>Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 00:22:23 -0400 >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-27 September 2000 23:30 >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. 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: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >================================================================= > >nytcari-09.28.00-00:22:03-18430 > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
