Radio Havana Cuba-27 September 2000 23:30 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 27 September 2000 23:30 *PRESIDENT OF IRAN, SEYED MOHAMMED JATAMI, PLANS OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA *40TH ANNIVERSARY OF COMMITTEES FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE REVOLUTION *MORE EFFICIENCY IS NEEDED TO CONTINUE ECONOMIC RECOVERY *GERMANY WILL INCREASE COOPERATION WITH CUBA *CUBA WILL BEEF UP SECURITY TO HALT DRUG TRAFFICKING *Viewpoint: NINETY PERCENT OF AIDS FATALITIES ARE AFRICAN *PRESIDENT OF IRAN, SEYED MOHAMMED JATAMI, PLANS OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA Havana, September 27 (RHC) -- The President of Iran, Seyed Mohammed Jatami, will pay an official 3-day visit to Cuba beginning, at the invitation of Cuban President Fidel Castro. The Iranian dignitary will arrive in Havana from Caracas, Venezuela, where he participated in the Second Summit of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries. President Seyed Mohammed Jatami's delegation will include his Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Oil and Finances. Havana and Tehran maintain trade relations to the tune of some 100 million dollars a year, fundamentally in agriculture, fishing and biotechnology -- which both countries hope to increase in the near future. In recent statements in the Cuban capital, Iran's ambassador in Havana pointed to the bilateral cooperation in the production of the Hepatitis B vaccine. He also said the two countries are negotiating the possibility of Iran importing Cuban sugar, and that Cuba's foreign debt with the Arab nation has been resolved. *40TH ANNIVERSARY OF COMMITTEES FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE REVOLUTION Havana, September 27 (RHC)-Cubans will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, CDR, on Wednesday night with block parties, music and food cooked outdoors by neighborhood residents. At midnight, Thursday, the 28th, neighbor's islandwide will toast the CDR's 40th birthday. Over the past forty years, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution has spearheaded vaccination campaigns, blood donations, neighborhood cleanups, neighborhood watches, paper and glass drives and many other community activities. *MORE EFFICIENCY IS NEEDED TO CONTINUE ECONOMIC RECOVERY Havana, September 27 (RHC)-Cuban Vice President, Carlos Lage, has called for more rational use of resources in order to bolster the island's economic recovery. The Cuban leader was speaking on Tuesday in Havana to the 6th Meeting of Presidents of the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power. Debates included a variety is community issues including transportation. The Cuban Vice President reiterated the importance of increasing efficiency in the use of resources in order to offer better services to the population. Meanwhile, Cuban Minister of Finance and Prices, Manuel Millares, stressed that the government's main objective is to protect low-income families and to guarantee a basic food basket of subsidized products and free services like education and healthcare. *GERMANY WILL INCREASE COOPERATION WITH CUBA Havana, September 27 (RHC)-German Secretary for Technical and Development Cooperation, Erich Stather, said on Tuesday in the eastern Cuban city of Baracoa, that his country will increase cooperation with Cuba in the areas of environmental protection and rehabilitation. The German official made the announcement during an international conference on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the first visit to the island of German naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt. Delegates attended the conference from Germany, Italy, Mexico and Cuba. In recent years, the German Agency for Technical and Foreign Cooperation has contributed close to 100 thousand dollars to protect Cuba's biodiversity. The project includes scientific research in Cuba's Alexander Von Humboldt National Park located in the eastern part of the island. The Alexander Von Humboldt National Park has the largest biodiversity in the Caribbean due to its endemic animal and plant species. The huge park has been proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. *CUBA WILL BEEF UP SECURITY TO HALT DRUG TRAFFICKING Havana, September 27 (RHC)-Cuban President Fidel Castro has announced that the island will beef up Coast Guard security in an attempt to halt drug trafficking to or through the island. According to a Cuban television report, of every ten people who are considered to be acting suspiciously in Cuban airports by customs officials, nine are indeed carrying cocaine in their stomachs, luggage or hidden somewhere on their persons. Although actually apprehending people carrying drugs is mainly due to luck, Cuba has had good results thanks to anti-drug mechanisms implemented on the island. According to the Ministry of the Interior, in the last 6 years Cuba has confiscated over 40 tons of drugs, mainly destined for the United States. Viewpoint: *NINETY PERCENT OF AIDS FATALITIES ARE AFRICAN The International Monetary Fund -one of the main promoters of Neoliberal Economic Globalization alongside the World Bank- has recently trumpeted its involvement in Africa. It proudly announced that the lack of resources would not be an obstacle in the solution to African problems and offered a line of credit worth 500 million dollars to "help" fight AIDS in the region. Over 23 million people are infected with the HIV virus in Africa. Just two years ago, while addressing the South African Parliament, Cuban President Fidel Castro affirmed that given current international prices, it would be necessary to invest some 200 billion dollars every year to successfully fight the pandemic of the century in Africa. How much of that huge task could be achieved with the 500 million dollars being offered by the IMF, not as a donation but as a credit to be returned by the recipient nations? The offer comes as pure rhetoric, aimed at deceiving and confusing the international public opinion. This is the solution, as seen by the champions and promoters of free market supremacy over states and national governments, as seen by those who believe that neoliberal policies are the ideal solution to current problems affecting most of humanity. In his speech before the South African Parliament, President Castro, the first ever to warn of today's global economic problems, stressed that in the current global economy, the U.S. dollar faces value decreases with each passing day. With this notion in mind, the 500 million dollars offered by the IMF to fight AIDS in Africa, with current prices of U.S. patented drugs to fight the disease, are merely a drop in the bucket. Industrialized nations, headed by the United States, do produce the necessary food and medicine to substantially alleviate starvation, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. During the recently held United Nations Millennium Summit, leaders of rich countries called the situation in Africa "a shame for the developed world" and committed themselves to put an end to it. The situation in sub-Saharan Africa demands concrete, urgent actions to put the land to produce, instead of simply sending aid packages to poor countries affected by natural disasters. If Cuba, a poor Third World nation submitted to the longest and most cruel blockade in history, has been able to actively and systematically help other peoples in need, those with vast resources should certainly take concrete actions to revert the current trend of death and extreme poverty in Africa. (c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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