Radio Havana Cuba-29 September 2000 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 29 September 2000 *CUBAN DOCTORS AND NURSES ARRIVE IN ANTI-DENGUE CAMPAIGN *US REPUBLICAN LEADERS ACCEPT PLAN TO ALLOW SALE OF FOOD, MEDICINES TO CUBA *CUBA CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF CDR *PRESIDENT OF FEDERATION OF CUBAN WOMEN AWARDED RESEARCH SCIENTIST MERIT *CUBAN POET DIES IN THE UNITED STATES *IBERO AMERICAN JUSTICE MINISTERS TO MEET IN HAVANA *STAMPS DEPICTING CUBAN MARINE LIFE ISSUED ON WORLD TOURISM DAY *WATER SHORTAGES: A GROWING CHALLENGE FOR CUBA AND THE WORLD *CUBAN DOCTORS AND NURSES ARRIVE IN ANTI-DENGUE CAMPAIGN Havana, September 28 (RHC)-- 37 Cuban doctors and nurses have arrived in El Salvador to cooperate in that Central American nation's anti-dengue campaign. The Cubans will form part of the medical brigades made up of doctors and specialists from Mexico, Guatemala, the United States, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Panama -- who have responded to a plea of regional solidarity issued recently by Salvadoran President Francisco Flores. The dengue epidemic has claimed the lives fo 34 Salvadorans, 31 of them children. 11 of those fatal victims have died in the past 10 days. But according to one Mexican doctor offering services in El Salvador, the population has begun to take consciousness of the seriousness of the epidemic and is beginning to quickly seek medical assistance when symptoms appear. Next weekend Salvadoran authorities nationwide are planning a massive clean-up operation, with the help of army trucks, to eliminate garbage like abandoned tires that serve as breeding grounds for the mosquito that transmits the disease. Concerning the lack of diplomatic relations between Cuba and El Salvador, President Flores said it's not necessary to enter into the thorny issues concerning the relations between governments when this is a question of people- to-people solidarity. Meanwhile, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic are also warning of dengue outbreaks in their countries. Guatemalan health authorities have reported the death of another 4 children, bringing the total to 5 this year. Dominican authorities have reported a total of more than one thousand cases of dengue of the most deadly strain -- adding that this strain was last seen in the country 20 years ago. *US REPUBLICAN LEADERS ACCEPT PLAN TO ALLOW SALE OF FOOD, MEDICINES TO CUBA Havana, September 28 (RHC) -- Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress have reportedly accepted a plan that would allow for the sale of food and medicines to Cuba. Pressured by farm state Republicans and humanitarian groups, Republicans in the House of Representatives recently accepted an initiative overwhelmingly voted in the Senate that would lift these restrictions in Washington's blockade of Cuba, but not the restriction on public or private financing of the sales. Now, according to Missouri Repbulican Representative Roy Blunt, Republican leaders have accepted a formula that would allow U.S. institutions to serve as intermediaries for third countries willing to finance the sales. Many farm state legislators, particularly in the Senate, had complained that a prohibition on any type of financing would in practice kill the measure. This new deal will now be considered in House-Senate negotiations on an agricultural funding project that could be voted in the House next week. Just hours before the announcement, Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd had insisted that it's time to change the state of relations between Cuba and the U.S. -- particularly at a moment when President Bill Clinton is about to travel to Vietnma and permanently normalized trade relations have been established with China. The announcement also coincided with a demand for a partial lifting of the blockade against Cuba by 8 prominent Republican Senators. They include John Block, former Secretary of Agriculture, and Frank Carlucci and William Clark, former National Security Advisors. *CUBA CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF CDR Havana, September 28 (RHC)-The Cuban people celebrated Wednesday night the 40th anniversary of the island's largest grass roots organization, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, CDR. At midnight, on Thursday, the 28th, neighbor's island-wide toasted the CDR's 40th birthday. The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, organize vaccination campaigns, blood donations, neighborhood cleanups, neighborhood crime watches, collect recycled materials and organize many other community activities. Celebrations continue on Thursday night with an "Open Tribune" rally in Havana's International Convention Center, in which participants will, once again, condemn Washington's blockade against the island. *PRESIDENT OF FEDERATION OF CUBAN WOMEN AWARDED RESEARCH SCIENTIST MERIT Havana, September 28 (RHC)-The President of the Federation of Cuban Women, FMC, Vilma Espin, has been awarded the Research Scientist Merit BY the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, Rosa Elena Simeon. In a ceremony held at FMC headquarters in Havana, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, Lina Dominguez, pointed out that Vilma Espin was one of the country's first two women graduates in industrial chemical engineering. She praised Espin for her valuable life-long contribution to women's rights in the areas of education and health, and in encouraging women's full participation in the island's political and economic life, in government leadership positions. The Cuban official also underscored the work done by President of the Federation of Cuban Women in education, her human sensibility and her dedication to the Cuban Revolution. *CUBAN POET DIES IN THE UNITED STATES Havana, September 28 (RHC)-Cuban poet, Heberto Padilla, died on Monday in the United States. Padilla, who died of a heart attack, was among the renowned Cuban poets of 50's generation, including Roberto Fernandez Retamar, Fayad Jamis, Pablo Armando Fernandez and Cesar Lopez. Although his poetry is considered to be important, he achieved international acclaim for his anti-Cuban Revolution declarations, which were widely disseminated by the international press. *IBERO AMERICAN JUSTICE MINISTERS TO MEET IN HAVANA Havana, September 28 (RHC)-The 12th Conference of Ibero American Justice Ministers will be held in Havana beginning October 15th. Participants will discuss prison sentences for drug trafficking offenses, border cooperation, the modernization of justice management and the fight against corruption among other topics. Cuban Justice Minister, Roberto Diaz Sotolongo, told journalists in Havana, that the conference will serve as an opportunity for Cuba to brief Ibero American justice ministers on the island's results in the field and on Cuba's reality. The Cuban official said that although Cuba's court process is fast compared to other countries, the island still needs to work hard to improve its legal system. Sotolongo added that in Cuba there is little corruption, since corruption is the consequence of capitalism, which cannot function without it. *STAMPS DEPICTING CUBAN MARINE LIFE ISSUED ON WORLD TOURISM DAY Havana, September 28 (RHC)-A special cancellation of five stamps dedicated to Cuban Marine Life was issued on Wednesday at Havana's Hemingway Marina on the occasion of World Tourism Day. Deputy Tourism Minister, Marta Maiz, praised the island's rapidly growing tourism industry, which she said is capable of confronting the policy of globalization governing today's world. Viewpoint *WATER SHORTAGES: A GROWING CHALLENGE FOR CUBA AND THE WORLD Water shortage has become one of the world's greatest problems, affecting mainly Third World nations. It is estimated that a billion people living in underdeveloped countries live without access to running water in their homes. Others dwell in regions chastised by protracted draughts, or are affected by shrinking reservoirs or the absence of aqueduct water delivery infrastructures. Water shortage has been among the main causes of waves of migrations, like those currently reported in Africa and other Third World regions. A small island, Cuba lacks large water resources; it has no big rivers or natural reservoirs, and is often affected by draught. Those are the principal reasons for the low output of various crops destined to feed human beings and animals. At this time, national industry is suffering from the same phenomena. In order to face the challenge, the Cuban Government launched a program several year ago, to build a series of dams, which have not only aided agricultural irrigation, but have also led to the construction of aqueducts and mini aqueducts nationwide which bring running water to the most remote areas, including mountainous regions. Hundreds of communities that had no supply of water or electricity, are now hooked up to new structures and are kept up to date on national and international events through the availability of radio, television and telephone services. Cuba has experienced hard times as a result of the so-called "special period" economic crisis, thrust upon the island by the demise of Socialism in Eastern Europe, and the reinforcement of Washington's decades old blockade. The difficult situation,however, has not been an obstacle to the government's fulfillment of its commitment to bring fresh water to all corners of the island. Currently 95% of Cuba enjoys daily water supply. That could never have been achieved without the political commitment of the island's authorities to meet the needs of the people. The same can be said for other primary services like healthcare, education and social security, all of which have been maintained and even upgraded under the most difficult circumstances. Everyone agrees that water shortage is an international problem . But solving it requires much more than just acknowleging that it is so; it requires political will combined with concrete actions. (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-21302 2000-Oct-02 11:17:40