Radio Havana Cuba-19 September 2000 23:00 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 19 September 2000 23:00 . *U.S. CONGRESS BEGINS ONE OF ITS BIGGEST DEBATES ON BLOCKADE OF CUBA *AMERICAN MEDICAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION ACKNOWLEDGES CUBAN SCHOLARSHIP OFFER *MATANZAS: GENERAL SECRETARY OF CP WILL OVERSEE IMPORTANT SECTORS FOR PARTY *CUBA TO COOPERATE IN SPORTS WITH THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC *IBERO-AMERICAN JUSTICE MINISTERS TO MEET NEXT MONTH IN HAVANA *INAUGURATION OF NEW HOTEL IN CAYO LARGO SET FOR NOVEMBER *WORLD BANK ACKNOWLEDGES GLOBALIZATION WIDENS GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR . *U.S. CONGRESS BEGINS ONE OF ITS BIGGEST DEBATES ON BLOCKADE OF CUBA Havana, September 19 (RHC) -- The United States Congress began Tuesday what is being called one of the biggest official debates on Washington's blockade of Cuba. The hearing is part of an International Trade Commission study that some are describing as the most comprehensive effort by a federal agency to determine how the blockade has affected the Cuban and U.S. economies. The commission study was requested by the House Ways and Means Committee last March. It comes as the Cuba issue has been receiving renewed attention with some farm-state Republicans joining liberal Democrats in favoring the easing of restrictions on the sales of food and medicine to Cuba. Two commission economists visited Cuba in July, meeting with government officials. The large number of participants prompted commissioners to add a second day of hearings. Besides Democratic and Republican legislators, right-wing groups favoring sanctions against Cuba, humanitarian groups that say sanctions hurt innocent people and business and agricultural groups, the chief of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington DC, Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, is also participating. The International Trade Commission will issue a final report next February 15th. Though the report won't make recommendations about whether the sanctions should be lifted, some observers believe it could be influential. The vice president of the think tank Lexington Institute, Philip Peters, said the International Trade Commission report could be influential due to the depth of its research and its objectivity. He also pointed out that the commission is authoritative and -- in his words -- doesn't have a dog in this fight. . *AMERICAN MEDICAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION ACKNOWLEDGES CUBAN SCHOLARSHIP OFFER Havana, September 19 (RHC) -- The U.S.'s American Medical Student Association has issued a recognition of Cuba's offer to grant medical scholarships to poor African-Americans and Hispanics. A statement released Tuesday by the country's largest, independent medical student organization begins by saying that the health of that nation is in a state of dire crisis. The organization insisted that the number of uninsured Americans is climbing dramatically, the areas of the country that are not adequately served by a physician are swelling, and the American people cannot get a commitment from either major presidential candidate to develop a real, comprehensive solution to health problems as Congress spins its collective wheels on partisan politics and pandering to special interests. The American Medical Student Association pointed out that -- in its words -- "it's the poor communist island nation of Cuba that has offered to provide free medical training in Cuba annually to 500 Americans from underrepresented populations". The organization called it a generous offer, but yet a pathetic statement on American priorities. Finally, the American Medical Student Association asserted that it is time to demand action and sincere answers to the growing health problems of the American people, adding: "Cuba recognizes that, why can't we?". . *MATANZAS: GENERAL SECRETARY OF CP WILL OVERSEE IMPORTANT SECTORS FOR PARTY Havana, September 19 (RHC)-- The Political Bureau of Cuba's Communist Party has assigned the head of Matanzas province's Communist Party, Yadira Garcia, to oversee the sectors of Basic Industry, Food, Construction, Transportation and Communications for the Party's Central Committee. Victor Gaute Lopez will replace Yadira Garcia as general secretary of the Communist Party in Matanzas province. . *CUBA TO COOPERATE IN SPORTS WITH THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Sydney, September 19 (RHC)-- Interest in Cuban sports cooperation was the topic of discussion on Tuesday in Sydney, when the President of the island's Sports Institute, Humberto Rodriguez met with sports representatives of the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez met with the President of the Dominican Republic's Olympic Committee, Jose Joaquin Puello, and Secretary of State for Sports, Cesar Cedeno. The Dominican Republic has requested sports cooperation with Cuba an attempt to improve results in the 2003 Pan American Games which will be held in that Caribbean nation. The assistance will include fencing, rowing, field hockey, boxing, volleyball, weightlifting and track and field. The Cuban sports official also offered his country's cooperation in sports medicine, press and protocol. . *IBERO-AMERICAN JUSTICE MINISTERS TO MEET NEXT MONTH IN HAVANA Havana, September 19 (RHC)-- Ibero American Justice Ministers are scheduled to meet in Havana on October 5th to celebrate their 12th Conference which is aimed at developing multilateral cooperation in the fight against crime. The event's agenda includes issues related to the administration of justice, border cooperation, drug trafficking, the fight against corruption and discussions on law to protect personal data in accordance with the current development of computer science. Some 140 personalities, among them official delegations and guests from international institutions, will participate in the Justice Ministers conference. . *INAUGURATION OF NEW HOTEL IN CAYO LARGO SET FOR NOVEMBER Havana, September 19th (RHC)-- The Cuban hotel chain "Gran Caribe" is scheduled to inaugurate a new hotel in November in Cayo Largo, south of the Cuban mainland. The hotel's management and commercialization will be in hands of the Spanish group Sol Melia. The 304-room facility is being built to ecologically fit into its special natural environment, according to the general manager of Sol Club group Cayo Largo, Raul Silveira. "First of all, the hotel has just two floors. Its infrastructure includes many open space areas in order to damage the environment as little as possible. The building has been very well prefabricated, which has helped to preserve nature as well as the virgin areas surrounding Cayo Largo." Taking into account the peculiarities of the natural environment, the Sol Club group Cayo Largo plans to develop a honeymoon market for visitors interested in water sports and to specialize as well, in so-called incentive tourism. An international airport, receiving flights directly from Europe and Latin America is a guarantee that the region will continue to develop. The Sol Melia group manages and commercializes some 17 hotels in Cuba. . Viewpoint: *WORLD BANK ACKNOWLEDGES GLOBALIZATION WIDENS GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR In its annual report on world development, the World Bank has acknowledged that the ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor has more than doubled over the last 40 years. The U.S. media reported that these rare reflections on the part of the international lending institution are in response to statements made at the recently held Millennium Summit by Cuban President Fidel Castro and other world leaders, such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. President Castro took the floor to warn of the growing calamities facing the vast majority of humanity in today's globalized world. Cuba has always supported the struggle of Third World nations against neoliberal globalization, unequal distribution of wealth between nations and the never-ending foreign debt of the underdeveloped world to the so-called First World. In that sense, the Cuban president affirmed that it is a moral obligation of the wealthy North to forgive the unpayable foreign debt of the impoverished South, since the debt is the result of centuries of exploitation and dominion of the world's capitalist powers over the vast majority of humanity. The World Bank itself, which now acknowledges the many problems threatening the very survival of the human species on our planet, is together with the International Monetary Fund, an important tool of the very economic policy that it now attacks in its annual report. And behind these apparently honest reflections on the part of the World Bank is, of course, the United States as the main promoter and beneficiary of neoliberal globalization. Though the World Bank has offered 500 million dollars to fight AIDS in Africa, we must not forget that the money is not a donation, but a line of credit, which imposes many obligations on the beneficiary. Like most nations around the world, Cuba demands drastic reforms be made in the United Nations, so that the interests of each and every member nation are protected by the organization. Truly democratizing the UN means eliminating the veto power, that allows a minority elite of wealthy nations, among them, of course, the United States, to impose their mandates over and even unilateraly decide on the destiny of other nations. If the United Nations is to sucessfully deal with and overcome the difficult challenges that lie ahead for humanity in a new millennium, it must become a truly democratic organization --the world's champion of the promotion and protection of justice, equal rights and peace. (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-14640 2000-Sep-20 00:28:41