Radio Havana Cuba-14 October 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 14 October 2000 . *MORE THAN 30,000 CUBANS GATHER IN BATABANO TO CONDEMN ANTI CUBA AGGRESSIONS *RICARDO ALARCON SAYS CUBA IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WITH A BLOCKADE *CUBAN WOMEN TO JOIN TUESDAY'S WOMEN'S WORLD MARCH IN NEW YORK *PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DUE MONDAY IN HAVANA *EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM IS IN HAVANA *FAO FINANCES COOPERATION PROJECTS IN CUBA *4TH CONGRESS OF COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WORKERS PLANNED *MODERN DISTILLERY INAUGURATED IN CIENFUEGOS *Viewpoint: AS UN PREPARES TO CONDEMN BLOCKADE, US READIES SEVERE MEASURES . *MORE THAN 30,000 CUBANS GATHER IN BATABANO TO CONDEMN ANTI CUBA AGGRESSIONS Havana, October 14 (RHC)--Over 30 thousand Cubans from the city of Batabano and its surroundings gathered on Saturday to participate in an Open Tribune to condemn Washington's blockade against Cuba, the Cuban Adjustment Act, the Helms-Burton law, and all the legislations that attempt to destroy the Cuban Revolution. In the presence of Cuban President Fidel Castro and other government leaders, Cubans from all walks of life also rejected US legislation, which allegedly eases restrictions in Washington's blockade of the island, passed late Wednesday in the House of Representatives. The legislation was passed with 340 votes against 75 and will now have to go before the Senate. Despite expressing objections to the initiative, particularly with respect to converting into law Washington's travel ban, President Bill Clinton has indicated that he will sign it into law. Havana recently stated that it will not carry out any transactions with US firms under the conditions imposed, calling those conditions discriminatory and humiliating. *RICARDO ALARCON SAYS CUBA IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WITH A BLOCKADE Havana, October 14 (RHC)--The President of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon said on Friday that no one could deny that the island is the only country in the world with a blockade. The Cuban leader made the statement during Friday's televised round table where experts on the United States explained that the new legislation allegedly eases Washington's blockade against Cuba. In the presence of Cuban President Fidel Castro, the President of the Cuban Parliament pointed out that the new legislation sets out to confuse and trick the international community and the US people themselves into thinking that the new bill intends to ease Washington's almost 40 year blockade against Cuba by saying that it will permit the sale of food and medicines to the island. Alarcon added that the bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives late Wednesday night, maintains intact the mechanisms of economic war against Cuba. The legislation, which US President Bill Clinton said he would sign into law, demands US companies to obtain a special permission authorizing them to sell its product to the island and excludes any possibility of public or private financing. During Friday's televised round table to the Cuban people, the Cuban leader, Alarcon, also explained that the Bill violates the US people's constitutional right to travel to the island, meaning that the blockade remains intact. *CUBAN WOMEN TO JOIN TUESDAY'S WOMEN'S WORLD MARCH AGAINST POVERTY AND VIOLENCE Havana, October 14 (RHC)-- Over 900 Cuban women representing all the women on the island will participate in the World March of Women against Poverty and Violence to be held on Tuesday in New York. Cuban women representing the agricultural, tourism tobacco, education, science, and culture sectors as well students will express their solidarity with the other women of the world. Some 10 thousand women from some 5 thousand 200 organizations and over 145 countries will march past the United Nations in New York on Tuesday demanding justice in today's neoliberal and globalized world. In activities prior to the march and during Tuesday's march itself, the Cuban women will ratify its condemnation of Washington's genocidal blockade which has affected the life of men and women on the island and will reiterate their rejection of neoliberal globalization. *PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DUE MONDAY IN HAVANA Havana, October 14th (RHC)-- The President of the International Chamber of Commerce, Adnan Kasar, will arrive in Havana on Monday to lead the debates of the Latin American Regional meeting, scheduled for October 12th to 21st. Commerce and Investment in Latin America will be the key issue for discussion during the meeting, especially its development in Cuba. There will also be discussion on the liberalization of electronic commerce and services. The International Chamber of Commerce is a world business organization, which includes more than 7 thousand companies in some 134 countries. Cuba became a member of this international institution in 1998. *EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM IS IN HAVANA Havana, October 14th (RHC)-- The executive director of the World Food Program, Jean Jacques Gris, arrived in Havana on Friday to evaluate, along with Cuban experts, a new project of food assistance for the island's eastern provinces, which have been seriously affected by drought during the last few months. Some Cuban experts of the World Food Program, headed by the director of the U.N Institution for Latin America and the Caribbean, Francisco Roque Castro, will visit the areas effected in order to evaluate the situation and to seek the best solutions for the problems. *FAO FINANCES COOPERATION PROJECTS IN CUBA Havana, October 14th (RHC)-- During the last four decades, the U.N Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, has financed some 90 cooperation projects in Cuba, 10 of which have been carried out. The positive cooperative balance between Cuba and FAO was acknowledged during a workshop held in the U.N Cuban Association in Havana, on the occasion of the World Food Day. During the workshop, the FAO's Cuban representative, Fernando Robayo, highlighted the fact that U.N programs benefit the island's economy including fishing and activities related to food production. Cuban Vice-Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Raul Taladrid, also praised the FAO' relations with Cuba as well as its significant support, which has helped to increase the island's food production. Taladrid also stated that Cuba and the FAO are working together in a cooperation project, which will involve some 250 Cuban experts in food programs in many nations such as Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, Haiti, Venezuela and others. *4TH CONGRESS OF COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT WORKERS PLANNED Havana, October 14th (RHC)-- Community 2000, the fourth Caribbean and Iberoamerican Congress of Community and Social Development Workers, will take place in the Cuban capital this month from 17th through 20th, with the participation of some 500 delegates from 10 countries. During the gathering, experts will tackle the issue of popular culture and its close links with community issues. Many workshops will be facilitated by specialists from the National Center of Community Culture. *MODERN DISTILLERY INAUGURATED IN CIENFUEGOS Havana, October 14th (RHC)--Cuba's most modern distillery was inaugurated on Saturday in the central province of Cienfuegos. Its advanced technology will enable it to produce some 90,000 liters of alcohol daily. The plant began operating at the end of last June, and since then, more than 2.8 billion liters of top quality alcohol have been produced An estimated 10 million dollars will be earned from the alcohol industry in less than five years. As a result, Cuba's future in this sector will be in sugar cane derivatives. The Cienfuegos' distillery uses sugar cane derivatives as raw materials from nearby sugarmills and the alcohol produced will be used in the manufacture of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and alcoholic drinks. In addition, the distillery has an efficient system for the treatment of residuals, which will be used in the manufacture of yeast and the fertilization of sugar cane. Viewpoint: *AS UN PREPARES TO CONDEMN BLOCKADE, U.S. READIES SEVERE MEASURES On the verge of the debate in the United Nations Assembly of the resolution, which condemns the genocidal economic blockade of the U.S. towards Cuba, legislation, which will worsen this measure, is on the point of being approved by U.S. President, Bill Clinton. It is typical of the U.S. authorities to go against the moral wishes of the U.N. and all those countries, which have voted against them over the last eight years. The U.S. has repeatedly ignored the protests of the world community against this type of policy, which harms, in the first place, the civil population of the countries under attack. In the case of Cuba, a unique case in history, this policy has failed spectacularly because of the heroic resistance of the Cubans in defense of their rights as a nation. The legislation about to be approved has been presented by the U.S. authorities as a relaxation of the economic blockade, particularly relating to the sale of food and medicines. However, the supposed authorization to sell food and medicines to Cuba is nothing but a brazen ploy to deceive public opinion once again. The new legislation 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 U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba. Cuba has declared that it will not carry out any type of commercial transaction with the U.S. based on this discriminatory and humiliating legislation. In summary, there is neither such flexibility nor relaxation of the economic war by the U.S. against Cuba. Neither has there been any in the Cuban people's decision to resist all aggression and to continue the struggle against U.S. imperialism. (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-24743 2000-Oct-14 23:45:09