>Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 11:48:01 -0400 >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-01 October 2000 > >Radio Havana Cuba-01 October 2000 > >Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 01 October 2000 > > >*CUBA IMPROVES ITS ATLANTA 96 OLYMPIC PERFORMANCE > >*FIDEL WELCOMES FIRST GROUP OF RETURNING ATHLETES > >*CUBAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH HIS IRANIAN COUNTERPART > >*MORE THAN 25,000 CUBANS RALLY IN NUEVITAS TO PROTEST US ANTI-CUBA POLICY > >*PRESIDENT OF MEXICO'S LABOR PARTY CONTINUES VISIT TO CUBA > >*INAUGURATION OF EXPERIMENTAL CHAIR OF IMPROVISED POETRY > >*INTERNATIONAL BALLET FESTIVAL WILL OPEN OCTOBER 20TH > >*NEW VARIETY OF TOBACCO TO BE CULTIVATED IN CUBA > >*Viewpoint: PRESIDENTS OF CUBA'S MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLIES GATHER IN HAVANA > > >*CUBA IMPROVES ITS ATLANTA 96 OLYMPIC PERFORMANCE > >Sydney, September 30 (RHC)-- With 11 gold and a total of 24 medals, Cuba has >already surpassed its Atlanta performance in the Sydney games. > >Saturday was one of the best days for the island with its athletes winning >five gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The Cuban women's volleyball >team repeated its Olympic supremacy for the third consecutive time, while >the four Cuban boxers who climbed into the ring defeated their opponents for >the gold. > >Legendary Felix Savon, in the 91-kilo division, took his third Olympic >title, matching the historic performances of Hungarian Lazlo Papp and Cuba's >Teofilo Stevenson. > >For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, Cuban canoe experts >reached the finals and won medals. Ledis Frank Balceiro in C-1 took silver, >while in C-2, also over 1000 meters, Ibrahim Rojas and Lebaldo Pereira >entered second. > >In track and field, Osleidys Menendez got bronze in women's Javelin throw >with 66.18 meters, while in the men's 4 by 100 meter relay, Cuba entered >third with a time of 38.04 seconds. > >Cuba's women's relay team, in the 4 by 400 meter, came in last. The United >States was first, followed by Jamaica and Russia. In 4 by 100 meters, the >Bahamas crossed the finish line first with a time of 41.95 seconds. > >Today, Cuba still has chances for some medals in canoe and free style >wrestling. The island is currently ranked 8 in the general medal standing >with 11-10-5. The United States is up front with 38 gold. Russia is second >with 28, China third and Australia is in fourth place. > > >*FIDEL WELCOMES FIRST GROUP OF RETURNING ATHLETES > >Havana, September 30 (RHC)-On Friday, Cuban President, Fidel Castro, >welcomed home the first group of returning athletes and trainers from the >Sydney Olympics. > >Relatives, friends and local residents crowded Havana's Jose Marti >International Airport to greet the Cuban athletes after their impressive >performance in Sydney. > >The Cuban President told the young athletes that they had won the love of >the world. The international press, said Fidel Castro, is praising the >performance of the Cuban delegation. > >He underscored the importance of working to insure that Olympic >participation must be a right for Third World countries; not just for the >developed nations. > >After condemning the commercialization of the games, the Cuban leader said >that he hoped that some day, athletes from Kenya, Korea, Nigeria, Ethiopia >and even Cuba, would not be competing for European countries, but rather for >their own. > >Speaking to the first group of the 240 Cuban athletes to have arrived in >Havana, Cuban President Fidel Castro said that knowing how complicated the >world of sports has become, the quality of sports in Cuba must be improved >while continuing to support sports programs in Third World nations. > >He added that the Australian people expressed admiration for the high >quality of the Cuban sports delegation even though Cuba is a country, which >has been blockaded by Washington for nearly 40 years. > > >*CUBAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH HIS IRANIAN COUNTERPART > >Havana, September 30 (RHC)-On Saturday Cuban President, Fidel Castro, >received Iranian President Mohammed Jatami in Havana. The Iranian leader is >in Cuba on an official visit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties. > >President Jatami will be awarded Cuba's highest distinction, the 'Jose Marti >Order." > >The Iranian President is heading a large delegation, which includes the >Foreign Minister, as well as the Ministers of Agriculture, Oil, Economy and >Finances. > >Before his arrival in Havana, Iranian President Mohammed Jatami participated >in the 2nd Summit of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries, which was >held in Caracas, Venezuela. > > >*MORE THAN 25,000 CUBANS RALLY IN NUEVITAS TO PROTEST US ANTI-CUBA POLICY > >Nuevitas, September 30 (RHC)--Over 25 thousand Cubans participated Saturday >morning in a rally in the eastern city of Nuevitas, to protest Washington's >Cuban Adjustment Act and its economic war against the island. > >Participating were Cuban Defense Minister, Raul Castro, who was accompanied >by Comandantes of the Revolution Juan Almeida, Ramiro Valdes, and Guillermo >Garcia, and other Cuban leaders. > >Speakers at the rally characterized the Cuban Adjustment Law -in force in >the United States since 1962- as criminal, charging that it encourages >dangerous, illegal migration from the island, and is a violation of >migratory agreements signed by the United States and Cuba in 1994 and 1995. > >Havana maintains that many lives have been lost as Cubans attempt to cross >the shark infested waters of the Florida Straights that separate the island >and the United States. > >Cuba has pledged to continue the battle against the Adjustment Act and the >US blockade which, according to official statistics, has caused the island >over 70 billion dollars in economic loses. > > >*PRESIDENT OF MEXICO'S LABOR PARTY CONTINUES VISIT TO CUBA > >Havana, September 30th (RHC)-- Cuban Communist Party official, Jose Ramon >Balaguer welcomed on Friday in Havana, the president of Mexico's Labor >Party, Alberto Anaya Gutierrez. The Mexican politician was invited by the >Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party. The distinguished visitor >had words of praised for the main ceremony commemorating the 40th >anniversary of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, and >especially for the speech given there by Cuban President, Fidel Castro. > >Earlier, the president of the Mexico's Labor Party had met with the >President of the Cuba's Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon. > > >*INAUGURATION OF EXPERIMENTAL CHAIR OF IMPROVISED POETRY > >Havana, September 30th (RHC)-- Cuban President, Fidel Castro, participated >in the inauguration of the Experimental Chair of Improvised Poetry that will >be hosted by the Havana's Higher Institute of Art. > >After presenting diplomas to a group of outstanding young Cuban artists, the >Cuban leader underscored the role of local improvisers of the Cuban "decima >compesina " improvised song, in the island's stubble for the return to Cuba >of six year old Elian Gonzalez, who was kidnapped in Miami. > >The new Experimental Improvised Poetry Academy will be sponsored by the >Higher Institute of Arts and the recently inaugurated Iberoamerican Center >of the Decima- which is a ten syllable improvised verse, in which important >news of the day as well as local gossip, is disseminated through song. The >activity began with a master conference on the development of the Decima in >Cuba, given by master improviser, Alexis Diaz Pimienta. > > >*INTERNATIONAL BALLET FESTIVAL WILL OPEN OCTOBER 20TH > >Havana, September 30 (RHC)--Ballet lovers in Cuba and around the world are >eagerly awaiting October 20, the opening of the island's l7th International >Ballet Festival. The 9-day ballet extravaganza, titled "Choreographers of >the Twenty Century," will feature world famous ballet companies and dancers >from around the world as well as the island's acclaimed National Ballet >Company. > >Havana, will be the main site, with performances in the ornate Garcia Lorca >Hall of the majestic Gran Teatro. Other theaters will be the Teatro Mella >and the Teatro Nacional. Performances will also be held in the provincial >cities of Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Guira de Melena. > >Among the many invited guests are Julie Kent and Angel Corella, top dancers >in New York's American Ballet Theater, Argentinean, Inaki Urtezaga, Italy's >Carla Fracci, Argentinean Paloma Herrera of the American Ballet Theater, >Belgian, Nicolas Musin, Luigi Bonino and Fernanda Diniz of Brazil, American >Amanda Mckerrow and the Washington DC Ballet Company. Other countries >participating will be Hungary, Australia, Japan, China and Canada. > >Among the full-length ballets will be a joint production of Swan Lake >mounted by the Cuban National Ballet and the Valencia Community. The ballet, >Don Quijote will also be a offered will rotating principal dancer of >international and Cuban acclaim. > >Among the most anticipated pieces will be Ballo Della Regina, by George >Balanchine, choreographed by legendary Balanchine dancer, Merryll Ashley. > > >*NEW VARIETY OF TOBACCO TO BE CULTIVATED IN CUBA > >Havana, September 30 (RHC)--Sancti-Spiritus '96 -a new, highly productive >variety of tobacco- will soon be cultivated in Cuban plantations, after a >period of successful trials in the central provinces of Villa Clara, >Cienfuegos and Sancti-Spiritus. > >The new tobacco -extremly resistant to blue mold and mosaic among other >diseases- will now be plant in other regions where the aromatic leaf has >been traditionally cultivated. > >Sancti-Spiritus -located 380 kilometers from Havana- is, after western Pinar >del Rio province, the second largest tobacco producing area on the island. > >The new variety of tobacco was developed in the Tobacco Experimental Station >at Cabaiguan, a municipality of Sancti-Spiritus province. Tobacco is among >Cuba's most important exports. In 1999, Cuba sold 150 million cigars, and >some 10,000 tons of tobacco and there are plans to sell 160 million "puros" >to France and Spain -Cuba's main markets- this year. > > >*Viewpoint: PRESIDENTS OF CUBA'S MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLIES GATHER IN HAVANA > >In Cuba, the job of president of a Municipal Assembly of People's Power, is >comparable to that of a mayor in municipalities and cities anywhere else in >the world. They are the elected officials most closely tied to the grass >roots; with the most first hand knowledge of people's needs. The presidents >of municipal assemblies in Cuba are elected through direct, secret vote, >and,unlike mayors in other countries, they are mandated to keep in touch >with their constituents practically on a daily basis. > >Members of Cuban Municipal Assemblies, also known as People's Power >delegates, are common citizens who are nominated by their neighbors. No >campaigning is allowed. Voters learn about the candidates through simple >biographies posted in highly frequented places, like markets, schools, and >stores. > >The executive Secretary of Cuba's Council of Ministers, Carlos Lage Davila, >met this week with the presidents of the island's 169 municipal assemblies. >The meeting was called to take a close look at the main problems currently >affecting Cubans and the course of efforts underway to achieve economic >recovery. Despite adverse conditions, the Cuban economy has grown steadily, >without losing the social gains achieved since the 1959. > >During the meeting, participants confirmed the gradual improvement of >people's living conditions amidst the current economic crisis. They also >noted progress in the areas of food, education, public health, construction >and energy and a 7% growth in the Gross Domestic Product, reported for the >year's first semester. > >The leaders of the island's municipalities have returned home better >prepared for the tasks ahead and committed to working for the improvement of >the well-being of the Cuban people. > >(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-10.02.00-11:47:42-6635 > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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