>Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 23 May 2000 > > > -FIDEL CASTRO RECEIVES VISITING GERMAN FEDERAL MINISTER > -RICARDO ALARCON SAY PRESSURE AGAINST BLOCKADE IS GROWING INSIDE THE USA > -SPANISH BUSINESS DELEGATION ON A VISIT TO CUBA > -NEW COOPERATION PROJECT BETWEEN CUBA AND UNDP > -HEALTH COOPERATION PROGRAM BETWEEN CUBA AND EQUATORIAL GUINEA > -SECOND SEMINAR ON ITALIAN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CULTURE IN HAVANA > -"CUBAVSBLOQUEO.CU," NEW CUBAN WEBSITE, COVERS US BLOCKADE > -Viewpoint: RIGHT WING UP IN ARMS OVER ELIAN'S SCHOOL UNIFORM > > >FIDEL CASTRO RECEIVES VISITING GERMAN FEDERAL MINISTER > >Havana, May 23 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro met Monday evening with >visiting German Federal Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. The German >official, who heads the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, >wrapped up a four-day visit to Cuba on Tuesday. > >During her stay on the island, the German federal minister signed a >bilateral cooperation accord with her Cuban counterpart, Marta Loma, >establishing a 1.5 million dollar project to fight against drought and soil >erosion. The three-year joint Cuban-German program will be carried out in >the western provinces of Granma and Holguin. According to the agreement, >the project could be extended for a total of 12 years and German investment >could reach more than five million dollars. > >Before leaving Havana for Brazil, her next stop on a Latin American tour, >the German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development told >reporters that her visit to Cuba was productive and had special words of >praise for the island's health care and educational systems. She expressed >particular interest in Havana's Latin American School of Medicine. > >The German federal minister stated that her government will continue to work >with Cuban authorities to renegotiate the island's debt, adding that Cuban >businesspeople can count on future credits and investment from Bonn. > > >RICARDO ALARCON SAY PRESSURE AGAINST BLOCKADE IS GROWING INSIDE THE USA > >Havana, May 23 (RHC)-- Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon has >affirmed that there is growing pressure from U.S. public opinion to put an >end to Washington's economic blockade of Cuba. Speaking to activists from >the U.S.-Cuba Sister City Association, meeting here in the Cuban capital, >Alarcon also pointed to the overwhelming sentiment in the U.S. to return >Elian Gonzalez to the island. > >The Cuban Parliament president noted that despite prohibitions on doing >business with Cuba, increasing numbers of U.S. companies have expressed an >interest in trade with Havana. He said that business representatives are >applying maximum pressure on Washington to open the way for them to invest >on the island. > >Ricardo Alarcon also referred to renewed efforts by U.S. congressional >representatives to lift restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to >Cuba, stating that the possibilities for such legislation are now greater >than ever. At the same time, the president of the Cuban Parliament said >that Havana is not overly optimistic, noting that the draft bill could be >sabotaged by right wing forces on Capitol Hill. > >Concerning the case of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez, the president of the >Cuban Parliament condemned the delays and obstacles being placed in the way >of his return. Alarcon stated that after six months of illegal and criminal >actions, Elian's kidnappers are still free, walking the streets of Miami. > > >SPANISH BUSINESS DELEGATION ON A VISIT TO CUBA > >Havana, May 23 (RHC)-- A visiting business mission from Spain began >bilateral contacts with Cuban authorities on Monday, aimed at strengthening >investment and trade relations between the European nation and the Caribbean >island. > >The Spanish mission is made up of business executives from some 25 member >companies of Madrid's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representing sectors >such as the pharmaceutical, food and textile industries, as well as >construction, transportation and tourism. > >Bilateral negotiations are underway between Spanish and Cuban authorities to >open a branch office of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce here in the Cuban >capital. > > >NEW COOPERATION PROJECT BETWEEN CUBA AND UNDP > >Havana, May 23 (RHC)-- A new cooperation project between Cuba and the United >Nations Development Program -UNDP- is to be implemented, beginning in the >year 2001. > >UNDP representative in Cuba German Valdivia stressed that the 4-year program >is aimed at supporting efforts by Cuban authorities to guarantee nutritious >food to the Cuban people, primarily children, pregnant women, the elderly >and the disabled. > >The new program will benefit people in the eastern provinces of Santiago de >Cuba, Holguin, Las Tunas and Granma. > > >HEALTH COOPERATION PROGRAM BETWEEN CUBA AND EQUATORIAL GUINEA > >Havana, May 23 (RHC)-- Cuba will contribute to the creation of a Faculty of >Medical Sciences at the University of Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish >colony that gained its independence in 1968. > >Teams of Cuban health professionals will be sent to the small African nation >to train medical students at the new school of medicine. > >There are currently some 2,600 Cuban health specialists offering their >services, free-of-charge, in 60 nations in Africa, Latin America and the >Caribbean, as part of a cooperation program put in place by Cuban >authorities to help create integral health care systems in Third World >nations. > >The cooperation program also includes scholarships for Third World students >who wish to study medicine in Cuba. > > >HAVANA: SECOND SEMINAR ON ITALIAN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CULTURE > >Havana, May 23 (RHC)-- The Second Seminar on Italian Language, Literature >and Culture kicked off on Tuesday at the University of Havana with the >participation of delegates from Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela and Italy. > >The event promotes advanced training for professionals, as well as >strengthening cooperation ties between Italian language study centers in >Cuba. > > >"CUBAVSBLOQUEO.CU," NEW CUBAN WEBSITE, COVERS US BLOCKADE > >Havana, May 23 (RHC)- A new website has been created by Cuba to provide >information on the economic and political blockade imposed on the island by >the United States for almost four decades. > >The site - whose address is www.cubavsbloqueo.cu - provides a chronological >history of the effects and consequences of the blockade, as well as >legislative texts that enforce it such as the Torricelli and Helms Burton >Laws. > >In a statement to the press, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said that the site >is designed to counter the US government's disinformation on the subject. >www.cubavsbloqueo.cu provides ample documentation of the serious and fatal >nature of Washington's blockade and the international condemnation of its >genocidal objective. > > >Viewpoint: > >RIGHT WING UPSET BY PHOTO OF ELIAN WEARING CUBAN SCHOOL UNIFORM > >Rightwing Cuban-Americans in Miami were up in arms last week over a photo >published by the digital edition of the Cuban newspaper Granma. The image >of Elian Gonzalez, dressed in his Cuban school uniform and wearing a Pioneer >children's organization scarf -- as do all children on the island -- was >just too much for them. Elian Gonzalez is living on an estate on Wye >Plantation near Washington DC, with his father and other family members -- >waiting for the decision of the Atlanta Federal Court of Appeals. Three >judges heard arguments by the boy's kidnappers, asking the court to allow >Elian to have a political asylum hearing, against the wishes of the >six-year-old boy's father. > >In compliance with U.S. law, the Immigration and Naturalization Service >ruled in January that the boy should be sent back to his home, as it has >done in thousands of other cases with children from countries other than >Cuba. The ruling was backed by the White House and the U.S. attorney >general who, after long, drawn-out negotiations with the kidnappers, finally >ordered the removal of Elian from the house where he was being illegally >held. > >Since then, Elian -- now re-united with his father and other close family >members -- is staying on Carmichael Farm, near Washington DC , waiting for a >decision in his case. Since the day Elian was rescued from his kidnappers, >extreme right-wing elements in Miami, without support from the American >people, have unleashed a campaign of incredible lies in the local press -- >attempting to keep the boy in the United States in order to maintain their >lucrative business of anti-Cuba propaganda. They are seeing their profits >crumble before their very eyes, as they increasingly lose favor with U.S. >authorities. These unscrupulous people have revived the worst Cold War >rhetoric, falsely believing that such statements still influence the >American people. > >But people in the United States have begun to wake up and have come out >consistently in favor of returning Elian Gonzalez to Cuba and his family. >Now, The Cuban mafia is trying to create a scandal because the little boy, >who is in Washington in the company of his teacher and several classmates >from his school in Cardenas, Cuba, is using his school uniform and Pioneer >scarf in the United States. > >Those who maintain that the United States is the "Land of Liberty" should >have no reason to oppose how Elian's family chooses to dress him. This >latest issue is just another ridiculous smoke-screen, aimed at confusing the >U.S. public. > >(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba. 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