Radio Havana Cuba-18 September 2000 23:30 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 18 September 2000 23:30 *LIFTING OF WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA A LITTLE BIT CLOSER *FIDEL CASTRO INAUGURATES TRAINING COURSE FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS *THIRD INTERNATIONAL FAIR, "SUGAR ISLAND" KICKS OFF IN MATANZAS *CUBAN AUTHORITIES SUPPORT CLEANING UP HAVANA BAY *CUBA HAS SURPASSED WHO GUIDELINES FOR BLOOD DONATIONS *BRITISH LABOR UNIONS CONDEMN WASHNGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA *CUBA CALLS FOR THIRD-WORLD UNITY, REVITALIZATION OF NON-ALIGNED *LIFTING OF WASHINGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA A LITTLE BIT CLOSER Havana, September 18 (RHC) -- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has asserted that the lifting of Washington's blockade against Cuba is a little bit closer. The statement came upon Perez Roque's arrival back home this weekend after participating in the 55th United Nations General Assembly in New York, and previously the UN Millineum Summit. Cuba's Foreign Minister said the American people are becoming more aware of Cuba's achievements in diverse sectors like culture, sports and health, which he added, he could perceived due to the constant barrage of questions asked of the Cuban delegation by American journalists and diverse sectors of U.S. society. He said the Cuban delegation in the U.S. only received gestures of sympathy and respect, while the discredited and minority voice of Miami's Cuban-American mafia wasn't heard. Though insisting that Cuba must continue its battle, the Cuban Foreign Minister said Washington's hostile Cuba policy has not future or support inside that country or within the international community. The statements came as 70 countries presented UN Secretary General Kofi Annan with a report condemning Washington's blockade of Cuba -- a report that Annan must present for debate leading up to another General Assembly vote against that measure next November. The blockade has been condemned each year by an increasing number of nations since it was placed on the General Assembly agenda in 1992. *FIDEL CASTRO INAUGURATES TRAINING COURSE FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS Havana, September 18 (RHC)-Cuban President, Fidel Castro, on Sunday inaugurated an intensive training course for primary school teachers, which, according to the Cuban leader, will help solve the shortage of teachers in the Cuban capital. The opening ceremony was held in Melena del Sur , in Havana Province. Speaking to 500 Pedagogical High School students from Havana and Matanzas provinces, the Cuban leader said that quality of education is directly related to the number of students in a classroom. He added that in less than two years the classrooms in the City of Havana will not exceed 20 students. The Cuban leader explained that he had analyzed a special program for the urgent training of teachers which would provide them with a humanities degree and allow them to continue, later on, studying law, sociology, psychology or technical scientific information. Cuban President Fidel Castro said that all the material conditions are set to begin the training course for primary school teachers. *THIRD INTERNATIONAL FAIR, "SUGAR ISLAND" KICKS OFF IN MATANZAS Matanzas, September 18 (RHC)-The Third International Sugar Industry Fair, " Sugar Island", kicked off on Monday in the Plaza America in Matanzas province with the participation of foreign and Cuban business executives. The International event includes a commercial fair and the presentation of the industry's new products and services. The event's main objectives are to promote the growing development of the sugar industry and discussion on the sector's economy and trade. *CUBAN AUTHORITIES SUPPORT CLEANING UP HAVANA BAY Havana, September 18 (RHC)- Cuban authorities are supporting a five million-dollar project to clean up Havana Bay in four years, according to official sources. The head of the government group that is overseeing the project, Armando Choy, explained that the decontamination project contemplates different stages of implementation which are set to begin this year and conclude in 2004. Under the plan, first solids and hydrocarbons are to be eliminated and then organic materials dumped by industry are to be progressively reduced. Cuban experts want to increase the amount of oxygen in the Bay's waters, eliminate the bad order, improve the landscape and implement a reforestation campaign in the surrounding area. Then from 2004 to 2009 those measures would be intensified and well as rehabilitating the ocean floor through suction and dragging techniques. More than a hundred industries and services dump sediment into the Bay, which is 5.2 square kilometers. Countries like, Germany, Italy and Japan and the UN Development Program are cooperating with Cuban authorities to guarantee the success of the decontamination project. *CUBA HAS SURPASSED WHO GUIDELINES FOR BLOOD DONATIONS Havana, September 18 (RHC)-Cuba surpassed World Health Organization guidelines four years ago which call for one blood donation per every 20 inhabitants, according to Monday's edition of the newspaper Granma. The Cuban newspaper pointed out that island's national average is one blood donation for every 19.4 inhabitants, a goal, which few developed nations have achieved. Over 574 thousand 300 Cubans have voluntarily donated their blood in the last year. The high rates of Cuban blood donors made it possible for Cuba to stop importing blood derivatives since the early 1980's. On the island, donated blood is submitted to strict testing in order to detect HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, syphilis and other diseases. *BRITISH LABOR UNIONS CONDEMN WASHNGTON'S BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA Havana, September 18 (RHC)-Over 700 delegates to the 132nd Congress of British Labor Unions last week in Glasgow, Scotland, approved a Resolution condemning Washington's blockade against Cuba. The Resolution says that Cuba's independence has been submitted to continued attacks by the United States for the last 40 years and it describes the blockade as the "worst in history". The British unionists characterized as,"positive" the reiterated condemnation of Washington's blockade in the UN General Assembly for the last 8 years as well as the positions adopted by the European Union and the British government in relation to the extraterritoriality of the anti-Cuba Helms-Burton law. The document urges, that, in addition to the British government, the international community should continue condemning the U.S.' anti-Cuba policy. The Cuban delegation to the Congress of British Labor Unions received a warm welcome and exchanged experiences with their British counterparts during the event. Viewpoint: *CUBA CALLS FOR THIRD-WORLD UNITY, REVITALIZATION OF NON-ALIGNED In his speech last week to the UN General Assembly, Cuba's Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, called for Third World nations to unite and coordinate actions in the struggle to achieve the true democratization of the United Nations and to solve the problems that plague the majority of human beings on this planet. Cuba advoctes revitalizing the principal organizations of the underdeveloped countries which are a great international force that must not be underestimated. They represent the majority of humanity and they must make themselves heard. Among the topics touched upon by the Cuban Foreign Minister, is the necessity to offer assistence to the African countries which are suffering the worst conditions in every sense of the word. They are the most affected by famine and civil conflicts which have sparked massive forced migrations of refugees who are fleeing misery and death. The African continent also suffers from the worst health problems with millions dying from preventiable diseases for lack of medical services. It is also the region with the greatest incidence of AIDS, with 23 million cases at various stages of development, in an epidemic that threatens to exterminate the entire continent. It was in this context that Cuban Foreign Ninister, Perez Roque, reiterated an offer made at the UN Millennium Summit by President Fidel Castro, to send three thousand Cuban doctors and other health professionals to a program of Health for Africa. He called on the other member nations, above all the industrialized countries, to donate the material means to effectively carry out the task, including the necessary medicines and medical equipment. Perez Roque pointed to spiraling military expenditures in today's world, which exceed more than 800 billion dollars, while noting that just a fraction of that amount would help the Third World to pull itself out of poverty and backwardness. It is important to note that Cuba never makes charges about critical world problems without the willingness to immediately participate in solutions, as it is doing now in many countries. That is why Cuba has the moral standing to demand that others do the same and to call for international cooperation in tasks which are crucial for the planet to face the new Millennium. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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