Radio Havana Cuba-15 November 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 15 November 2000 . *FIDEL CASTRO THANKS 4000 SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS GATHERED IN HAVANA *MAYORAL AND CITY OFFICIALS MEETING GETS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA *REDUCED POLLUTION IN CUBA'S WATER RESERVES *THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREFIGHTERS BEGINS IN HAVANA *Viewpoint: REFORM LONG OVERDUE IN THE UNITED NATIONS . *FIDEL CASTRO THANKS 4000 SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS GATHERED IN HAVANA Havana, November 15 (RHC) -- On behalf of the Cuban people, President Fidel Castro Tuesday evening thanked the more than 4000 solidarity activists from close to 120 countries who gathered in Havana for the Second World Solidarity Meeting. Delivering the closing speech at the event, the Cuban leader said their support helped the island survive the collapse of European communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. President Castro said Cuba has the modest merit of having resisted, and that this merit has enhanced and elevated that enthusiasm and confidence of those who remained alongside the island during the difficult times in which most thought Cuba would capitulate. He said those in western nations who tried to advise Cuba concerning what it should to do to survive are the same who advised the Soviet Union before its disintegration. In a 5-hour speech that lasted into the early morning hours of Wednesday, Fidel Castro spoke of the dramatic situation in Latin America -- whose 478 billion dollar unpayable and uncollectable foreign debt in 1992 rose to 749 and a half billion today. He said that between 1992 and 1999, the region unpocketed 913 billion dollars in foreign debt interest payments. The Second World Solidarity With Cuba Conference issued a final declaration stating that Cuba is the victim of a cruel and undeclared war by Washington, and that the U.S. blockade of Cuba lacks political, historical or moral justification. Participants at the event asserted that they had found in Cuba a society of peace and respect for fundamental human rights -- very different from the distorted and disinformed image of the island promoted by the enemies of the Cuban Revolution. The final declaration insists that the Cuban people have the unquestionable right to build their own social, political and economic model of development, to decide its future with foreign interference, threats and aggressions and to defend its sovereignty and independence. Participants agreed to declare 2001 the Year of International Solidarity Against the Blockade and the U.S.'s Cuban Adjustment Act. They said that next year they will organize a weeklong, worldwide solidarity with Cuba campaign to pay homage to the 40th anniversary of the declaration of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution. Cuban President Fidel Castro convened the Third Solidarity With Cuba Conference for November, 2002. *MAYORAL AND CITY OFFICIALS MEETING GETS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA Havana, November 15 (RHC)-- The 8th Mayors and City Officials Meeting on Cooperation and Solidarity with Havana held it's plenary session on Wednesday in the Cuban capital. Nearly 500 delegates from 18 Latin American, Caribbean and European nations-- including representatives from the United States and Canada -- gathered in Havana to review the most recent achievements of bilateral cooperation relations between their city halls and the Cuban capital. The event, which takes place in the context of celebrations for the 481st birthday of Havana, was officially opened by the President of Havana's Provincial Assembly of People's Power, Conrado Martinez Corona. Havana's mayor briefed delegates on the goals reached by the country's capital city over the past year in several social and economic fields. Martinez Corona said that Havana is experiencing a steady economic recovery, which is part of the island's general development process present in all areas. The mayor of Havana offered participants his gratitude for their permanent assistance and cooperation over the past seven years. Prior to the plenary session, delegates to the 8th Mayors and City Officials Meeting in Solidarity with Havana toured various places of economic and social interest. *REDUCED POLLUTION IN CUBA'S WATER RESERVES Havana, November 15 (RHC)-- Pollution in eight Cuban water basins has been reduced by ten percent during the current year, thanks to the Cuban government's efforts to preserve the ecosystem. The National Secretary of Water Basins, Jorge Mario Garcia Fernandez, told reporters that 60 percent of what the country earmarks for the protection of the environment is used in these eight basins. He said that, so far, encouraging results have been achieved, especially in the Cauto Basin, where the pollution was stopped. In Cauto Basin, where over ten percent of the Cuban population is settled, a program has been carried out to protect the area, with the increase of more than 100 fruit plantations. Pollution has been reduced by seven percent on the outskirts of the basins and according to experts, a better use of residuals has been observed and many treatment systems have been built and rehabilitated. Garcia Fernandez stated that there still are more than 2000 sources of contamination on the island, pointing out that it is necessary to work hard in order to eliminate or lessen its impact on the environment. He mentioned, for example, that Havana Bay is one of the most deteriorating of the country. There is a well-designed program of environmental education to carry out in each of the eight national basins with the aim of allowing people to help take care of the environment. *THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREFIGHTERS BEGINS IN HAVANA Havana, November 15 (RHC)-- Experiences in the area of coordinating fire and rescue services was one of the main issues that opened the Third International Conference of Firefighters, hosted by the Frank Pais Cuban Orthopedic Complex. Saving time and saving lives and resources continues to be the key objectives within firefighters' activities throughout the world, even more so during the era of informatics and communications, which have contributed to achieve the highest level of efficiency in this field. The results attained in the Canary Islands was, this time, a reference point of the speech delivered by the General Director of Security and Emergency Services of the Spanish region, Jose Julian Insturitz Perez, who told of his experiences in the vital services that firefighters and health personnel offer. During the opening of the event, Cuban Fire Chief Bienvenido Rafoso stressed the importance of this professional exchange as a way to know more and learn from the work of others. Viewpoint: *REFORM LONG OVERDUE IN THE UNITED NATIONS The United States has always claimed to be the principal promoter of the United Nations, and insisted that U.N. headquarters be placed in U.S. territory. Since none of the world's major powers -- including Washington -- wanted to submit to U.N. authority, they created the veto power. This protects their interests by defending the powerful minority from majority rule -- something considered sacred in any type of democratic organization. This means that if the majority makes a decision that just one of the powerful members doesn't like, that single country can roll over the will of more than a hundred nations. If the United Nations was conceived with the idea that it was to be a democratic organization to oversee international relations and that decisions would be made by all members, then the goal has only been partially achieved. The United States, for example, has only been concerned with the U.N. when it has served its global interests. During the Korean War it was the U.S. Army -- which was smaller than other contingents -- that directed operations under the banner of the United Nations. Washington would have liked to have done the same in Vietnam, but the war was so obviously unjust and unpopular they were unable to force through the necessary consensus. There have been many other occasions when the United Nations has been used to further Washington's interests, as in the case of the Congo in the l970's, when the leader of that country, Patrice Lumumba was murdered; the invasions of Santo Domingo and Panama; and, most recently, the criminal NATO bombings of Yugoslavia. Nor has the U.N. been able to do anything substantial to halt Israeli aggression in the Middle East. This situation of international relations demands total reform of the United Nations if it is ever to be a truly democratic institution. The U.N.'s most powerful organ must be the General Assembly which gathers all member nations; and the Security Council should intervene only in emergency situations and with the obligation to respond to the General Assembly. The existence and functioning of the United Nations is incompatible with a world submitted to the authority of a single power sitting on top of a mountain of nuclear weapons. (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-2890 2000-Nov-16 02:52:39