12-7-05,9:14am
Cardenas, Cuba, Dec 7 (Prensa Latina) President Fidel Castro ratified the Cuban Revolution is increasingly stronger with huge human capital and social programs that have emerged in the framework of the Battle of Ideas.
The Cuban leader made the remarks when closing the act for the 6th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Ideas, borne amid a massive popular demand for the return of boy Elian Gonzalez, kidnapped by the anti-Cuban Miami mafia.
In his speech at Cardenas´ Jose Antonio Echeverria Park, in Matanzas province, the president highlighted the projects carried out nationwide amid the battle the Cuban people have waged over the last six years in favor of knowledge, culture, and social well-being.
Regarding this, he praised the human capital working in the new facilities created for this purpose, and highlighted political, administrative, and technical measures aimed at guaranteeing optimum use of available resources.
Cuba is advancing towards excellent health services for the whole population, the Cuban leader added. In the US, 45 million citizens lack access to state health care system, with children and the elderly as the main victims of this and other calamities, he recalled.
Cuban people have forged a will of steel facing the US blockade and other aggressions, Fidel Castro stressed in the act, which also marked the 35th foundation anniversary of the High School Students´ Federation.
Brazilian Solidarity with Cuba Five
Sao Paulo, Nov 5 (Prensa Latina) The Brazilian city of Sao Paulo staged an act favoring the release of the five Cubans unfairly imprisoned in the US for fighting terrorism against the island. Over 400 people gathered Sunday night in the city, considered a permanent venue of solidarity with Cuba. A mural on the Caribbean nation was updated for the occasion
information on the Five was sent to 8,751 individuals. The earnings of the day will be granted to the nternational fund being created to pay for new spaces in the US media to broadcast the prisoners´ circumstances. The situation of the Five: Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, and Fernando Gonzalez, was expounded by the president of the Sao
Paulo Pro-Five Liberation Committee, Max Altman, Consul Trejo, and Diplomatic
Attaché Georgina Németh. ln/dig/as/mf ------------
Five Truth Reaches Britons
London, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) The wife and daughter of one of the five Cubans imprisoned in the US for fighting terrorism are meeting with prominent figures in Great
Britain to spread the truth about the case. Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene Gonzalez, and their daughter Ivette, arrived in Great Britain on November 30 to visit London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, among other cities. Salanueva carries the message of The Five, as they are internationally known in solidarity campaigns, explaining the injustice they still face after the Atlanta Court of
Appeals reversed their convictions and remanded a new trial. She held talks with main British union leaders such as Anthony Woodloy, secretary-general of the transport union, which encompasses one million members. ln/ecq/ool/mf -------------
Cuban Doctors Back from Guatemala
Havana, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Nearly 600 Cuban doctors included in the Henry Reeve brigade that helped victims of Hurricane Stan in Guatemala have returned to Havana. Public Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer received 147 members of that brigade on Sunday, and expressed gratitude for their work 'to put Cuba´s solidarity and humanism
in such place of honor.' Comprehensive General Medicine, Orthopedics and Grammatology, Gynecology, Anesthesiology and Epidemiology specialists saved the lives of 152 Guatemalans,
including 77 minors and teenagers. They also helped more than 40,000 victims, accounting for 9 percent of people from the Community of Solola, one of the most affected, and Suchitepequez and Chimaltenango
territories in southern Guatemala. ln/ecq/mf ---------
China Helps Cuban Transport
Beijing, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) A batch of 80 buses China built for Cuba is ready for shipment to the Caribbean island to be used in inter-provincial public transportation. Buses kept at the port city of Tianjin are part of a two-way deal under which China´s Yutong firm will provide Cuba with 600 altogether. The ZK6120HA model is similar to 200 other Chinese buses operating in Cuba with high levels of reliability and comfort. Speaking at the delivery ceremony, Cuban Astros firm trade manager Rafael Martinez said Cuba is highly satisfied with buses already operating here. ln/ecq/agp/mf ---------------
World Union Congress Slams US Policy
Havana, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Representatives of unions from 72 countries slammed in this capital the US government as a violator of international laws, terming it as the
world's number one terrorist country. This statement was included in the final declaration of the 15th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), ending Sunday night, in which workers movement's main demand was unity. Participants at the congress demanded the immediate release of five Cubans imprisoned in US, rejected immigrants' discrimination, disapproved the FTAA, supported ALBA, and analyzed alternatives to create a more solid and victorious
organization. ln/iff/jrr/mf
NEWS --LATIN AMERICA-- NEWS
Honduras Still without President
Tegucigalpa, Dec 4 (Prensa Latina) Honduras is still without a president a week after elections, although opposition Liberal Party candidate Manuel Zelaya has a slight advantage over government party candidate Porfirio Lobo. Zelaya won 49.9 percent of the vote after counting in almost 90 percent of the polling stations. That means 3.74 points over the National Party candidate, who won 46.16
percent. Although there is a clear victory of the liberals, government candidate Porfirio Lobo has refused to accept his defeat, and his party announced possible challenging of the process. After a week of a slow vote recount, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal decided to suspend the count until Monday to review inconsistencies in some acts. ln/iom/car/mf --------------
DR Revises Budget, Shirks IMF
Santo Domingo, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) The Dominican Republic reported Monday its failure to comply with commitments to the International Monetary Fund because of the deficit in the fiscal reforms passed to deal with originally projected earnings in the national budget. Presidential Secretary Juan Temistocles Montas Dominguez said he would recommend that President Leonel Fernandez request the National Development Council to study the Draft Budget and Public Spending Bill for 2006. Montas said the bill, approved December 2, would produce earnings of 761.2 million dollars instead of the 983. 6 million requested by the Executive. ln/ymr/prl/mf ------------
Cuba-CARICOM Summit for Cooperation
Havana, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) The second Cuba-CARICOM Summit that begins Thursday in Barbados will reflect growing cooperation between the participating countries in the economic, cultural and scientific fields. The event will be preceded by a meeting for Foreign Ministers Wednesday, to put the final touches to a Final Declaration prposal before submitting it to the consideration of the Heads of State and Government. Cuban Assistant Foreign Minister Rafael Dausa said the leaders will be at a special moment to strengthen historic links and strategic relations between Cuba and
CARICOM members. He pointed out that this is reflected in the presence of Cuban doctors, teachers, nurses and other professionals in several Caribbean countries. hr/ccs/tac/jrr -------------
Barbados Ready for II Summit
Bridgetown, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Despite the constant rain, Barbados authorities are readying the organization and infrastructure for the second Caribbean Community II
Summit (CARICOM-CUBA). Grantley Adams Airport is preparing to welcome the dignitaries and the Hilton hotel will provide accommodation for the event that will begin Wednesday, although government ministers and top ranking officials will analyze the main aspects of the agenda Tuesday. Barbados Summit´s purposes is to strengthen the relations between the member nations and Cuba, and to monitor fulfillment of regulations established in the previous
meeting in Havana in 2002. ccs/abo/leg ------------
CARICOM-Cuba: Healthy History
Bridgetown, Dec. 5 (Prensa Latina) Relations between CARICOM and Cuba are expected to be strengthened when the Second CARICOM-Cuba Summit takes place in Barbados this week at the Barbados Hilton. During the Summit, the Heads of State will discuss several issues and sign two multi-lateral agreements in the areas of culture and health. Over the years, the Caribbean Community has shown its solidarity with Cuba in their demands for the removal of the blockade imposed by the United States. The first CARICOM-Cuba Summit for Heads of State and Government was held in Cuba on December 7 and 8, 2002, on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and some of the Caribbean countries. ln/mgz/mf
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Chavez Wins Parliamentary Elections
Caracas, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) The party of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez obtained its tenth victory in legislative elections since 1998, and took greater control of the National Assembly. According to first reports, Bloque de Cambio party, which strongly supports Chavez, won more than two-thirds of the National Assembly´s 167 seats and had a resounding win in the Andean and Latin American parliaments. Despite opposition attempts to boycott elections, Bloque de Cambio was ratified as the main political party of Venezuela. ln/ecq/rc/ml/mf ----------------
Chilean Elections and Social Inequality
Santiago de Chile, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Social inequality continues Monday centering Chile´s political debate, a week before the general elections to renew the Congress and elect President Ricardo Lagos´ substitute. The issue, tackled by the four candidates as the country´s main problem, has been repeatedly grasped to launch suspicious promises or attack opponents for not having done enough to fight it in the past. The extreme right aspirers, Sebastian Piñera and Joaquin Lavin, accused the pact governments in La Moneda since 1990 of worsening division between rich and poor people. They seek to weaken the campaign of pro-government candidate Michelle Bachelet, favorite to become the first woman reaching Chile´s presidency and called a 'continuer' of President Lagos´ economic policy. ln/ymr/apr/mf --------------
Venez Minister Speaks to Absenteeism
Caracas, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez said Monday that despite the level of abstentionism, Sunday's peaceful elections underscored the democratic character of the country's current process. Referring to the substantial level of absenteeism (about 75 percent), Rodriguez said 'traditionally, absenteeism has been very high in Venezuela when it comes to elect governors, city councils or regional assemblies, as well as legislative elections.' He said this sort of reticence characterizes countries with mature societies, and used as an example the low turnout in the US for legislative elections. hr/ccs/rma/wap ---------------
Three More Crimes for Pinochet
Santiago de Chile, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Chile´s Ex Dictator Augusto Pinochet was charged Monday with three new crimes committed during Operation Colombo, and although exonerated in another four, was remanded to remain under house arrest pending a defense plea before the Supreme Court Tuesday. Judge Victor Montiglio will now try Pinochet for nine of the 119 persons detained and disappeared during Operation Colombo, carried out by repressive corps in the military to cover-up crimes in the 70s. The Supreme Court removed his ex-presidential immunity from the 90-year-old Pinochet in September for charges of responsibility in the disappearance of 16 other persons in this operation, performed in collaboration with the Argentine and Brazilian regimes. hr/ccs/apr --------
Petrobras Investing More Abroad
Rio de Janeiro, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Brazil´s state company Petrobras will invest next year 1.4 billion dollars in foreign countries, 40 percent more than in 2005, announced its International Area Director Nestor Cuñat Cervero. The official told O Globo newspaper that from 2006 to 2010 investments in other countries would rise to over seven billion dollars. In the national market, Petrobras aspires surpassing from the 1.9 millions daily barrels produced at present to 2.8 millions in 2010, plus enlarging the 263,000 current barrels to 545,000 abroad. ln/ymr/as/mf ------------
Ecuador Congress for ESC Members Destitution
Quito, Dec 5 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador´s Congress, pressed by the Social Christian Party (SCP) and the Democratic Left (DL), is seeking Monday destitution of Electoral Supreme Court (ESC) members to avoid a call to a referendum. According to Carlos Aguinaga, former ESC president, despite resignation of that entity chair Gilberto Vaca, its members should obey President Alfredo Palacio´s request to announce a referendum for January 22. 'If the top organization denies Palacio´s request its members would be dismissed and face a political trial by the Supreme Court of Justice,' emphasized Aguinaga. ln/ymr/lgo/mf
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