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From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2000 7:59 AM
Subject: [CubaNews] Radio Havana Cuba-15 November 2000
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 15 November 2000
.
*FIDEL CASTRO THANKS 4000 SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS GATHERED IN HAVANA
*MAYORAL AND CITY OFFICIALS MEETING GETS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA
*REDUCED POLLUTION IN CUBA'S WATER RESERVES
*THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREFIGHTERS BEGINS IN HAVANA
*Viewpoint: REFORM LONG OVERDUE IN THE UNITED NATIONS
.
*FIDEL CASTRO THANKS 4000 SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS GATHERED IN HAVANA
Havana, November 15 (RHC) -- On behalf of the Cuban people, President Fidel
Castro Tuesday evening thanked the more than 4000 solidarity activists from
close to 120 countries who gathered in Havana for the Second World
Solidarity Meeting. Delivering the closing speech at the event, the Cuban
leader said their support helped the island survive the collapse of European
communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
President Castro said Cuba has the modest merit of having resisted, and that
this merit has enhanced and elevated that enthusiasm and confidence of those
who remained alongside the island during the difficult times in which most
thought Cuba would capitulate. He said those in western nations who tried to
advise Cuba concerning what it should to do to survive are the same who
advised the Soviet Union before its disintegration.
In a 5-hour speech that lasted into the early morning hours of Wednesday,
Fidel Castro spoke of the dramatic situation in Latin America -- whose 478
billion dollar unpayable and uncollectable foreign debt in 1992 rose to 749
and a half billion today. He said that between 1992 and 1999, the region
unpocketed 913 billion dollars in foreign debt interest payments.
The Second World Solidarity With Cuba Conference issued a final declaration
stating that Cuba is the victim of a cruel and undeclared war by Washington,
and that the U.S. blockade of Cuba lacks political, historical or moral
justification. Participants at the event asserted that they had found in
Cuba a society of peace and respect for fundamental human rights -- very
different from the distorted and disinformed image of the island promoted by
the enemies of the Cuban Revolution.
The final declaration insists that the Cuban people have the unquestionable
right to build their own social, political and economic model of
development, to decide its future with foreign interference, threats and
aggressions and to defend its sovereignty and independence. Participants
agreed to declare 2001 the Year of International Solidarity Against the
Blockade and the U.S.'s Cuban Adjustment Act.
They said that next year they will organize a weeklong, worldwide solidarity
with Cuba campaign to pay homage to the 40th anniversary of the declaration
of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution. Cuban President Fidel
Castro convened the Third Solidarity With Cuba Conference for November,
2002.
*MAYORAL AND CITY OFFICIALS MEETING GETS UNDERWAY IN HAVANA
Havana, November 15 (RHC)-- The 8th Mayors and City Officials Meeting on
Cooperation and Solidarity with Havana held it's plenary session on
Wednesday in the Cuban capital.
Nearly 500 delegates from 18 Latin American, Caribbean and European nations--
including representatives from the United States and Canada -- gathered
in Havana to review the most recent achievements of bilateral cooperation
relations between their city halls and the Cuban capital.
The event, which takes place in the context of celebrations for the 481st
birthday of Havana, was officially opened by the President of Havana's
Provincial Assembly of People's Power, Conrado Martinez Corona. Havana's
mayor briefed delegates on the goals reached by the country's capital city
over the past year in several social and economic fields. Martinez Corona
said that Havana is experiencing a steady economic recovery, which is part
of the island's general development process present in all areas. The mayor
of Havana offered participants his gratitude for their permanent assistance
and cooperation over the past seven years. Prior to the plenary session,
delegates to the 8th Mayors and City Officials Meeting in Solidarity with
Havana toured various places of economic and social interest.
*REDUCED POLLUTION IN CUBA'S WATER RESERVES
Havana, November 15 (RHC)-- Pollution in eight Cuban water basins has been
reduced by ten percent during the current year, thanks to the Cuban
government's efforts to preserve the ecosystem.
The National Secretary of Water Basins, Jorge Mario Garcia Fernandez, told
reporters that 60 percent of what the country earmarks for the protection of
the environment is used in these eight basins. He said that, so far,
encouraging results have been achieved, especially in the Cauto Basin, where
the pollution was stopped. In Cauto Basin, where over ten percent of the
Cuban population is settled, a program has been carried out to protect the
area, with the increase of more than 100 fruit plantations. Pollution has
been reduced by seven percent on the outskirts of the basins and according
to experts, a better use of residuals has been observed and many treatment
systems have been built and rehabilitated.
Garcia Fernandez stated that there still are more than 2000 sources of
contamination on the island, pointing out that it is necessary to work hard
in order to eliminate or lessen its impact on the environment. He mentioned,
for example, that Havana Bay is one of the most deteriorating of the
country.
There is a well-designed program of environmental education to carry out in
each of the eight national basins with the aim of allowing people to help
take care of the environment.
*THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF FIREFIGHTERS BEGINS IN HAVANA
Havana, November 15 (RHC)-- Experiences in the area of coordinating fire and
rescue services was one of the main issues that opened the Third
International Conference of Firefighters, hosted by the Frank Pais Cuban
Orthopedic Complex.
Saving time and saving lives and resources continues to be the key
objectives within firefighters' activities throughout the world, even more
so during the era of informatics and communications, which have contributed
to achieve the highest level of efficiency in this field.
The results attained in the Canary Islands was, this time, a reference point
of the speech delivered by the General Director of Security and Emergency
Services of the Spanish region, Jose Julian Insturitz Perez, who told of his
experiences in the vital services that firefighters and health personnel
offer.
During the opening of the event, Cuban Fire Chief Bienvenido Rafoso stressed
the importance of this professional exchange as a way to know more and learn
from the work of others.
Viewpoint:
*REFORM LONG OVERDUE IN THE UNITED NATIONS
The United States has always claimed to be the principal promoter of the
United Nations, and insisted that U.N. headquarters be placed in U.S.
territory.
Since none of the world's major powers -- including Washington -- wanted to
submit to U.N. authority, they created the veto power. This protects their
interests by defending the powerful minority from majority rule -- something
considered sacred in any type of democratic organization. This means that if
the majority makes a decision that just one of the powerful members doesn't
like, that single country can roll over the will of more than a hundred
nations.
If the United Nations was conceived with the idea that it was to be a
democratic organization to oversee international relations and that
decisions would be made by all members, then the goal has only been
partially achieved.
The United States, for example, has only been concerned with the U.N. when
it has served its global interests. During the Korean War it was the U.S.
Army -- which was smaller than other contingents -- that directed operations
under the banner of the United Nations. Washington would have liked to have
done the same in Vietnam, but the war was so obviously unjust and unpopular
they were unable to force through the necessary consensus.
There have been many other occasions when the United Nations has been used
to further Washington's interests, as in the case of the Congo in the
l970's, when the leader of that country, Patrice Lumumba was murdered; the
invasions of Santo Domingo and Panama; and, most recently, the criminal NATO
bombings of Yugoslavia. Nor has the U.N. been able to do anything
substantial to halt Israeli aggression in the Middle East.
This situation of international relations demands total reform of the United
Nations if it is ever to be a truly democratic institution. The U.N.'s most
powerful organ must be the General Assembly which gathers all member
nations; and the Security Council should intervene only in emergency
situations and with the obligation to respond to the General Assembly. The
existence and functioning of the United Nations is incompatible with a world
submitted to the authority of a single power sitting on top of a mountain of
nuclear weapons.
(c) 2000 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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