Radio Havana Cuba-2 June, 2000 20:00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News that Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 2 June 2000 20:00 *CUBA'S MEETINGS WITH CARIBBEAN TOURISM OFFICE ORGANIZATION *U.S. CITIZENS IGNORE BLOCKADE AND TRAVEL TO CUBA *NEW PROJECT OF COOPERATION WITH THE SPANISH BASQUE REGION *REPORT FROM 9th CONGRESS OF CUBAN NURSING ASSOCIATION *NEW CUBAN AMBASSADOR TO LEBANON *HOTEL NACIONAL CARRIES OUT UNIQUE SURVEY *Viewpoint: NOTHING IS GUARANTEED UNTIL ELIAN IS BACK HOME AGAIN *CUBAN TOURISM MINISTER MEETS WITH SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE CARIBBEAN TOURISM ORGANIZATION Havana, June 2 (RHC)-- Cuban Tourism Minister Ibrahim Ferradaz met Thursday with Jean Holder, Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). They exchanged opinions about the CTO, its objectives and the general vision of both Cuba and the Caribbean organization regarding tourism. Jean Holder and a delegation of businesspeople arrived in Cuba on Wednesday to begin a four-day working visit. The aim of the delegation's visit is to inform Cuban tourism authorities know about the organizations' plans for the years 2000 and 2001. Their agenda includes visits to places of interest, meetings with tourism officials and lectures on marketing, the development of human resources, sustainable tourism, research and the use of information. The Caribbean Tourism Organization was founded in 1989, with the objective of promoting and cooperating in the development of regional tourism. Cuba became a member of the CTO in 1992. *U.S. CITIZENS IGNORE BLOCKADE AND TRAVEL TO CUBA New York City, June 2 (RHC)-- The United States-Cuba Economic and Trade Council has revealed that an increasing number of U.S. citizens are ignoring their government's blockade against the island and visiting Cuba without a license from the Treasury Department. The New York-based private organization said that in 1999, some 150,000 U.S. citizens visited Cuba, a large number of them -- some 30,000 -- without requesting a special license. According to the study, since 1995, the number of U.S. citizens traveling from the United States to Cuba without authorization has been around 19 to 21 percent annually, while the yearly increase of that figure is between 9 and 11 percent. *NEW PROJECT OF COOPERATION WITH THE SPANISH BASQUE REGION Ciego de Avila, June 2 (RHC)-- A 70 million dollar project to improve Cuban production and service sectors will be financed by the Basque group Ugao, in coordination with other companies and the government of the Spanish region. According to the group's sales manager, Beatriz Perez, 50 million dollars will be used to refurbished the electrical systems of some 75 hospitals on the island, ten million will go to the light industry and the rest will be earmarked for the Sugar Ministry. The Basque group Ugao has been in Cuba since 1987 and cooperates with the island mainly in the area of thermal-energy and advanced technology. *9th CONGRESS OF THE CUBAN SOCIETY OF NURSING CONTINUES IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, June 2 (RHC)-- Many interesting things continue to be debated by delegates at the 9th Congress of the Cuban society of Nursing. Ethical Dilemmas in Health Care: A Challenge for the Nursing Profession and the Nature of Nursing Twenty Five Years after Virginia Henderson --one of the forerunners of nursing as a profession -- were two of the master conferences delivered Friday morning to participants at the 9th Congress of the Cuban Society of Nursing. Another of the conferences delivered today which caught the attention of delegates was that of Ana Polo, representative of FUDEM, the Foundation for the Development of Nursing from Spain. During her special presentation, Polo made reference to some of the foundation's programs aimed at, among other aspects, helping nations in the region. Part of this aid is the transference of financial resources to facilitate updated bibliography and nursing materials, campaigns to strengthen the importance of nursing in society and training programs. Among activities scheduled within the framework of the Congress are a collective art exhibition of painting, sculpture and ceramics by a group of Cuban artists called Following Florence -- in honor to Florence Nightingale -- another forerunner of nursing as a profession, who wrote the first textbook for nurses. The 9th Congress of the Cuban Society of Nursing winds up Saturday with debates on the development of nursing in Cuba, research in the field of nursing, and the excellence and quality of nursing services, all as part of the first Cuban Colloquium of Research in Nursing which opened its doors Friday here at the Convention Center. During the event's closing ceremony, the Spanish Foundation for the Development of Nursing will grant three prizes to the best three papers presented at the Congress. *NEW CUBAN AMBASSADOR TO LEBANON Havana, June 2 (RHC)-- The Council of State of the Republic of Cuba has appointed Enrique Joaquin Roman Hernandez as the island's new Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon. At the time of his designation, Roman Hernandez was the president of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television, ICRT. *HOTEL NACIONAL CARRIES OUT UNIQUE SURVEY Havana, June 2 (RHC)-- Havana's Hotel Nacional, managed by the Gran Caribe tourist group, has begun an unusual survey that includes world famous names such as U.S. writer Ernest Hemingway, Mexican composer Agustin Lara and Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier. The initiative takes place on the occasion of the hotel's upcoming 70th anniversary. The idea is to choose 70 out of the 144 most outstanding personalities that have stayed at the Hotel Nacional -- considered by many to be the island's most important tourist facility. The list of renowned personalities to choose from includes actress Ava Gardner, actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Buster Keaton, Errol Flynn and Jean Paul Belmondo, singers Frank Sinatra, Lola Flores, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Los Panchos as well as film director Francis Ford Coppola, French musician Jean Michel Jarre and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Among other activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Hotel Nacional, which was completely refurbished in 1992, the hotel is planning to hold the "Cocktail Party of the Century." The five-star hotel has 457 rooms, including 15 suites, and offers a number of services. The Hotel Nacional is centrally located in downtown Havana, near the Cuban capital's seaside drive, known as the Malecon. *Viewpoint: NOTHING IS GUARANTEED UNTIL ELIAN IS BACK HOME AGAIN The ruling by the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which was handed down on Thursday, denies the request of a political asylum hearing for six-year-old Elian Gonzalez. However, it has once again delayed the return of Elian and his family to Cuba. The decision of the three judges upheld January's ruling by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to not grant a hearing for political asylum to the young boy from Cardenas, located in the Cuban province of Matanzas. And the Atlanta ruling not only coincides with the view of the INS, but also with previous decisions by Florida's State and Federal courts. Added to U.S. public opinion, which is widely in favor of Elian's return to the island, these legal rulings dramatically reduce the odds of those who kidnapped Elian Gonzalez last November and held him in Miami until April. However, the Atlanta ruling also has negative effects for Elian's real family, headed by his father Juan Miguel Gonzalez. The judges wrote that Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, is still considered his "close friend" -- giving the kidnappers some hope that they can still argue the issue of custody. This, despite the fact that Elian's father continues to demand that his son be allowed to return with him to Cuba as soon as possible. Another concession by the Atlanta judges gives the lawyers of the kidnappers 14 days to appeal the legal decision. And the court decision did not lift the prohibition on Elian to leave the United States, an unusual ruling in this kind of dispute. As soon as he was informed of the ruling, Juan Miguel Gonzalez spoke to reporters, thanking the American people and demanding an end to the legal maneuvers. But the 11 lawyers, paid for by the terrorist Cuban-American National Foundation, said they are ready to fight until the end to obtain their objective: keeping Elian in the U.S. against his father's wishes. While Thursday's ruling was received with guarded optimism here on the island, 11 million Cubans know that nothing is guaranteed until Elian is once again back home. (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-13454 2000-Jun-03 00:45:08