Radio Havana Cuba-01 November 2000 (DELAYED) Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 01 November 2000 DELAYED: TRANSMITTED THURSDAY NOV 2, 2000 . *NEWS FROM FIHAV 2000 INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR *CUBA'S NON-TRADITIONAL EXPORTS ON THE RISE *PUERTO RICAN ACTIVISTS TO PARTICIPATE IN CUBAN SOLIDARITY MEETING *BULGARIA'S HEALTH MINISTER VISITS THE ISLAND *BIOTECHNOLOGY: CUBA RECOVERS LOST ORCHIDS *IGNACIO CERVANTES INTERNATIONAL PIANO CONTEST AND FESTIVAL BEGINS *WORKSHOP EXPLORES CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS *PEACE IN COLOMBIA REQUIRES A POLITICAL SOLUTION . *NEWS FROM FIHAV 2000 INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR Havana, November 1 (RHC)-- Havana's International Trade Fair continues at Havana's PABEXPO Exhibition Hall. One of the events held on Wednesday included a lecture on investment in Cuba by the island's Minister of Economic Cooperation and Foreign Investment, Marta Lomas. Two companies from Brazil and Cuba signed a letter of intent to further develop bilateral cooperation over the Internet. *CUBA'S NON-TRADITIONAL EXPORTS ON THE RISE Havana, November 1 (RHC)-- Cuban Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Estrella Madrigal said on Wednesday that up until September Cuba's non-traditional exports increased 15 percent in comparison with the same period last year. In statements to reporters during a tour of the Havana International Trade Fair, Madrigal pointed out that this year's fair emphasizes the island's development in exports. Cuba's deputy foreign trade minister said that the island's economic recovery and increase in tourism is made evident during this annual event. *PUERTO RICAN ACTIVISTS TO PARTICIPATE IN CUBAN SOLIDARITY MEETING Havana, November 1 (RHC)-- More than 100 Puerto Rican solidarity activists will participate in the World Solidarity with Cuba Meeting to be held November 10th through the 14th, according to Alejandro Oduardo from Cuban Institute of Friendship Among the Peoples, ICAP. The president of Puerto Rico's New Independence Movement, Edwin Gonzalez, thanked Cuba for its solidarity and commented on the excellent relations between his political organization and ICAP. ICAP is sponsoring the World Solidarity with Cuba conference and, according to predictions, the U.S. delegation will be the largest -- with some 500 delegates, among them members of the solidarity/religious organization Pastors for Peace. *BULGARIA'S HEALTH MINISTER VISITS THE ISLAND Havana, November 1 (RHC)-- Bulgarian Health Minister Ilko Semerdjiev expressed his conviction that his visit to Cuba will contribute to a strengthening of ties between both countries. In statements to reporters in the Cuban capital, the Bulgarian official said that during his visit he would sign a cooperation accord in the health sector. He added that the cooperation includes the production and sale of vaccines, the exchange of specialists, information and expert advice in the field of health organization and management. *BIOTECHNOLOGY: CUBA RECOVERS LOST ORCHIDS Pinar del Rio, November 1 (RHC)--Cuban scientists have re-introduced orchids in danger of extinction after successfully cultivating the flower in vitro across the island. Specialists from the Orchid Botanic Gardens in Soroa, located in the province of Pinar del Rio, told Prensa Latina News Agency that through vegetable biotechnology, thousands of samples are obtained with only one plant. The director of Soroa's Botanic Garden, Pedro Pablo Rivero, said that the first studies on vitroplants dates back to the 1980's, but only at the end of 1990's was its production stabilized. Rivero added that one-third of the orchid population in Cuba grows in the western part of the island, mainly in the Sierra del Rosario mountains and the Peninsula of Guanahacabibes, which are both biosphere reserves. *IGNACIO CERVANTES INTERNATIONAL PIANO CONTEST AND FESTIVAL BEGINS Havana, November 1 (RHC)-- The First Ignacio Cervantes International Piano Contest and Festival got underway on Wednesday in Havana with the participation of representatives from 12 countries, including Italy, Venezuela and Mexico. The event, which runs until November 11th, will begin with a gala and performance of Cuban pianist Frank Fernandez, accompanied by the National Symphonic Orchestra. The last day's program will include six finalists, the first three of whom will compete. The winner will be announced on November 10th. *WORKSHOP EXPLORES CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS Havana, November 1 (RHC)-- The International Workshop "Challenges of Social Communications on the Threshold of the 21st Century" is underway in Havana with debates on the negative effects of globalization in the area of communications. Other issues to be debated are communications as a whole and the impact of new technologies on information. The event, which has the participation of communications experts from various Latin American countries, is part of the 28th international course entitled "Journalism and its Current Situation." Viewpoint: *PEACE IN COLOMBIA REQUIRES A POLITICAL SOLUTION While Cuban President Fidel Castro was in Venezuela earlier this week, he was asked about his position on the Colombian peace process. His host, President Hugo Chavez, was also asked the question given that Venezuela borders on Colombia. Both Latin American leaders have actively cooperated with the Colombian government to try and maintain a dialogue with the guerrillas and to find a solution that avoids, among other things, another dangerous intervention by the United States. Washington, on the other hand, has earmarked one billion dollars to beef up the Colombian military and send U.S. weapons and advisors in to supposedly eliminate the production and trafficking of drugs, which Washington maintains is being hampered by the presence of guerrillas throughout the country. The existence of powerful guerrilla groups in Colombia, fighting for political power is a decades-old problem, in which neither the government nor the insurgents have managed to gain the upper hand. Much blood has been spilled in political struggles in Colombia and no government has been able to exercise political authority over the entire country. There are areas of Colombia that could be considered separate republics, since the laws of the central government are unenforceable there. That situation has been taken advantage of by powerful, influential groups of drug traffickers, which also control large areas in Colombia where they process and sell dugs made from coca leaves, grown on huge plantations across the nation. "Plan Colombia," promoted by the U.S. government, is a way to facilitate Washington's military intervention in the South American country, using huge numbers of troops and advanced weapons which could destroy a good part of the country's agriculture and natural resources, not to mention human casualties. Colombia's neighbors rightly fear that the violence could spill over regional borders, endangering peace on the continent. The U.S. war of aggression against Vietnam was a humiliating defeat for Washington, although they invested many more resources than are called for in the Colombia plan. Washington's war in Southeast Asia cost the lives of millions of Vietnamese and some 50,000 U.S. soldiers. A similar operation launched in Colombia, a country much larger than Vietnam, and a country in which well-armed groups of guerillas already control wide areas, would spark a prolonged war of attrition that could spread to rest of the continent. The reply of Cuban President Fidel Castro and his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, rejects violence as a way to solve the Colombian problem and reaffirms the two leader's support for a peaceful and honorable solution to a historic problem. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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