Radio Havana Cuba-15 September 2000 02:00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 15 September 2000 02:00 *GUATEMALAN ACTIVIST RIGOBERTA MENCHU ARRIVES IN CUBA *QATAR, CUBA ANNOUNCE BILATERAL COOPERATION ACCORDS *CUBA TO HELP YEMEN BUILD AN ORTHOPEDICS HOSPITAL *FIDEL CASTRO PRAISES WORK OF THE ISLAND'S COMPUTER CLUBS *HEALTH CENTERSS IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA EXCEL IN MINIMUM-ACCESS SURGERY *NEW BOOK ON HISTORICAL CUBAN FIGURES PRESENTED TO DIPLOMATS IN HAVANA *SPANISH AND CUBAN EXPERTS BEGIN ANTI-DRUG TRAFFICKING TRAINING COURSE *CUBAN SPORTS AUTHORITIES HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS IN SYDNEY *FELIX SAVON LOOKING FOR HIS THIRD CONSECUTIVE OLYMPIC TITLE *CUBA ANNOUNCES ITS OLYMPIC BASEBALL TEAM *VIEWPOINT: HUMAN BEINGS ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES *GUATEMALAN ACTIVIST RIGOBERTA MENCHU ARRIVES IN CUBA Havana, September 14 (RHC)-- The Guatemalan, indigenous human rights activist -- Rigoberta Menchu -- has arrived in the Cuban capital for a four-day visit. The winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize arrived at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport Wednesday evening and told reporters that her visit is a reflection of her profound feelings of friendship and admiration of Cuba. Rigoberta Menchu called for an end to the U.S. economic blockade of the island and condemned the way in which Washington -- in her words - "manipulates the issue of human rights in Cuba" in order to maintain its criminal sanctions. The indigenous leader also took aim at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, accusing the CIA of knowing about acts of genocide in her country, but doing nothing to stop the killing of hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans. *QATAR, CUBA ANNOUNCE BILATERAL COOPERATION ACCORDS Havana, September 14 (RHC)-- The Emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani -- on an official two-day visit to Cuba at the invitation of Cuban President Fidel Castro -- has signed bilateral cooperation accords with the island. The accords are in the areas of economy and health. Shortly before the signing ceremony, Cuban President Fidel Castro held official talks with the leader of Qatar. Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani was also awarded the Jose Marti Order - Cuba's highest civilian distinction. The visit of the Emir of Qatar constitutes the first official visit of a head of state from the Persian Gulf region. Qatar -- with some 500,000 inhabitants -- has the fifth largest reserve of natural gas in the world. The high-level delegation, which heads home Thursday night, also included Qatar's Ministers of Foreign Relations, Energy, Economy, Industry and Trade. *CUBA TO HELP YEMEN BUILD AN ORTHOPEDICS HOSPITAL Havana, September 14 (RHC)-- Cuba has agreed to help the Republic of Yemen build an orthopedics hospital. The announcement came as the President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was wrapping up a three-day official visit to Cuba. Previously, the visiting dignitary termed as "heroic" the solidarity and work of the Cuban health specialists in his country, while Cuban leader Fidel Castro recalled that Cuba helped Yemen build its first medical school-- from which more than 1000 doctors have graduated. Both countries signed a three-year scientific and education agreement in which research centers and pedagogical institutes from the two nations will exchange experiences and acquired knowledge. *FIDEL CASTRO PRAISES WORK OF THE ISLAND'S COMPUTER CLUBS Havana, September 14 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro has praised what he called the "extraordinary and important work" of the island's Computer Clubs --aimed at instructing children and young people in computer science. Speaking during an activity on the 13th anniversary of the island's Computer Clubs, Fidel Castro pointed out that by the end of the year, 47 new Computer Clubs would be inaugurated, joining the 174 already-existing centers. The leader of the Cuban Revolution announced that by April 4th next year, the anniversary of the Union of Young Communists (UJC), the island will have 300 Computer Clubs -- training children and teenagers in basic computer operations. This year, said the Cuban leader, the Computer Clubs will also include pre-school children. Cuban President Fidel Castro recalled that the island's universities, high schools and technical schools are now all equipped with computers. Over 23,000 televisions and 15,000 videos will be assigned to primary schools both for recreation and as teaching aids. Televised courses in Spanish, English and French, mainly conceived for journalists and teachers, but also open to the general public, are scheduled to begin in October. The Cuban leader pointed out that the project is aimed at turning the island into "a giant university." *HEALTH CENTERSS IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA EXCEL IN MINIMUM-ACCESS SURGERY Santiago de Cuba, September 14 (RHC)-- Health centers in eastern Santiago de Cuba are among the most advanced on the island in terms of minimum-access surgery. Currently, over 4000 such operations have been performed. The use of minimum-access surgery for abdomen and thorax operations requires a very small incision, which facilitates rapid recovery and a significant reduction in post-surgical pain. Another advantage is that the risk of infection is drastically reduced. Minimum access surgery has been successfully used in gall bladder, stomach, ulcer, liver, intestine and gynecological operations. *NEW BOOK ON HISTORICAL CUBAN FIGURES PRESENTED TO DIPLOMATS IN HAVANA Havana, September 14 (RHC)-- An important book which includes excerpts from the Montecristi Manifest by Cuba's National Hero, Jose Marti, and Cuban President Fidel Castro's famous speech "History will Absolve Me" was presented on Wednesday in Havana to Latin American and Caribbean ambassadors. The director of the Jose Marti Studies Center, Armando Hart, stressed the importance of the historical documents. He also announced a series of activities that are being prepared for the 147th anniversary of the birth of Jose Marti -- one of the island's a most important independence leaders. *SPANISH AND CUBAN EXPERTS BEGIN ANTI-DRUG TRAFFICKING TRAINING COURSE Havana, September 14 (RHC)-- The second training course for Cuban and Spanish anti-drug trafficking specialists got underway in Havana on Wednesday as part of a cooperation program between the countries' Interior Ministries. The head of Cuba's National Anti-Drug Division, Colonel Osvaldo Viera, expressed satisfaction with the Spanish experts who are training their Cuban counterparts in the fight against drug trafficking. Spanish Interior Ministry official, Luis Cervino, stated that the basis of cooperation was established with a bilateral agreement signed in 1998 and he expressed his country's interest in expanding relations in the sector. *CUBAN SPORTS AUTHORITIES HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS IN SYDNEY Sydney, September 14 (RHC) -- The president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Jose Ramon Fernandez, says the Cuban delegation will meet the expectations of the Cuban people and their leader Fidel Castro. Fernandez, who pointed out that the Cuban delegation is the largest ever to an Olympic meet, said Cuban athletes will be doing their best to return to Cuba with "the medal of loyalty and honor." The Cuban sports official also highlighted the discipline of the island's athletes and the quality of their training sessions. He described as "good" the living and training conditions in Sydney, as well as those of the press facilities, which will allow Cuban journalists to bring local fans the latest on the athletes' performance. The Cuban delegation is made up of 424 persons, 239 of them athletes. Cuban sports authorities have refrained from making a medal prediction, saying the best result will be that of keeping the Olympic spirit high alongside revolutionary principles. However, some specialists in Sydney believe that the island could maintain its leading position within the world elite -- with some 13 gold medals. At the Barcelona 1992 games, Cuba finished fifth with 14 titles and four years later was eighth with nine gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. *FELIX SAVON LOOKING FOR HIS THIRD CONSECUTIVE OLYMPIC TITLE Havana, September 14 (RHC)-- Nigerian Rasmus Ojemayer will be Cuban boxer Felix Savon's first rival in his drive to obtain his third consecutive Olympic title. Savon could match the performance of two giants who conquered three Olympic boxing titles. They were Hungarian Lazlo Papp and Cuba's Teofilo Stevenson. Stevenson won his titles in Munich 1972, Montreal 76 and Moscow 1980 -- while Papp took the gold in 1948, 1952 and 1956, but in two divisions. The fight between the Nigerian and the Cuban boxer is set for Thursday, September 21st -- one day before Savon's 33rd birthday. If Savon wins, he will enter quarter finals and will be facing the winner between Wonjniech Bartnik of Poland and Michael Bennett from the U.S., who won the Houston 1999 tournament. *CUBA ANNOUNCES ITS OLYMPIC BASEBALL TEAM Havana, September 14 (RHC) -- Cuba has announced its baseball Olympic team. It includes five veterans from the Barcelona and Atlanta teams. Third baseman Omar Linares, 1st base Orestes Kindelan, 2nd base Antonio Pacheco, Luis Ulacia in right field and Omar Ajete in left -- will all be looking for their third consecutive Olympic title. The team will be managed by Servio Borges, who will be supported by Juan Gomez and Luis Enrique Gonzalez, along with trainer Pedro Perez. Cuba's first contender will be South Africa on Sunday, the 17th. *VIEWPOINT: HUMAN BEINGS ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES The 55th Period of Ordinary Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly was inaugurated on Tuesday. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan calling on member nations to put into practice the commitments assumed at the recently-held Millennium Summit. Current discussions at the General Assembly are being influenced by the Millennium Summit, which brought together over 150 heads of state and government as well as other world leaders. Although the scene has changed, issues under discussion remain the same -- further evidence of the international community's growing concern about urgent, unresolved problems that threaten the very survival of the human species: poverty, injustice, disease and the destruction of our environment. U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright has had no choice other than to acknowledge the alarming levels of poverty in today's world, although she did not present any suggestions on how to tackle the problem. To do so, she would have had to also admit that Washington's unipolar policies towards the rest of the world are largely responsible for many of the calamities affecting Third World nations. Despite being the world's richest country, the United States owes over one and a half billion dollars to the United Nations -- its accumulated dues over the years as a member nation. The only explanation for this over-due debt is that Washington plans to hold the world body hostage -- using it to impose its mandates on other nations. Although much was said during the Millennium Summit about the many challenges that lie ahead for the future, no concrete steps were taken to speed up the necessary reforms to the United Nations -- making sure that the international organization is well-prepared to face these pressing challenges. It is a well-known fact that the world's only superpower -- politically, economically and militarily -- opposes the Third World's efforts to reform the United Nations in a way that truly protects the interests of each and every member nation. Instead, Washington has blocked any initiatives leading to the true democratization of the international organization. As long as the United Nations is not radically reformed and the current world order remains unchanged, human beings on this planet will remain an endangered species. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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