Radio Havana Cuba-06 October 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 06 October 2000 . *CUBA FLATLY REJECTS SEVERE RESTRICTIONS US CONGRESS IMPOSES ON SALES *CUBAN VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE BEGINS OFFICIAL VISIT TO IRAN *IN HAVANA, VENEZUELA AND CUBA ANNOUNCE OIL AGREEMENT *TELEVISED CLASSES SPARK GREAT INTEREST ON THE ISLAND *RICARDO ALARCON CLOSES CONFERENCE OF IBERO AMERICAN JUSTICE MINISTERS *INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE PLANNED FOR ANNIVERSARY OF CHE'S DEATH *CUBAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES DELEGATION TRAVELS TO THE UNITED STATES *Viewpoint: Spread of AIDS Epidemic Directly Related to Lack of Resources . *CUBA FLATLY REJECTS SEVERE RESTRICTIONS US CONGRESS IMPOSES ON SALES Havana, October 6 (RHC) -- The United States Congress has agreed to impose severe estrictions on the sale of food and medicines to Cuba, which Cuba has flatly rejected. Following months of debate, Cuban-American and other ultra-right wing legislators were able to dismantle an original ammendment on the lifting of restrictions in Washington's blockade of Cuba that Havana said would have been a step in the right direction. On Thursday, the Cuban Foreign Ministry issued an official statement totally rejecting the legislation, insisting that media outlets are giving the impression that the measure implies a substantial change in the blockade, when in reality it does not. Havana pointed out that the version now agreed on requires special U.S. government authorization for any and all transactions with Cuba, prohibits U.S. public or private financing of the transactions, maintains an embargo on any vessels that dock in Cuban ports and converts into law the prohibition on the constitutional right of American citizens to travel to Cuba. The Cuban Foreign Ministry stated that Cuba will not participate in a public relations ploy used by ultra-right wing sectors on capital hill in order to appear as if they were easing the blockade, that Cuba will not carry out any type of commercial transaction with the United States based on this discriminatory and humilliating legislation. Even the AFP news agency, in a cable datelined Washington, October 6, reported that the restrictions in the text of the measure are so severe that some supporters of easing Washington's blockade of Cuba find it ounterproductive. The text will reportedly be submitted to a vote in both the House and Senate sometime next week. *CUBAN VICE PRESIDENT CARLOS LAGE BEGINS OFFICIAL VISIT TO IRAN Havana, October 6 (RHC) -- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage has arrived in Iran for an official visit. During the first day of the first visit of a high-ranking Cuban government official to the Arab nation, Lage toured an installation under joint construction by Iran and Cuba for the production of vaccines and high-tech pharmaceuticals. The installation is expected to be completed by late next year, and will become Iran's principle manufacturer of biotechnology medicines -- though the Arab nation already produces 97 percent of the medicines the country needs. The Cuban Vice President will be officially received on Saturday, after which official talks will begin with high-ranking government officials in Tehran. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was in Cuba last week at the invitation of President Fidel Castro. *IN HAVANA, VENEZUELA AND CUBA ANNOUNCE OIL AGREEMENT Havana, October 6 (RHC) -- In Havana, visiting Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel today announced an upcoming oil agreement between Venezuela and Cuba. Upon being received by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, Rangel said the accord will be independent of the San Jose Pact -- through which Venezuela and Mexico provide Central America and the Caribbean with oil at preferential prices. The Venezuelan Foreign Minister said that during his visit to Cuba he will consult with President Fidel Castro concerning a date for the Cuban leader's visit to Venezuela to sign the agreement. He said the agreement will be important for both countries -- giving Cuba a steady and reliable supply of oil, and giving Venezuela a steady and reliable market. The Cuban Foreign Minister said Havana sees in Venezuela's proposal a gesture of friendship that is coherent with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's independent foreign policy. Rangel is also in Cuba to pay homage to late Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ignacio Luis Arcaya, who refused to vote against Cuba in a Costa Rica gathering in 1960 that determined Cuba's expulsion from the Organization of American States. *TELEVISED CLASSES SPARK GREAT INTEREST ON THE ISLAND Havana, October 6 (RHC)-- A series of televised classes called "University for All" has sparked great interest among Cubans, says an editorial published in Friday's edition of the Granma newspaper. The editorial notes that thousands of Cubans are enthusiastically watching the program at home, while thousands of others are seeing it in classrooms islandwide at different hours. The Granma article also highlights the mass acceptance of current efforts to place media at the service of culture for all. The first course, which began on Monday this week, is televised live from 7 to 9 am and offers a panorama of literary techniques, specifically narrative skills designed both for readers and writers. Although customized for three thousand journalists and 200 thousand educators, who can choose to watch the programs in the afternoon, the series has drawn such wide interest among viewers that due to popular demand, it will be replayed on Saturdays. The second half of October, viewers can participate in a one -hour- a- day course on literature appreciation and beginning in November, the "University for All" will run programs on the Spanish and English languages. According to Friday's editorial, the program seeks to maximize the quality of education and raise the population's cultural understanding, through the wide use of media and audovisual resources. *RICARDO ALARCON CLOSES CONFERENCE OF IBERO AMERICAN JUSTICE MINISTERS Havana, October 6 (RHC) -- The president of Cuba's Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, told Ibero American Justice Ministers that the region's nations have solid judicial traditions which need to be in tune with the times in order to cooperate more efficiently. Alarcon, who was speaking at the closing of a 5-day meeting in Havana of Ibero American Justice Ministers, noted that not all nations are as dedicated to justice and sometimes act unilaterally, imposing their wills on less powerful countries. The Cuban parliamentary leader stressed that the Havana gathering confirms the validity of the spirit of the Ibero American Summits, as a path towards cooperation and integration, and through which, much has been achieved and much more can be expected. Meanwhile, Cuban Justice Minister, Roberto Diaz Sotolongo, in his capacity as the meeting's president, read the final document which lists a series of recommendations for the modernization of the administration of justice, the fight against transnational crime, drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, the protection of personal information and others. The 8th Conference of Ibero American Justice Ministers will held in Peru. Attending the closing ceremony were the ministers and deputy ministers of the 19 delegations that participated in the gathering, the president of Cuba's Supreme Court, Ruben Remigo Ferro, Cuban Attorney General, Juan Escalona, and members of the diplomatic corps. *INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE PLANNED FOR ANNIVERSARY OF CHE'S DEATH Havana, October 6 (RHC) -- On Sunday, the 33rd anniversary of the death in Bolivia of guerilla fighter, Ernesto, "Che" Guevara, Cuban writers and researchers will answer questions about the life and work of the legendary Argentinian/Cuban figure. Beginning at 10am local time, an interactive dialogue will begin on the Sunday Web page of Radio Rebelde during which Cuban experts will answers questions about Commander Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Panelists will include writers and researchers on "Che," Victor Perez Galdos, Adys Cupull and Froilan Gonzalez, as well as the head of the newly formed Che Guevara chair at the University of Havana, Delia Luisa Lopez. Sunday will be the first time this type of event will be mounted on the Internet in Cuba. Cuban students and workers will participate along with people in other Latin American and European countries. The computer program was designed by young Cuban engineers and technicians from Radio Rebelde and the National Information Services Enterprise, CITMATEL. The program is designed to be used in other international events such as the upcoming II World Solidarity Encounter, set for November in Havana. Sunday's dialogue on the life and work of Ernesto "Che" Guevara coincides with a posthumous homage to combatants who fell in battle in Bolivia alongside "Che" in l967. *CUBAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES DELEGATION TRAVELS TO THE UNITED STATES Havana, October 6 (RHC)-A high level delegation of the Cuban Council of Churches will visit the United States October 7 through 21. The religious delegation will be headed by Council of Churches President, Dr. Reinerio Arce Valentin. "This visit is part of current exchanges between the National Council of Churches of Christ U.S.A. and the Council of Churches of Cuba and will give continuity to recent contacts between the two organizations last September when we welcomed a delegation here from the National Council of Churches of Christ, headed by its Secretary General, the Reverend Dr. Bob Edgar," Cuban Council President Reinerio Arce told Radio Havana Cuba. The Cuban religious leaders will visit the offices of the National Council of Churches, as well as several churches of different Christian denominations located in different U.S. states. The Cuban Council of Churches was founded on May 28, 1941. In Cuba there are currently some 50 protestant denominations, 26 of them members of the Council of Churches. Viewpoint: *SPREAD OF AIDS EPIDEMIC DIRECTLY RELATED TO LACK OF RESOURCES The scourge of AIDS and AIDS related sickness is closely linked to the absence of health education and lack of medical services available in the countries affected. Although there is no radical cure for AIDS, education and preventative measures can ensure that the disease is not spread through sexual activity, the most common conduit. The control of the disease, which is reaching epidemic proportions in the African continent, depends on extensive campaigns and massive distribution of medication. Billions of dollars are paid annually to pharmaceutical transnationals for medication to treat AIDS related sickness. This results in rich countries in the North having access to treatment while poor countries in the South, who have the bulk of AIDS sufferers, are deprived of the medication because of their poverty stricken economies. In Cuba, the scientific and medical communities are working relentlessly to discover and develop an effective antidote to combat the AIDS virus. Cuba has already developed an effective vaccine against meningitis B, a strain of meningitis that has caused numerous deaths and disabilities in other countries. Many of the diseases, that affected the Cuban population before, such as malaria, diptheria, tuberculosis and dengue, and that are endemic in the Third World, have been effectively brought under control in this country. These medical advances, for which Cuba is famous, are made available to other counties in the South. In the same spirit of solidarity and internationalism, thousands of young students from Latin American and Africa study medicine at the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba at no cost in order that the people from these countries will have the benefit of good medical practice. As a result of Cuba's relentless efforts in the fight against the AIDS epidemic, this country is the least affected by the AIDS virus with only 0.03 of the population afflicted by this ailment. This is the lowest incidence in Latin America. But other Third World countries are not so fortunate. Cuban President Fidel Castro has observed that a project as comprehensive as the Cuban AIDS project for the African continent would cost billions of dollars. The lack of a globalized solidarity is evident in the battle against the AIDS virus, a lack which is also evident in the battle against most of the social ills affecting the poor nations of the world. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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