Radio Havana Cuba-21 September 2000 23:45 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 21 September 2000 23:45 . *WASHINGTON'S REFUSAL TO PRESS CHARGES AGAINST CUBAN HIJACKERS *FIDEL ATTENDS CEREMONY TO MARK NEW STUDENT SOCIAL WORK BRIGADE *CUBA TO SAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DOMESTIC OIL CONSUMPTION *LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION ASSOCIATION'S TOURISM COUNCIL MEETS WEDNESDAY *CUBA-GERMAN COOPERATION ON DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT PROJECTS *Viewpoint: CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEETING MARKS A TURNING POINT . *WASHINGTON'S REFUSAL TO PRESS CHARGES AGAINST CUBAN HIJACKERS Havana, September 21 (RHC) -- Havana has blasted Washington's refusal to bring criminal charges against Cubans involved in air piracy and hijackings. A front-page editorial in the official Cuban newspaper Granma insisted that the lack of sanctions against Cubans who commit these crimes constitutes -- along with the privileges illegal Cuban immigrants receive under the U.S.'s Cuban Adjustment Act -- major incitements to illegal immigration and a violation of the U.S.-Cuba migratory accords. According to the editorial, Washington's refusal to return, without any justification, a significant number of illegal Cubans intercepted on the high seas, and the impunity benefitting those involved in the trafficking of human beings, generate the least favorable conditions for a level-headed and constructive analysis of, and search for, satisfactory solutions to bilateral migratory problems. Cuba, says the editorial, will nevertheless participate in today's round of bilateral migratory talks. Cuba will also honor its word and its expressed objective of holding serious talks concerning these problems, and hopes -- adds the editorial -- that the United States adopts a reciprocal attitude. In reference to Tuesday's act of air piracy when a small fumigation aircraft was spirited out of Cuba, the editorial reiterates Havana's criticism of the silence of U.S. authorities in such circumstances. The Cuban government noted that it still does not know the name of the Cuban citizen who died during the tragic episode, and only knows the names of those who were in the aircraft due to reports from U.S. media outlets. *FIDEL ATTENDS CEREMONY TO MARK NEW STUDENT SOCIAL WORK BRIGADE Havana, September 21 (RHC)-Cuban President Fidel Castro participated on Wednesday in Havana in an activity announcing the creation of the first Student Social Work Brigade on the island. The brigade is composed of 626 students from the University of Havana, the Jose Antonio Echeverria Poly Technical Higher Institute and the Enrique Jose Varona Pedagogical Institute. Under the program, students will complete research in communities to discover the principal social problems and then do preventive work with children between the ages of 1 to 15. Another similar brigade will soon be constituted. The Cuban leader praised these new brigades as "historic and unique" in today's world because of their humanism. *CUBA TO SAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DOMESTIC OIL CONSUMPTION Havana, September 21 (RHC)-Cuba plans to save billions of dollars over the next five years by consuming domestic, rather than imported oil, according to the Minister of Basic Industry, Marcos Portal. In a document presented during a Havana meeting of the sector's business executives, the Cuban official stressed that the island saved over 500 million dollars in 1998-1999. Cuban oil production, which has been of great use in generating electricity island-wide and in producing cement for domestic consumption, reached two million 200 thousand tons last year. According to official figures, the island could extract as much as three million, four hundred thousand tons of crude this year. *LATIN AMERICAN INTEGRATION ASSOCIATION'S TOURISM COUNCIL MEETS WEDNESDAY Havana, September 21 (RHC)-The fourth meeting of the Latin American Integration Association's Tourism Council kicked off on Wednesday in Havana to increase cooperation and expand the tourism industry. Participants will also examine ways to strengthen mechanisms between the Latin American Integration Association, ALADI, and the World Tourism Organization. The meeting is chaired by ALADI general secretary, Venezuelan, Juan Francisco Rojas, who called Cuba's role in the regional institution "very active and important." Cuba became a full ALADI member last year. Rojas added that integration is indispensable in today's globalized world. *CUBA-GERMAN COOPERATION ON DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT PROJECTS Bayamo, September 21 (RHC)-Cuban authorities from the eastern provinces of Las Tunas and Granma and representatives of the German government are studying cooperation projects in the fight against desertification and drought in the eastern part of the island. In recent years, Cuba, especially the eastern region, has registered less than average rainfall. The Cuba-German cooperation project against desertification and drought came out of an international protocol signed by various countries in 1997. Viewpoint: *CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEETING MARKS A TURNING POINT The truth about Cuba has finally gotten through to the U.S. Congress. This is especially true after the recent participation of a Cuban Parliament delegation, as special invited guests, in the Annual Convention of the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus, held last week in Washington. The Cuban lawmakers explained the difficult situation in Cuba brought about by Washington's 40-year blockade against the island. Six Cuban deputies were given permission by the U.S. State Department to travel to Washington to participate in the Black Caucus meeting, though U.S. officials denied travel visas to other Cuban lawmakers who had been also invited to participate, including Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon. The unprecedented participation of Cuban legislators in an annual convention of the African-American sector of the U.S. Congress, has had great repercussions in the U.S. media, which termed the visit as a turning point in relations between the U.S. and Cuban legislative powers. Another important meeting, this one to examine the U.S. blockade against Cuba, was held earlier this week also in Washington. The U.S. International Trade Commission met to hear the testimony of representatives of the American business community and to determine the impact of the blockade on the U.S. economy. The Head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, attended the Commission hearing. The Cuban diplomat reiterated that the U.S. economic war against Cuba is part of Washington's continued attempts to destroy the Cuban Revolution. Participants in the meeting of the U.S. International Trade Commission pointed to the double standard of U.S. foreign policy, asking why, if Washington trades with Communist China and Vietnam, does it refuse to trade with Cuba. During the 30th Annual Convention of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Caucus' 38 African-American congressional representatives, publicly took, for the first time, a strong position against the blockade and in favor of radical changes in Washington's aggressive policy towards Cuba. The U.S. lawmakers also expressed their satisfaction with an offer made by Cuban President Fidel Castro to grant up to 500 scholarships annually so that young Americans from low-income families can study medicine free-of-charge in Cuba. In a recent speech at the Riverside Church in Harlem, while participating in the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York, the Cuban leader explained that the medical scholarships are aimed at the Third World that exists inside the United States itself. That is, said President Castro, Afro-Americans, Latinos and other minorities who live in the World's richest country, but who are deprived of every opportunity and face difficulties and hardships exactly like those in Third World nations. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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