>Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 14 July 2000 22:00 > > >*EARLY U.S AGGRESSION AGAINST REVOLUTIONARY CUBA >*NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF UPEC REVIEWS WORK OF CUBAN JOURNALISTS >*VOLUNTARY DONORS PROVIDE 100 PERCENT OF BLOOD USED IN TRANSFUSIONS >*VARADERO HOSTS CONGRESS ON TOURISM PUBLICATIONS >*CUBA-NIGERIA INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION CONCLUDES TALKS >*METANICA 2000 FAIR OPENS JULY 18 IN HAVANA >*Viewpoint: WASHINGTON'S ECONOMIC WAR ON CUBA DOOMED TO FAILURE > > >*EARLY U.S AGGRESSION AGAINST REVOLUTIONARY CUBA > >Havana, July 14 (RHC)--Friday's ongoing roundtable series on Cuban TV opened >by defining the time frame and motives for U.S. economic sanctions against >Cuba. It was pointed out that U.S. hostilities towards the Cuban Revolution >began during the war for national liberation between 1956 and 1959. > >U.S. support for the Batista dictatorship in the form of financial aid, >arms, and logistical support in its war against the Cuban people - resulting >in massive human rights abuses -indicated opposition to Cuban independence >from the outset. Even as the revolutionary military victory was secured in >the final months of 1958, the U.S. attempted to organize a coup among >reactionary elements of the Cuban military in order to stymie a popular >seizure of state power. Panelists noted that, in light of the fact that >neither the coup plot nor an effort to buy off the revolutionary leadership >succeeded, a U.S. blockade of the island was inevitable. Moreover, in the >coming months after the revolutionary triumph, even before Cuba defined the >socialist character of its revolution and before it had established >relations with the former USSR, the U.S. war against the island was on. > >The roundtable stated that as early as January of 1959, plans to reduce the >Cuban sugar quota were already being debated in the US Congress, with >Washington later filing official protests against the Agrarian Reform Act >and selective nationalizations of the sugar sector and telephone company. >The panel concluded that, given the pattern of U.S. hostility towards Cuba >before communism had even become an issue of contention, what the U.S. was >really opposed to was Cuban independence and national sovereignty - a >novelty in what it considered to be its own back yard. > >*NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF UPEC REVIEWS WORK OF CUBAN JOURNALISTS > >Havana, July 14(RHC)-- The National Committee of the Association of Cuban >Journalists -UPEC- met on Friday to review the organization's work over the >past nine months. The meeting was scheduled to prepare for UPEC's 3rd >Special Plenary Session, to be held this weekend at Havana's International >Convention Center. > >During Friday's meeting, some 40 Cuban journalists, making up UPEC's >National Committee, debated and approved a report presented by the >organization's leadership on professional self-improvement in the field of >journalism, as well as the island's advances in the sector. > >Outstanding features of UPEC's work over the last nine months, to be debated >during this weekend's special plenary session, include the active >participation of Cuban journalists in the battle of ideas for the return of >six-year-old Elian Gonzalez and an end to Washington's aggressive policies >toward Cuba. > >*VOLUNTARY DONORS PROVIDE 100 PERCENT OF BLOOD USED IN TRANSFUSIONS > >Havana, July 14(RHC)-- Cuba is among the very limited number of nations in >the Western Hemisphere where 100 percent of the blood used in transfusions >comes from voluntary donors, according to Jose Manuel Ballester, Director of >the Cuban Institute of Hematology and Immunology. > >Ballester explained that blood used in all of the 31 hematology and >immunolgy services, provided on the island, is thoroughly examined to detect >any possible contamination of infectious diseases such as the HIV virus, >hepatitis B and C, and syphilis. > >The island's health centers receive and examine nearly 600,000 blood >donations a year, allowing Cuban hospitals to conduct nearly half a million >blood transfusions annually. > >*VARADERO HOSTS CONGRESS ON TOURISM PUBLICATIONS > >Havana, July 14(RHC)-- The world famous Varadero beach resort, in the >central Cuban province of Matanzas, will be the site of the 23rd Congress of >the American Federation of Tourism Publications, set for October 3rd through >the 6th. > >The encounter will gather some 200 journalists from Latin America and >Europe. Top on the meeting's agenda is the designation of a new Executive >Board and a new General Assembly. Participants will debate issues related to >different aspects of the tourism industry in Cuba. > >The Congress of the American Federation of Tourism Publications is organized >by the National Association of Cuban Journalists -UPEC-the Tourism Press >Center and the Cuban Tourism Ministry. > >*CUBA-NIGERIA INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION CONCLUDES TALKS > >Havana, July 14(RHC)-- The 2nd Meeting of the Cuba-Nigeria Intergovernmental >Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation >concluded on Thursday in Havana. > >The meeting was`presided over by Cuba's Minister for Foreign Investment and >Economic Cooperation, Marta Lomas, and Nigerian Foreign Minister Dubem >Onyia. > >During the three-day encounter both officials expressed their hopes to >expand cooperation in areas such as health, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, >research, the sugar industry and sports. > >There are currently teams of Cuban health professionals offering their >services in Nigeria, as part of a cooperation program implemented by the >island's authorities to help create integral health care systems throughout >the Third World. > >Cuban Foreign Trade Minister, Raul de la Nuez, pointed to the determination >of the Cuban and Nigerian governments to expand and strengthen bilateral >ties. > >*METANICA 2000 FAIR OPENS JULY 18 IN HAVANA > >Havana, July 14(RHC)-- The 6th International Metanica'2000 Fair will be held >July 18th through the 22nd at Havana's PABEXPO Exhibition Pavilion. > >On hand at the event will be representatives of firms from some 30 nations. > >The encounter will serve as a unique opportunity to promote Cuba's advances >in areas such as metallics and the machinery industry. > > >*Viewpoint: WASHINGTON'S ECONOMIC WAR ON CUBA DOOMED TO FAILURE > >The heroic resistance of the Cuban people, their strong national unity and >their determination to fight against all difficulties are the main factors >that have contributed to the preservation of the island's national >sovereignty and independence. Despite predictions of Cuba's economic >collapse by the enemies of the Revolution, we're still here! > >For more than 40 years, Cuba has resisted the aggressions of the world's >only economic, military and political superpower, which is constantly >working to destroy this country and, along with it, one of Latin America's >most important social projects. The worst of all these aggressions is the >genocidal economic blockade, which attempts to force the Cuban people into >submission by using hunger and disease. > >Cuba's unprecedented struggle to preserve its sovereignty has not only >allowed the nation to survive, but has also given rise to social and >economic growth, not to mention gaining international prestige. > >Among the most important measures taken by the Cuban government to readjust >its economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union and socialist Europe was >opening the economy to foreign investments, made in association with the >Cuban state and with guarantees of shared profit. > >In spite of Washington's aggressive and extraterritorial laws against Cuba, >foreign investment on the island has reached over 4 billion dollars. >Currently, there are 390 associations, joint ventures and other forms of >economic relations between Cuban and foreign companies. Interestingly, >nearly 60% of these joint ventures were established after the Helms-Burton >Law was approved in 1996. > >If the blockade is lifted and relations are normalized between Havana and >Washington, many U.S. companies would be able to make profitable investments >on the island. They could sell their products on the Cuban market with the >same security and guarantees offered to the European, Asian and Latin >American firms doing business here. > >Foreign, non-U.S. companies with investments on the Caribbean island have >also faced restrictions imposed by the economic blockade. However, they have >obtained good profits from their businesses, continuing and even expanding >their operations. > >The blockade is affecting the interests of some major economic players in >the United States, such as the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries. >This situation has led to the introduction in Congress of several >initiatives to lift the ban on food and medicine sales to Havana. These >projects have been well received in the Senate, but have met some obstacles >in the House of Representatives due to manipulations of anti-Cuba, >ultra-right wing groups that promote a hostile policy toward the island. > >The most recent example is the amendment introduced by Republican >Representative George Nethercutt, allowing the sale of food and medicine to >Cuba. However, right wing representatives in the House have managed to stop >debate before it gets to a plenary session, where they no longer have a >majority that supports their anti-Cuba maneuvers. > >No matter what happens on Capitol Hill, the Cuban people are well aware that >this is only the latest episode in the continuing saga of Washington's >economic war against Cuba -- a policy doomed to failure. > >(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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