> >Radio Havana Cuba-06 September 2000 22:00 > >Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 06 September 2000 22:00 > > >*FIDEL CASTRO CALLS FOR RADICAL REFORMS IN THE UNITED NATIONS > >*DELEGATION OF PARLIAMENTARIANS VISITING CUBA FROM MALI > >*IBERO-AMERICAN MEETING ON PHARMACEUTICAL QUALITY CONTROL > >*CUBAN SCIENTISTS SEARCH FOR NEW SPECIES OF WOODPECKERS > >*IBERO-AMERICAN SONG FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE IN HAVANA > >*CUBAN BASEBALL TEAM GETS READY FOR SYDNEY OLYMPICS > >*CUBAN ROWERS ARRIVE IN SYDNEY FOR THE GAMES > >*THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT: A NEW HOPE FOR CHANGE > > > >*FIDEL CASTRO CALLS FOR RADICAL REFORMS IN THE UNITED NATIONS > >New York, September 6 (RHC)-- Calling for an end to the unequal distribution >of wealth and the urgent need for radical reforms in the United Nations, >Cuban President Fidel Castro delivered a hard-hitting speech at the >Millennium Summit on Wednesday. The leader of the Cuban Revolution >addressed more than 160 heads of state and government at the summit, which >got underway Wednesday morning in New York City. > >Stating that Cuba will never accept the rule of one hegemonic power in the >world, Fidel Castro lashed out at the main causes of current conflicts - >namely poverty and underdevelopment. The Cuban leader stated that the >current state of affairs in the vast majority of world is the result of >conquest, colonization, slavery and plunder by colonial powers. He also >condemned what he called the bloody wars fought to carve up the world >according to imperialist powers. > >Cuban President Fidel Castro told the Millennium Summit that the former >colonial powers have the moral obligation of indemnifying the Third World >for the damage they have inflicted over the centuries. And he condemned the >squandering of vital, non-renewable resources, wasted on luxury and vanity >-- while millions are threatened with extinction, many suffering from >curable diseases. > >In his six-minute speech before the United Nations-sponsored summit, the >Cuban leader called for radical reforms of the world body, calling it an >antiquated institution that must be transformed into an organization that >truly represents the interests of all the peoples of the world. Fidel >Castro emphasized that the UN Security Council must be subordinated to the >General Assembly -- stressing that the anti-democratic veto right, held by a >small group of rich industrialized nations, must be eliminated. > >International media were quick to react to the Cuban president's speech. >Agencia France Press, AFP, the Italian News Agency, ANSA, and the Spanish >News Agency, EFE, all carried stories on the reaction to Fidel Castro's >words -- noting that the speech received long, sustained applause by the >participants at the Millennium Summit. In a cable released shortly after >the Cuban leader finished his speech, ANSA reported that Fidel Castro is the >only world leader to depart from the diplomatic niceties and deliver a >strong critique of the United Nations. > > >*DELEGATION OF PARLIAMENTARIANS VISITING CUBA FROM MALI > >Havana, September 6 (RHC)-- Cuban Communist Party leader Jose Ramon Balaguer >has met with the President of Mali's Parliament, Ali Nojum Dialo, and his >delegation. > >The African legislator thanked the Cuban people for their solidarity and >expressed interest in the further development of bilateral cooperation. > >The Mali lawmakers met with Cuban parliamentarians and visited the Cuban >Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, ICAP. > > >*IBERO-AMERICAN MEETING ON PHARMACEUTICAL QUALITY CONTROL > >Havana, September 6 (RHC)-- A Cuban medical delegation will participate in >the 4th Ibero-American Meeting of Medicine Quality Controllers scheduled to >begin on Friday in San Jose, Costa Rica. > >Cuban Health Ministry official, Rafael Perez Cristia, pointed out the need >to guarantee controls on the quality of medicine and its use, announcing >that Cuba will propose a protocol for the control of its medicines in >Ibero-America and for the control of Ibero-American medicines in Cuba. > >The Cuban health expert explained that the objective of the upcoming event >is to strengthen pharmaceutical regulation in all countries. > > >*CUBAN SCIENTISTS SEARCH FOR NEW SPECIES OF WOODPECKERS > >Havana, September 6 (RHC)-- An expedition of Cuban scientists will travel to >the eastern provinces of Guantanamo and Holguin to search for the Royal >Woodpecker which is in danger of extinction. The last time the woodpecker >was seen in the area was in 1986. > >A local radio station said that the bird is the most colorful woodpecker in >the region. The Royal Woodpecker has disappeared from Mexico and the United >States and it is believed that some species can still be found in the >eastern mountains of Cuba. > >The Cuban experts who are from the Ecology Institute of the Ministry of >Science, Technology and the Environment, will include the region of Cupeyal >del Norte in eastern Guantanamo as part of theirresearch. > >Cupeyal del Norte is considered to be one of the country's best conserved >nature areas and with a large number of endemic flora and fauna found in the >Alexander Von Humboldt National Park. > >Four similar expeditions have led to the discovery of various new species of >woodpecker, which were once thought to have disappeared. > > >*IBERO-AMERICAN SONG FESTIVAL TO TAKE PLACE IN HAVANA > >Havana, September 6 (RHC)-- Two internationally-known Cuban cultural >institutions are sponsoring an exciting song festival this month in the >Cuban capitol. From September 11th through the 16th, Havana's Casa de las >Americas cultural institution -- which promotes exchange among Latin >American nations -- and the Song for All Center, directed by Cuban folk >singer and songwriter Vicente Feliu, will offer the Ibero-American Song >Festival. > >The event will gather folk song writers, performers and singers from twelve >Ibero-American countries under the title of "Un Canto Para Todos" or "A Song >for All." The week will be dedicated to concerts, recitals, workshops and >jam sessions at Casa de Las Americas in downtown Havana and at the Pablo de >la Torriente Brau Foundation Center in Old Havana. > >Special performances will be given for students at the Latin American School >of Medicine and to children in Havana's Cancer Institute and for Aids >patients and workers of the AIDS sanatorium in Santiago de las Vegas, >located on the outskirts of Havana. > >The Ibero-American Song Festival will be a place for folk music artists on >the continent to meet and exchange their experience in this musical style >that has prevailed throughout Ibero-America. > > >*CUBAN BASEBALL TEAM GETS READY FOR SYDNEY OLYMPICS > >Sydney, September 6 (RHC)-- The Cuban Olympic baseball team will be directed >by Sergio Borges, a current National Baseball Federation official and a long >time team headcoach with ample international experience. Cuba will be >looking for its third consecutive Olympic title in baseball in Sydney. It >was also announced that the first cut in the national draft list will be >released September 12th and the final official team will definitely be >announced by the inaugural day of the games, September 15th. > >Cuban baseball players spent time training in Japan and are currently in >excellent shape. This is the first time professional players will be on >hand for the Olympics and Cuba has a big challenge ahead. However, Cuban >players have been carrying out extensive training including the national >baseball series which this year has been one of the most exciting and >fruitful of the past four years. > >Another important step taken by baseball federation officials on the island >was the introduction of the wooden bat in the national scenario after a 20 >year absence, to better adjust to international standards. > > >*CUBAN ROWERS ARRIVE IN SYDNEY FOR THE GAMES > >Sydney, September 6 (RHC)-- Cuban rower Mayra Gonzalez has arrived in Sydney >with high hopes to reach the finals at the upcoming competitions to be >taking place in Lake Pernrith, September 17th to the 23rd. Though foreign >specialists do not include her among the six athletes fighting for medals, >Cuban experts are placing their bets on her possibilities. > >The president of the Cuban National Rowing Federation, Norge Marrero and the >athlete herself are very confident about the upcoming results. > >If she manages to adjust to the 15 hour difference, her possibilities would >increase, said Marrero. Cuban rowers will be competing in four disciplines, >three for men and one for women. > >Mayra Gonzalez believes that her main rivals would be world and Olympic >champ Yakaterina Khodotovich from Belarus as well as single experts from >Russia, Germany, Bulgaria and China. > > >Viewpoint > >*THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT: A NEW HOPE FOR CHANGE > >The Millennium Summit, inaugurated on Wednesday at the United Nations, >opened new expectations for changes with regard to international relations >and the possibility of achieving a democratic re-structuring that should >strengthen the world body. > >The vital issues of world interest debated at the Millennium Summit should >serve to establish the positions of each of the states and governments >represented at the event, the results of which will become the program to >face the challenges posed by the 21st century. > >Humanity has arrived at the end of the 20th century with huge and unfair >inequalities between nations, since the progress of a minority has been >built upon the exploitation of the vast majority of the world. That >majority is demanding a larger and more effective participation in >international affairs, for which a truly democratic re-structuring of the >United Nations is needed. The majority also demands the elimination of the >veto in the Security Council, which is currently in the hands of a small >group of dominant powers; a more representative composition of the Council >-- where the main decisions are made; and the re-enforcement of the General >Assembly's supreme authority, given that it has been reduced to a forum that >is merely informed about actions already taken, and lacks real authority in >dealing with world issues. > >The international community's most pressing problems -- such as a more >effective maintenance of peace, the struggle against poverty and its serious >consequences such as ignorance, the lack of health care and social neglect >-- will never be actually resolved if the world continues down the road of >neo-liberal globalization. This economic policy is designed by the world's >richest powers -- especially the United States --to create a new type of >colonialism. That empire hopes to turn the world into a huge farm, ruled by >large economic associations, in which the role of the state, as the >representative of the peoples' true interests, and will increasingly >disappear. > >In order to successfully face the challenges posed by the new millennium, >all nations must enter the 21st century as a powerful united front. Those >nations sitting atop political and economic power cannot continue to act >with impunity, answering to no one. The 189 member-states of the United >Nations need to have their rights protected and guaranteed -- and not allow >the world body to be used as an instrument to benefit a small minority. > >No matter what the final results of the Millennium Summit may be, new >possibilities will be opened for greater social justice, not only among >people, but also between nations. In the final analysis, a rational and >fairer distribution of wealth must be imposed and violence and interference >in the internal affairs of other nations -- which have characterized the end >of this century -- must be completely eliminated. > >(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-09.07.00-02:15:33-20912 > >Post comments to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Send an email to subscribe: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To unsubscribe from this CubaNews group, send an email to: > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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