>Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 02:51:12 -0500 >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Radio Havana Cuba-16 Novembre 2000 > >Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit > >Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 16 November 2000 > > . > >*CUBAN INVESTMENTS TO RESTORE OLD HAVANA INCREASE EVERY YEAR > >*CUBA PARTICIPATES IN WORLD POETRY ENCOUNTER IN TOKYO > >*CARLOS LAGE THANKS VISITING MAYORS FOR SUPPORTING CUBA > >*Viewpoint: PUT CHILDREN'S NEEDS FIRST AT PANAMA SUMMIT > > . > >*CUBAN INVESTMENTS TO RESTORE OLD HAVANA INCREASE EVERY YEAR > >Havana, November 16 (RHC)-- Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal reported that >the Cuban government's budget to restore Old Havana has been steadily >growing over the past four decades. Every year, the amount devoted to >refurbish and restore its monuments, streets and other facilities is >actually larger than the previous one, Leal explained. The budget for this >year is the largest ever. > >Leal spoke Wednesday here in Havana during the first day of sessions of the >ongoing international encounter called "Havana 2000 - Design, Culture and >the City." > >Havana's historian noted that the money earmarked to rehabilitate Old Havana >are mainly concentrated in social, community and monument works. Leal added >that it has been necessary to solve some of the pressing needs of Old Havana >residents first, such as more schools -- to then devote the efforts -- >including those Old Havana residents towards aspects of community interest, >cultural works and issues of national interest. Old Havana is a treasure of >Cuba's national patrimony and was declared a World Heritage Site 15 years >ago by the United Nations Educational Social and Cultural Organizatin >(UNESCO). > >Leal mentioned the restoration of three schools in the area, three museums, >Havana's seaside drive and the birthplace of Cuba's National Hero Jose Marti >among the results obtained in this effort. > > >*CUBA PARTICIPATES IN WORLD POETRY ENCOUNTER IN TOKYO > >Havana, November 16 (RHC)-- Cuban writer Jorge Timosi was one of the >Ibero-American writers invited to participate in the Tokyo 2000 World Poetry >Festival, recently held in Japan. Other writers from the area were >Argentinian Jorge Bocannera; Guatemalan Humberto Aklabal; and Spanish >novelist and poet Pedro J. de la Pena. The Festival was sponsored by the >Chausky cultural magazine, the Pajan Association, the Japanese Association >of Poets and the Japanese Club of Poets. Also attending were delegates from >the United States, anada, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, >Slovenia and Bulgaria. > >Timosi, who is president of the Cuban Book Institute, was invited to the >presidency for the inaugural ceremony and delivered a talk on "Aspects of >Current Latin American Poetry." During his stay in Tokyo, the Cuban author >met with members of various publishing houses, among them the 86-year-old >Iwanam Shoten, to expand existing links between Cuban and Japanese literary >institutions. > > >*CARLOS LAGE THANKS VISITING MAYORS FOR SUPPORTING CUBA > >Havana, November 16 (RHC)-- Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage thanked city >halls from numerous countries -- on behalf of the Cuban people and the >island's authorities- for the support given to Cuba throughout the what is >called the Special Period. > >During the closing ceremony of the 8th Meeting of Mayors and City Officials >for Cooperation and Solidarity with Cuba -- attended by some 500 >representatives from 18 nations -- Lage said that those expressions of >friendship are more important than credits and investments. The Cuban vice >president said that this friendship has contributed to building and >repairing homes, and meeting many needs in health care, education, public >services, agriculture and the environment. > >Lage explained how the country has faced over a decade of resistance, in >which Washington's blockade against Cuba has been tightened, and made it >clear that there has been no easing of that blockade, despite the recent >measure announced by President Bill Clinton, related to the sale of food and >medicine to Cuba. > >During the encounter -- held within the framework of celebrations for the >481st anniversary of Havana -- representatives from municipalities, cities >and or regions in Spain, Italy, Mexico, the United States, Argentina, Peru, >El Salvador, Panama, Guadaloupe Islands, Martinique, Portugal and Brazil, >expressed their solidarity with Havana. They also expressed their desire to >increase their current ties with Cuba and condemned the U.S. blockade of the >island. > >Brian Finch, who is the General Secretary of the International Association >of Peace Makers Cities, told Radio Havana Cuba that he hopes Havana will >become an active member of his organization. > > >*Viewpoint: PUT CHILDREN'S NEEDS FIRST AT PANAMA SUMMIT > >The 10th Iberoamerican Summit of Heads of States and Government begins >tomorrow in Panama. Urgent attention must be paid to the needs children and >adolescents, the first generation of citizens of the 21st century. Their >developmental needs must be attended to. Solutions to their problems are >priorities to be addressed now. The predicaments faced by this vulnerable >sector of the community are not limited to the Latin American world. They >extend to the entire third world, including the hidden, marginalized areas >of the wealthiest countries, which are like pockets of underdevelopment >within rich zones of human society. > >Spanish foreign minister, Jose Pique, interviewed in Madrid, stated that the >Summit participants have to prioritize the needs of children and >adolescents. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Relations has called for an >international common platform to address social problems. It would build on >work done at the Guadalajara Summit in Mexico in 1991. This common platform >will share its findings and proposals with other relevant world >institutions. > >It is time for an ethical approach to the problems which are facing young >people. Financing is essential to solutions of social problems. However, >ethical principles are required in order to ensure that the money is used in >the right way. Neoliberal systems of economics do not allow for the human >element. They are based on principles that defend the International Monetary >Fund. The privatization of health and social services will not benefit the >children and adolescents of the poor anywhere if they do not provide for the >full protection of their families. > >The 10th Iberoamerican Summit should reiterate that health and social >services need to remain public responsibilities to protect those most at >risk and those who cannot pay for necessary services. > >(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-11.18.00-02:50:48-21358 > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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