Radio Havana Cuba-10 October 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 10 October 2000 . *CUBA DENIES OFFERING MEDICAL SERVICES IN EXCHANGE FOR VENEZUELAN OIL *FOREIGN MINISTER FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO PERU *CUBAN MEDICAL SPECIALIST IN EL SALVADOR DIES IN CAR ACCIDENT *TABLOID CARRYING FIDEL'S SEPT 28 SPEECH AVAILABLE ON NEWSSTANDS ISLAND-WIDE *RUSSIAN TRADE MISSION BEGINS TALKS WITH CUBAN BUSINESS EXECUTIVES *4th CUBAN-UKRANIAN MIXED COMMISSION TO BEGIN SESSIONS IN HAVANA *CUBAN LABOR MINISTER ARRIVES IN BOLIVIA *SECOND COURSE BEGINS IN SCHOOL DONATED BY CUBA TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC *132nd ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST ARMED UPRISING AGAINST SPANISH COLONIALISM . *CUBA DENIES OFFERING MEDICAL SERVICES IN EXCHANGE FOR VENEZUELAN OIL Havana, October 10 (RHC)-- An official note from the Cuban Foreign Ministry, released Monday evening in Havana, affirms that Cuba is not offering medical services to Venezuela to pay for oil or any other product from that sister Latin American country. The MINREX note adds that the Cuban government has never offered such services to any other country in lieu of financial payments. Cuba's medical assistance is given absolutely free-of-charge, according to the Foreign Ministry statement, noting that the salaries and other expenses are totally covered by Havana. The official note mentions that recent statements to the contrary -- made by Venezuelan medical professionals -- have produced confusion. The Cuban Foreign Ministry states that Venezuela has excellent and well-qualified medical personnel and that, in no way, should Cuba's commitment to offer health care assistance be seen as a threat to their prestige or interests. *FOREIGN MINISTER FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO PERU Lima, October 10 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque is in Peru on an official visit. Cuba's top diplomat met on Monday with his Peruvian counterpart, Fernando de Trazegnies - and also held talks with Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori. Perez Roque expressed Havana's appreciation of what he called "Peru's strong support" of an end to the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba, noting that representatives of the Latin American nation have consistently voted at the United Nations against Washington's hostile policies toward Havana. The Cuban foreign minister also announced that a bilateral accord on the promotion and protection of investments will be signed during his official visit to Lima. He said that the agreement will have a positive effect on future commercial trade between the two countries, which has doubled over the past three years. The visiting Cuban foreign minister, questioned by reporters about Havana's view of the current political situation in Peru, stated that Cuba is confident that the Peruvian people will find the appropriate road to take in order to get out of the political crisis. Felipe Perez Roque added that the Cuban government hopes that this political process in Peru will be carried out without obstacles. *CUBAN MEDICAL SPECIALIST IN EL SALVADOR DIES IN CAR ACCIDENT Havana, October 10 (RHC)-- Tuesday's edition of the Cuban newspaper Granma published an official note, lamenting the accidental death in El Salvador of a young Cuban doctor, Eduber Comendador Gorrita. According to the article, the 24-year-old died last Sunday, October 8th, when he was hit by a car on the streets of San Salvador. In the Salvadoran capital, authorities expressed their regret over the accident, which occurred just two weeks after Comendador Gorrita arrived in the country. The Cuban medical specialist was offering his services to the Salvadoran people, free-of-charge -- along with a brigade of 40 Cuban medical personnel working to help fight a dengue epidemic in that Central American country. The body of the young Cuban volunteer was flown back to Havana on Monday, accompanied by Salvadoran authorities. Upon their arrival in the Cuban capital, the officials expressed their condolences to the family and thanked the Cuban government and people for their selfless assistance in the field of health care. *TABLOID CARRYING FIDEL'S SEPT 28 SPEECH AVAILABLE ON NEWSSTANDS ISLAND-WIDE Havana, October 10 (RHC)-- A special news tabloid containing the full text of Cuban President Fidel Castro's speech last September 28th on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) is now available on newsstands islandwide. Publication of the speech was in response to the great interest it sparked among Cubans given the important political and social issues addressed by the Cuban president. *RUSSIAN TRADE MISSION FEDERATION BEGINS TALKS WITH CUBAN BUSINESS *EXECUTIVES Havana, October 10 (RHC)-- A visiting trade commission from the Russia region of the Urales began official talks with Cuban business executives on Tuesday, aimed at reviving bilateral exchange. The Russian delegation is headed by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Matushkin Yuri Petrovieb, and is made up of 18 business executives from sectors such as mining, energy and steel as well as a financial group. Felix Loaces, of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade, briefed the visitors on the situation the Cuban economy. The two sides are also discussing possibilities for a future trade exchange protocol between Cuba and the Russian Federation. *4th CUBAN-UKRANIAN MIXED COMMISSION TO BEGIN SESSIONS IN HAVANA Havana, October 10 (RHC)-- The 4th Intergovernmental Cuban-Ukrainian Mixed Commission will begin sessions tomorrow, Wednesday, in the Cuban capital. The meeting is aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation, particularly in the economic and scientific fields. Cuban Health Minister Carlos Dotres and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vitaly Moskalenko, will preside over the five-day official talks in the Miramar offices of Cuba's Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ministry. During the meeting, the representatives will discuss a 2000-2002 bi-annual cooperation program, as well as cooperation in sectors such as health, education, agriculture, trade, transportation, the sugar industry, tourism, sports, biotechnology and aeronautics. The agenda of the visiting Ukrainian delegation includes visits to centers of economic, social and cultural interest and meetings with other high-ranking Cuban government officials. *CUBAN LABOR MINISTER ARRIVES IN BOLIVIA La Paz, October 10 (RHC)-- Cuban Labor Minister Alfredo Morales has arrived in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz to participate as a special guest in the First Meeting of Labor Ministers of MERCOSUR and Andean Community member nations. During the meeting, Morales will explain Cuba's views on issues such as globalization, regional integration and the labor market. The Cuban labor minister will also deliver a lecture at Santa Cruz University. *SECOND COURSE BEGINS IN SCHOOL DONATED BY CUBA TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Santo Domingo, October 10 (RHC)-- The second course in a technical school donated by Cuba to the Dominican Republic was officially inaugurated on Monday in Bani, the Dominican Republic. Participating in the ceremony, was the vice president of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, Rolando Gonzalez Tellez. The course at Maximo Gomez Technical Institute has 280 students, of which 122 are attending the school for the first time. Gonzalez Tellez noted that the school, located in the city of Bani, strengthens the ties between the people of Cuba and the Dominican Republic, which began five centuries ago when Cuban indigenous leader, Chief Hatuey, went to the Dominican Republic to warn inhabitants of the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors. During a 1998 visit to the Dominican Republic, Cuban President Fidel Castro announced the immediate construction of a technical school, which would bear the name of the Dominican hero of Cuba's independence wars, Maximo Gomez. *Viewpoint: 132nd ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST ARMED UPRISING AGAINST SPANISH COLONIALISM October 10, l868 marked the first time the Cuban people rose up against Spanish colonialism which, by then, had been in place for three and half centuries. A large part of Latin America had already been liberated from colonial rule and the spirit of nationalism was running high - although, in reality, political power was in the hands of the European colonialists. Already European interests were extracting raw materials from what we today call the Third World. Just thirty years after Cuba's first armed uprising, U.S. imperialism appeared on the international scene. Cuban patriots, led by Jose Marti, first warned of the dangers of U.S. expansionism into Latin America. The day before he died in battle, Marti, Cuba's National Hero, wrote a letter to a Mexican friend in which he explained the basis of the Cuban Revolution, warning that the battle would eventually be against the United States. What Marti predicted in the second half of the 19th century, unfortunately, did come to pass at the end of that century with the military intervention by the United States into Cuba's war of independence. It was an intervention that no one in the insurrection had requested. It was a totally unnecessary intervention, since Cuban liberation forces were engaged in combat all across western Cuba and had virtually laid siege to the colonial capital. The Spanish government, exhausted by the enormous drain the war was causing its economy, which was supporting more than 250,000 soldiers in Cuba, decimated by yellow fever and under constant attack by patriotic forces, was unable to change the course of the war. It was precisely at that moment that the United States chose to intervene, launching a gigantic propaganda campaign to cover its true motives. Washington's military power was immensely superior, especially on the sea, as illustrated by the battles of Santiago, and of Cavite in the Philippines, which also ended up under U.S. control at the end of the war. October 10, l868 is a sacred date for Cuba. It was the first day of open rebellion for liberty, which was led by the man who is now known as the "Father of Cuba" -- Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. And throughout all these years, the Cuban people have demonstrated that they continue upholding the tradition of struggle and sacrifice sparked by that valiant action 132 years ago. (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-1054 2000-Oct-11 00:44:46