cuban specialists arrived. The radio and TV audience was reminded that the Cuban government has established a school where medical students are studying --free-of-charge -- before returning to their respective countries. There are presently some 2000 students from Latin America and the Caribbean studying at the Latin American School of Medicine, located on the outskirts of the Cuban capital. Thursday evening's roundtable discussion was aired live on Cuban radio and television, as well as the international shortwave frequencies of Radio Havana Cuba. *VILLA CLARA HOSTS OPEN TRIBUNE FOR JULY 26TH ANNIVERSARY Santa Clara, July 28 (RHC)-The central province of Villa Clara is ready to host an activity, commemorating the 26th of July in an historic open tribune, demanding an end to Washington's almost 40 year old blockade and the Cuban Adjustment Act which provokes the illegal and dangerous departures from the island. The activity, which will be held at the Ernesto Che Guevara Plaza, will be the second in a series of three events commemorating the 47th anniversary of the attacks against the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Garrisons, which set the stage for the Cuban Revolution. Villa Clara province was selected alongside Havana City and western Pinar del Rio province, to host the July 26 activities, for their outstanding results in the country's social and economic sectors. Havana City hosted its 26th of July celebration, on Wednesday, with a rally involving the participation of over 1 million Havana residents marching alongside the Malecon Sea Side Drive. The march proceeded by the US Interests Section, demanding an end to the US blockade against the island and all of Washington's anti Cuba laws. *VENEZUELA: EMBASSY HONORS CUBAN MEDICS WHO OFFER FREE HEALTH CARE Caracas, July 28 (RHC)-The Cuban embassy in Venezuela honored Cuban medical personnel, offering their services in the country, on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the attacks against the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes military garrisons. Cuba's labor Minister, Lino Martinez, who participated in the activity, told Prensa Latina News agency that the 26th of July is a glorious date, not only for Cuba but for all of Latin America, and outlined how the Cuban revolutionary process has sustained itself throughout the years of spirit and struggle in the battle to construct a new society. *DOCUMENTARY "FIDEL" AIRED ON NICARAGUAN TV A BIG HIT Managua, July 28 (RHC)-Nicaraguan television, on Thursday, aired the second and final part of the documentary, entitled "Fidel," directed by Estela Bravo. Before putting on the documentary, Nicaraguan journalist Marcio Vargas said that, after televising the first part of "Fidel," he received numerous calls from people interested in purchasing a copy of the film. The Nicaraguan journalists also commended the professionalism of Estela Bravo, stating that the documentary was very objective and showed the human dimension of Fidel Castro. Through the most transcendental events of the Cuban Revolution, the documentary includes the main aspects of the life of Cuban President Fidel Castro, as well as the most relevant ideas of renowned personalities from the international community, among them, writers, historians, religious and social activists. Nicaraguan journalist and anchor of the TV program entitled "Another Day," Marcio Vargas said that, due to popular demand to rerun the documentary "Fidel," they will run the film once again in the Nicaraguan capital before August 13th, the Cuban leader's birthday. *OAKLAND MAYOR ENDS VISIT TO SANTIAGO; SIGNS SISTER CITY PACT Santiago De Cuba, July 28 (RHC)-- Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown Friday praised cultural development of Santiago de Cuba after an extensive tour of the city. Santiago is known as the Heroic City due to its struggle against Spanish colonialism in the 19th century and the Batista dictatorship during the 1950s. The Oakland Mayor characterized the restoration and conservation work in Santiago de Cuba as very positive in terms of its cultural heritage. Santiago is currently a sister city with the US city of Oakland. Oakland and Santiago de Cuba have accepted each other as Sister Cities in order to foster people to people exchanges involving teachers, scholars, scientists, musicians, painters, dancers, poets, philosophers, athletes and those interested in urban agriculture. Accompanying the Oakland delegation was a group of African American and Latino teenagers, called "Team," who sang, danced, and read poetry. *Viewpoint: THIRD-WORLD ECONOMIES CONTINUE TO SUFFER GRAVE PROBLEMS Steps carried out to condone the foreign debt for nations that are virtually condemned to grave social and economic problems have not had good results. Small reductions and short terms payment plans have been announced in many cases, though favored countries are among those that are forced to subscribe to the dominion of powerful nations. Nations considered more conflictive and unstable have been discriminated against without taking into account that structural problems responsible for these conditions are due to unequal exchange, privatization, and other negative aspects related to neoliberal reform. The capitalist industrialized world, responsible for the conceptualization and promotion of this negative socio-economic trend, makes up 20 percent of the world population and controls 86 percent of global production, 82 percent of world exports, 68 percent of direct foreign investments and 74 percent of the planet's telephone lines. In addition, the industrialized world has benefited from the technical-scientific revolution, which allows these nations to control and develop international communications systems as well as 95 percent of computers and information technology. The African continent, composed of more than 50 nations with less telephones than in the borough of Manhattan in New York, will always face insurmountable problems in acquiring technology necessary for world economic integration. They are forced to earmark the biggest part of their gross national product to the payment of foreign debt interests. Developing nations are not only stuck in an economic time warp, but the quagmire keeps getting deeper and deeper due to the uneven playing field established by unequal relationships between the developing and industrialized world. On the other hand, the military industrial complex is leading the world to an imminent revival of the arms race and, consequently, the waste of endless resources which could be better spent on human needs. The economic disparity between rich and poor nations continues to become more exaggerated on the doorstep of the third millenium as the G7 nations, with less than 70 million inhabitants reach some 700 billion dollars of gross domestic product, while 180 Third World countries with more than five billion inhabitants only gather half of this figure. This is the main cause of political instability and the striking misery existing in the world. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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