> >Radio Havana Cuba-04 August 2000 23:00 > Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 04 August 2000 23:00 > >*ACP DELEGATION WRAPS UP OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA >*CUBAN ECONOMY GROWS BY 7.7 PERCENT DURING FIRST SEMESTER 2000 >*CUBA AND NICARAGUA SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT >*GOVERNOR OF BRAZILIAN STATE OF AMAZONAS TO VISIT CUBA >*NEW CHILDREN�S BOOK ON THE ENVIRONMENT ANNOUNCED >*UNDER NEOLIBERALISM, ECONOMIC GROWTH DOESN'T EQUAL SOCIAL WELL-BEING > > >*ACP DELEGATION WRAPS UP OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA > >Havana, August 4 (RHC) -- A high-level delegation of the Group of >African, Caribbean and Pacific nations, the ACP, has wrapped up an >official visit to Cuba. At a press conference in Havana before his >departure, the president of the ACP's Council of Ministers, Anicet- >Georges Deloguele, reiterated his organization's interest in seeing >Cuba as a full ACP member. > >Underlining the importance that this organization of 77 Third World >nations attributes to Cuba's future role in the ACP, Dologuele said >it's the first time that such a high-level delegation has been sent >to a country to hold a political dialogue. As an ACP observer, Cuba >this year withdrew from negotations for a new trade and cooperation >accord between the ACP and the European Union -- terming as >unacceptable the EU's political pressures and conditions regarding >Cuba's full membership in the ACP. > >Dologuele also reiterated the ACP's total solidarity with Cuba, >insisting that this Caribbean nation has an important role to play >withing the organization -- comprised mostly of former European >colonies. > > *CUBAN ECONOMY GROWS BY 7.7 PERCENT DURING FIRST SEMESTER 2000 > >Havana, August 4(RHC)- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage announced >that the Cuban economy has grown by 7.7 percent over the first >semester of this year. > >During an interview aired Thursday evening on Cuban television, Lage >praised efforts by the U.S. Congress to lift a long-standing ban on >the sale of food and medicine to Cuba. > >He described the initiative as "very positive," affirming that >Washington's attempt to starve the Cuban people into submission has >long proven to be completely inefficient and obsolete. However, the >Cuban official stressed that due to restrictions imposed by >Washington's 40-year blockade of Cuba, those efforts will never >materialize as long as the United States maintains an aggressive >policy toward its neighboring Caribbean island. > >Lage, who is also the Executive Secretary of the Cuban Council of >Ministers, mentioned that the main problem affecting Cuba's economic >recovery is the deficit in the island's current account. He added >that due to a hike in world oil prices, Cuba has been forced to spend >some $500 million dollars in excess of the same period of last year. > >The Cuban vice president highlighted that, despite Washington's >blockade, macroeconomic growth has improved the living conditions of >the Cuban people, and cited some figures that confirm a strong and >progressive trend toward economic recovery over the first semester of >this year. Among them is an increase by 18 percent in sugar >production, 32 percent in the production of crude oil and a 6 percent >growth rate in both tourism and foreign investment. > >Finally, Carlos Lage stressed that the island was able to resist the >acute economic crisis in the early 1990s thanks to its central >planning system. He reiterated that the island will continue to >promote joint ventures, using foreign capital, as a complement to >internal efforts towards economic development. > > *CUBA AND NICARAGUA SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT > >Managua, August 4(RHC)- Cuba and Nicaragua have signed a >cooperation agreement to promote bilateral trade between the two >nations. > >The accord was signed in Managua, the Nicaragua capital, by the >General Manager of the country's Exports and Investment Promotion >Center, Jaime Pfaeffle, and Cuban Business Attach� in the Central >American nation, Jesus Subiaur. > >Under the agreement, both countries are committed to the >systematic bilateral exchange of specialized information in areas >such as technology, trade and economy, in a way that facilitates >learning about the functioning and future prospects of their >respective markets. > >The protocol also provides for bilateral cooperation in the training >of skilled personnel in the area of trade and exports, through >their participation in seminars, courses and related activities. > >Nicaragua will be present at the 18th International Trade Fair, FIHAV >2000, set for November here in the Cuban capital. > > *GOVERNOR OF BRAZILIAN STATE OF AMAZONAS TO VISIT CUBA > >Havana, August 4(RHC)- The Governor of the Brazilian state of >Amazonas, Armando Mendez, will begin an official visit to Cuba on >Monday at the invitation of the Cuban Parliament. > >The Brazilian official and the delegation accompanying him, composed >of members of his cabinet and other renowned Brazilian personalities, >will have a packed agenda on the island that includes the signing of >a letter of intention to negotiate with Cuba's LABIOFAM Company - >Havana's Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Laboratories. > >The Brazilian state of Amazonas will receive a 45,000,000-dollar >bid comprised of LABIOFAM products this year, including the world >famous Biorat agent to eliminate rats, as well as other highly >effective bio-larvicides to eliminate mosquitoes. > > *NEW CHILDREN�S BOOK ON THE ENVIRONMENT ANNOUNCED > >Havana, August 4(RHC)- Cuba's Ministry of Science, Technology and >the Environment has announced that a new children's book, >entitled "Environmental Mission," will soon be launched in Havana. > >The book includes illustrations, poems and information on >environmental issues. > >"Environmental Mission" is a children's version of Agenda 21, which >was approved and ratified by Cuba during the June 1992 Earth Summit, >held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. > >The book, which is aimed at fomenting the protection of the >environment among future generations, will soon be available for all >Cuban children. > > *Viewpoint: > >UNDER NEOLIBERALISM, ECONOMIC GROWTH DOESN'T EQUAL SOCIAL WELL-BEING > >The American version of the New Trojan Horse is under the impression >that the economic first amendment is related to an unrestrained and >unbridled marketplace. > >Almost 20 years after the US prescribed the ideal neoliberal formula >for social development, the consequences have discredited the recipe >and have turned predictions of better living conditions for all >upside down. Latin American social statistics have only served to >illustrate the failure of the Chicago School of Economics - commonly >known as the "Chicago Boys" - in affecting economic development. > >It is a well-known fact that, in light of decades of neoliberal >reform, Latin America is currently the region with the most extreme >disparities in social stratification worldwide. This issue, which >has been downplayed by the mass media and economists alike, permeates >Latin American societies like a plague in which social injustice >prevails. > >Poverty has become so overwhelming that economists have created >new categories, such as the former middle and lower classes, to >describe the downward social trends that are devastating the region's >middle and popular sectors. > >In a region of the planet where half of its 500 million inhabitants >are included in the category of abject poverty, there is no >justification for the continuance of the neoliberal model, not even >the mild successes of domestic consumption or the reduction of >inflation which in reality affect a very small percentage of the >region's population. > >It is clearer than ever that growth does not translate into social >well being. On the contrary, unemployment has grown excessively, >while 40 per cent of all Latin Americans suffer from malnutrition. >Consequently, the region has witnessed a reduction in both >childbirths and average school enrollment per family. > >A decade of bourgeois democracy and neoliberal reform, after three >decades of military rule throughout the region, has brought about >unparalleled waves of violence and drug trafficking-two serious >social problems that have shaken the weak foundation of fragile >institutions. > >Neoliberal adjustment, which glorifies free market economics, >capital investment, fiscal balance, competitiveness and privatization >translates into a model of blood, sweat and tears, according to Nobel >Economics laureate Amartya Sen. > >Despite the obvious failures of the neoliberal panorama, the vast >majority of Latin American politicians, now more than ever, dance on >the strings of U.S. mandates. > >Social deterioration and injustice generate discontent and demand >changes. > >(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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