viernes, 27 de febrero de 2009

Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra Completes Its Tour Of Cuba

MATANZAS, Cuba, Feb. 27 (acn) Following a memorable concert in the Sauto theatre of Matanzas the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra (VSO) concludes its tour of Cuba today with a performance in the Central University of Las Villas.

This evening the oldest cultural institution in Latin America will present an extravagant program, which includes solo guitarist Flavio Sala in the guitar and orchestral concert performance Aranjuéz by composer Joaquín Rodrigo, as well as a selection of other continental
and universal works.

The VSO captured the audience in the Sauto Theatre, Matanzas, with the Oboe and Orchestra concert by creator Benedetto Marcello, as well as the technical and skilled solo performance by the talented oboist Jorge Alcarra.


The New World Symphony earned the approval of the considerable audience in attendance at the National Monument Coliseum in Matanzas as did the famous work Alma Llanera, part of the Venezuelan folklore and Cuban Fantasy with musical arrangements by Sergio Elguin.

This is the VSO’s first international tour this year and according to its director, Angelo Pagliuca, they will return to Cuba in the near future.

Jorge Luis Pacheco, director of the renowned Caracas theatre, Teresa Carreño, attended the concert in Matanzas and expressed his satisfaction and pride upon participating in this hundred year old institution and mentioned his intention to commence new projects.


Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela finaliza gira por Cuba

Cuba and Mexico Sign Health Cooperation Agreement

A cooperation agreement to boost the exchange of scientific knowledge was signed today in this city between the Mexican University of Veracruz and the Cuban International Neurological Restoration Center (CIREN).

Doctor Ramon Flores, representing the Mexican higher education center, said that the signing of the document will allow implementing highly beneficial projects in the health field, and he pointed out that one of the first projects to be implemented is the exchange of researchers,
professors and students.

Flores highlighted the well-known quality of CIREN, and its leading role in research studies.

Meanwhile, Doctor Julian Alvarez, president of the Cuban entity and signatory of the agreement on the Cuban side, recalled the historical relations between Cuba and Mexico, and declared himself in favor of strengthening cooperation bonds, especially in the area of medical-
scientific programs.

During a visit of the Cuban center, Flores talked to researchers and specialists about the rehabilitation programs for children and adults, and exchanged with some patients, like Mexican Miriam Casas, who was grateful to Cuban doctors for their love and dedication.


CIREN was founded on February 26th 1989, and its programs have benefited over 40,000 patients from 85 countries.

(Suscriben Cuba y México convenio de colaboración en salud)

jueves, 26 de febrero de 2009

Zimbabwe’s Health Minister Highlights Cuba Medical Cooperation

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 26 (acn) Cuba’s aid is well known and acknowledged by
everybody, said Zimbabwe’s Health and Child Welfare minister Henry
Madzorera in reference to the Health Comprehensive Program being
developed in that country by 130 Cuban medical doctors.

Madzorera made his statements during a meeting with Cuban ambassador to
Zimbabwe Cosme Torres Espinosa. Both officials reviewed ongoing
bilateral relations in the field of health, according to a press release
by the Cuban embassy in Zimbabwe.

Ambassador Torres Espinosa paid a courtesy visit to the Zimbabwean
government official in the context of his appointment as new Health and
Child Welfare minister.

During the talks, the Cuban ambassador ratified his country’s commitment
to keep boosting cooperation with the African nation despite the
economic difficulties facing Cuba.

(Destaca funcionario de Zimbabwe asistencia medica cubana)

Raul Castro Met with Special Envoy of French President

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 26 (acn) Cuban President Raul Castro held talks on Wednesday with Jack Lang, special envoy of France´s President Nicolas Sarkozy.

During their meeting, Jack Lang expressed the willingness of the French President to boost bilateral relations between Paris and Havana, and to enhance the bonds between Cuba and the European Union in a context of mutual respect, Granma newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, Raul Castro appreciated the initiative of the French President and affirmed Cuba´s interest in revitalizing traditional political, economic and cooperation relations in the benefit of both countries.

The Cuban President also expressed his willingness to maintain political dialog between Cuba and the European Union, which began in October 2008 in Paris, on the basis of mutual respect.

The encounter, which took place in a friendly and cordial ambiance, was also attended by French ambassador to Havana, Frederic Dore; Lang´s wife Ms. Monique Lang, and on the Cuban part, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.

Jack Lang is a renowned political personality in France. He was Culture and Education Minister under the Francois Mitterrand administration; he has also been a lawmaker and chair of the French Parliament´s Foreign Affairs Committee.

(Recibió Raúl a Enviado Especial del Presidente de Francia)

Leader of the Cuba-Africa Friendship Association Visits Kenya

HAVANA, Cuba Feb 25 (acn) The Executive Secretary of the Cuba-Africa Friendship Association, Teresa Daisy Diaz, has begun a working program in Kenya.

Díaz, who is also an official with the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP), met with executives from the Association at the headquarters of the Cuban embassy in Nairobi, the capital, to discuss aspects of interest for this movement of solidarity.

She also gave a news conference for the mass media of that nation in East Africa, during which she focused on the historical bonds of solidarity between Cuba and Africa. In that continent, there are presently 159 Cuba Friendship Associations and over 74 Committees for the Release of the Cuban Five, unjustly incarcerated in the United States.

Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Rene Gonzalez, Fernando Gonzalez and Antonio Guerrero were arrested in 1998 in Miami, and then condemned to harsh sentences for monitoring the activities of Miami-based, anti-Cuban terrorist groups, and warning the Cuban people of their criminal actions.

Diaz also met with Kenyan Parliament member Shakila Abdalla, who visited Cuba recently as part of the delegation headed by Farah Maalim, vice-president of Kenya’s National Assembly.

Others activities in her engagement book in the African nation included contacts with civil and student organizations, visits to provincial branches of the Friendship Association, and a central meeting with members of the organization.

(Visita Kenya dirigente de Asociación de Amistad Cuba-África)

Cuban Children to Pay Tribute to Antonio Guerrero

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 26.The Cuban children’s theater group La Colmenita will represent the poem “Acta de reunion de las aves endemicas de Cuba” (Meeting of Birds Endemic to Cuba), by Antonio Guerrero, one of the five Cubans unjustly incarcerated in the United States. The announcement was made on Wednesday in Havana by the deputy director of the National Museum of Natural History, Regla Balmori.

Referring to the poem’s process of composition, Antonio Said: “… I disguised Cuban pioneer children with the plumage of our birds".

The premiere of this special performance will be on May 30 in the portal of the Museum, and will close the festivities for the 45th anniversary of the founding of this cultural institution, said Balmori.

She added that this presentation will be repeated during the inauguration of the 5th “Rosa Elena Simeon in Memoriam” Image of Nature Festival, scheduled for Havana’s Convention Center from June 8th through to the 12th.


Balmori, who is also the vice-president of the event’s organizing committee, added that 43 new paintings by Tony –as he’s known by most Cuban children- will be an important part of the festival. On this occasion, his drawings depict the national birds of countries in The Americas.

She also announced that the exhibition will be opened to the public beginning September 12, when the author and his companions -Ramon Labanino, Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez- will have been 11 years in jail.

Other works by Tony participated in the previous edition of the festival with the exhibition Alas de Libertad (Wings of Freedom), which includes drawings of 21 birds endemic to Cuba and 22 macaws from other countries in The Americas.

(Niños cubanos cumplirán un sueño de Antonio Guerrero)

miércoles, 25 de febrero de 2009

Confitery of Camagüey will elevate its production of foods

Camagüey, Feb 26. The Confitery of Camagüey plan to rise in three thousand tons the production of foods for the 2009, above the registration of eight thousand of the previous year.

Edilfredo Guerra, director of the company, said that of those more than 12 thousand foreseen tons of products, around two thousand will be dedicated to the market in foreign currencies.

In the central plant located in the provincial head are the factory of dry mixtures, as the gofio, that of panque and that of crackets Pinocho, where there will be included the coconut flavors and lemon.

Also, it is the plant chocolate box Guamá marks, in which solid chocolates are elaborated, as the Cut Turquino, fillers, the Muscatel, and others, among them the Three Species, production that seeks to substitute the imports of the candy.

On the other hand that of cookies, of the town of Florida, makes the types candy and salted, and also goodies that are offered in the net of markets in City of Havana, Cienfuegos, Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba.

In the case of the industry of long pasts and cut in the municipality of Mines,it production supplies the family basket of the territory of Camagüey, and of Ciego of Ávila and Las Tunas.

For the present year the confitery has foreseen to include in the list of products the traditional gaceñiga, species of dry bread, in different grams.

The Confitery Camagüey is in Managerial Improvement and completes the norms of administration of the quality.

martes, 24 de febrero de 2009

Greece Communist Party Affirms Solidarity with Cuba and Palestine

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 24 (acn) The 18th Congress of Greece´s Communist Party expressed its solidarity with Cuba and Palestine during its final session in Athens, in which party members elected the organizations´ central committee.

Following a four-day session, the Greek communists approved main working guidelines for their new period, which included the setting up a people´s anti-imperialist front and a program of actions in solidarity with Cuba and Palestine, Granma daily reported.

The organization unanimously re-elected Aleka Papariga as the General Secretary of the 77-member central committee.

The session was attended by 435 delegates and 400 guests from around the country, as well as 90 delegations from Communist and workers parties and progressive movements from 72 countries, including Cuba.

(Partido Comunista de Grecia ratifica su solidaridad con Cuba)

Experts Evaluate Effectiveness of Cuban Cattle Tick Vaccine

GUANTANAMO, Cuba, Feb 24 (acn) Cuban experts are gathering today in a National Workshop in this eastern city to analyze the effectiveness of the recombinant vaccine known as GAVAC against diseases transmitted to the cattle by ticks.

Specialists with the Institute of Veterinary Medicine along biotechnology and parasitology experts will also discuss the effects of the Cuban vaccine on cattle herds in the largest cattle farms in this territory.

Provincial Veterinary Medicine vice-director Zoe Debrook told ACN that the administration of the vaccine GAVAC allowed increasing the potential in local cattle raising enterprises. She added that the workshop will analyze the effects of the vaccine in several other farms and in ranches managed by individual farmers.

The recombinant vaccine, which is considered one of the major Cuban biotechnological products, began to be administered to cattle herds in 1995, while the livestock sector was waging a comprehensive fight against cattle ticks.

(Analizan hoy efectividad de vacuna cubana GAVAC)

Argentinean Youths to Study Medicine in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 24 (acn) A group of 60 Argentinean youths from different provinces of the country will soon take medical courses at the Havana-based Latin American School of Medicine.

During a gathering of the youths and their relatives and friends in the Cuban embassy in Buenos Aires, Nauel Vali, who is one of the new students from 17 out of 23 Argentinean provinces, expressed his thankfulness to the Cuban people for the opportunity of learning and for their solidarity.

Argentinean doctor Ana Urueña, who graduated at the Latin American School, briefed the youths about the origin of the academic center which, she pointed out, is characterized by high scientific, humanistic and ethical level.

Undersecretary of University Policy at Argentina´s Education Ministry, Alberto Dibbern, told the new students that the Cuban school will give them the opportunity to become medical doctors in a health system that offers its services to all the people under equal terms.

Argentina´s Health Minister Graciela Ocaña thanked the Cuban people for their efforts and generosity towards other Latin American nations, despite the unfair US blockade of Cuba.

Meanwhile, Cuban ambassador to Buenos Aires, Aramis Fuente, said that the Latin American School of Medicine expresses the continuity of an initiative that dates back to 1961, when the Cuban people began to contribute to the formation of young professionals. Since that year up to date, over 50, 000 professionals from 80 countries have graduated in Cuba, he said.

(Despiden a jóvenes argentinos para estudiar en Cuba)

lunes, 23 de febrero de 2009

Cuban Baseball Team Continues Training in Mexico

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 23 (acn) The Cuban national baseball team held its second training session in this high-altitude city on Sunday on a cloudy and cold day in Puebla, reported Prensa Latina.

After arriving in Puebla on Saturday to train for the 2nd World Baseball Classic (WBC) (March 5-23) the Cubans checked out the Hermanos Serdan Stadium and held a warm-up session and light batting practice.

Several coaches said that the facility has good conditions to train for the Classic. On Sunday, the pitchers were also scheduled to take part in the training.

Regarding the presence of the Cuban team in this stage of their preparation, Mexican manager Vinicio Castilla said that Cuba is definitely the team to beat in the group that also includes Australia, South Africa and Mexico.

“The Cubans are hard-to-beat rivals and we can’t be overconfident. Hopefully, we’ll make it to the next round, which is our goal, but it depends on us to make it to San Diego, to face the top two teams of Group A to play in Tokyo.”

(Equipo cubano de béisbol entrena en México)

Cuba Prepares to Transfer NAM Presidency to Egypt

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 23 (acn) Cuba's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and ambassador to the UN, Abelardo Moreno, is in Egypt to discuss the transfer the presidency of the Non-aligned Countries Movement withauthorities from that country.

Moreno and a delegation of Cuban officials accompanying him are expected to start working with the authorities of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry of the preparations for the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordination Bureau.

The meeting is scheduled to be held in Havana from April 27 to 30, reports Prensa Latina news agency.

During his stay in Egypt, the Cuban diplomat said that the delegation will also discuss details of the 25th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the group.

Cuba, which has been chair of NAM since September 2006, will pass on the presidency of the organization to Egypt during the Summit due to be held from July 11 to 16 at the Red Sea resort located Sharm El-Sheikh.

Moreno said the Cuban delegation will discuss the movement's activities with the Egyptian authorities, and the policy that the non-aligned countries have been following under the Cuban leadership.

The Cuban representative, president of the Preparatory Political Commission of the ministerial meeting, explained that the documents to be submitted for approval by the heads of state in the Sharm El-Sheikh summit will be drawn up during the Havana gathering.

Among other Cuban officials working on the meeting's preparations in Egypt are Anallancy Rodriguez Camejo and Maria del Carmen Herrera Caseiro, deputy directors of Multilateral Issues of the Cuban foreign ministry, and also the deputy head of the North Africa and Middle East Department of the same ministry.

(En Egipto delegación cubana para preparativos reunión NOAL)

Cuban Film to Open Latin American Festival in Moscow

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 23 (acn) The 2nd Moscow Latin American Movie Festival will open its doors on Wednesday with the screening of a Cuba- Russia co-production, Soy Cuba (I'm Cuba), to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.

Alexei Chernyshev, head of the organizing committee of the festival said the opening of the event will be a good time to commemorate the half-a- century since the creation of the Cuban Art and Film Institute and the centenary of the film's photography director, Soviet Serguei Urusevskiy.

Chernyshev praised Urusevskiy's artistic work in the film that was directed by outstanding filmmaker Mijail Kalatozov, reported Prensa Latina.

With impeccable photography, Soy Cuba (1964) describes, through four stories, the transformations in Cuba from the war against Fulgencio Batista's regime until the Revolution led by Fidel Castro, and the reaffirmation of the singular and independent identity of the island,said Chernyshev.

He said the 141-min film to be screened in the Judozhestvenny Theatre, will open the festival that will take place until March 3 with the screening of films from Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Guatemala, among other countries.

(Película cubana abrirá Festival de Cine en Moscú)

First Secretary of the Party summons in Camagüey to materialize a more efficient economy

Camagüey, Feb 22 - To materialize a better and more efficient economy in the year that pases, Julio Cesar García Rodríguez , first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in Camagüey invited , when intervening in the VI ordinary session of the Provincial Assembly of the Popular Power.

The also member of the Central Committee of the PCC remarked that this it is the year of the VI Congress of the political organization, reason why the people of Camagüey should feel committed for a better acting in the economic sphere, support of main programs of social development.

In fact the plan of the economy for the current year was object of an itemized treatment on the part of the delegates who coincided that it is indispensable premise to develop a bigger forecast capacity and analysis in all the tasks that are undertaken, and with financial guarantee, material and of work force.

Matter that also occupied the attention of the assistants to the Provincial Assembly of the Popular Power, this Sunday, was the rendition of bill of the Council of the Provincial Administration, in charge of the executive of main lines of the chore territorial strategic of Camagüey in this year.

Such proposals for the work multiple interventions of delegates and directive of companies motivated, to those that Jesus García Collazo, president of the Government in the county urged to work with the biggest will and intelligence, very especially in the tasks of the sugar harvest, of which surrendered a report on his march.

There also participated in the VI ordinary session of the Provincial Assembly of the Popular Power the members of the Central Committee, Faure Chomont and Lázaro Vázquez, and the also deputed by Camagüey Juan Vela, minister of Superior Education, next to his homologous of justice María Esther Reus, among others. (Pedro Paneque Ruiz).

viernes, 20 de febrero de 2009

The teacher wakes up conscience and makes convictions

By: Aramis González Cruz / I Radiate Chain Agramonte

The education as effective instrument for the human being's improvement, have in the teacher the soul of the Cuban school, and as owner of the essential characteristics so that the love grows to the Revolution, awake conscience and makes convictions.

To fulfill it social responsibility, the professionals of the education get ready in the contents that teach and investigate to improve the pedagogic techniques and to be faithful defenders of the values that preserve our cultural identity.

Before a world revolucionary and changing, the teacher has the responsibility of harmonizing the reality with the perspectives of the social project that we build, which ennobles the dignity, the human rights, the peace and the social justice.

The Cubans know and defend that it is not enough to know how to read and to write to leave the underdevelopment; it is indispensable also that the education is integral and permanent, and to that zeal it sink the family and the whole society by means of the organizations and institutions of the State, with the teacher to the front of this great battle.

We know that lacks, but the creativity and the will exist to make our dreams a reality allow us to advance sure that the future is forged with this work of infinite love.

The Cuban town knows that the victory of the Revolution arrived after a lot of sacrifice, and made possible the schools and the teachers, to open the way to the literacy, the massive teaching, the plan of scholarships, books and texts, the teleclasses and videoclasses, the Integral General Professor (PGI) and with it the improvement of the pedagogic models for each teaching type.

Today, the teachers of Camagüey advances in the recovery of the damages of the meteorological phenomena, sure of achieving a school course to the height of the anniversary 50 of the victory of the Revolution.

jueves, 19 de febrero de 2009

Cuba, Guest Country at Colombia Tourism Fair

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 19 (acn) Cuba will be the guest country at the 27th ANATO Tourism Fair of the Colombian Association of Travel Agents, which is a renowned professional event, held through the past 60 years.

The fair, which is considered the main event of its kind in Colombia and one of the major tourism fairs held in South America, will take place February 25-27 at the Coferias exhibit center in the capital Bogotá. Cuba will have a 300-square-meter pavilion, according to PL news agency.

The fair, which is not opened to the public, has been increasingly attended over the past years by travel agents, hotel chains, airline companies, tour operators, as well as by local and international tourism offices and tourism providers.

Cuba will be represented by deputy tourism minister Maria Elena Lopez who is heading a delegation from the main companies in the Cuban tourist sector.

The commercial attaché at the Cuban embassy in Bogotá, Angel Bernal said that the attendance of the fair by Cuba is a significant step forward in the Colombian tourist market, since the South American country ranked number four as a source of visitors to the island last year.

The Cuban delegation will display a large sample of the local tourist products, including its emblematic liquors, and will also offer information about the achievements of the country.

(Cuba es el país invitado a feria de turismo colombiana)

Cuba's National Ballet to Present Hansel and Gretel in Canada

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 19 (acn) The Canadian government has agreed to celebrate Family Day for the first time, and a high point of celebrations will be the production of Hansel and Gretel, interpreted by the Cuba's National Ballet Company.

The performance, scheduled for February 26 at Canada's Hamilton Place Theater will feature young figures from the Cuban company, with choreography by Eduardo Blanco and the general direction of prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso.

Participating in Hansel and Gretel, with music by Jules Massenet, Richard Wagner, Serguei Prokofiev and Joseph Luigini and designs by Ricardo Reymena, Eduardo Romero and Luis Carlos Benvenuto, will be young dancers from the Canadian Ballet, in a one act, five scene version.

The ballet is an ode to the unyielding human spirit and the book it's based on, by the same name, was written by brothers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm and published in their native Germany for the first time in 1812.

The famous fairy tale has fascinated numerous generations of children from around the world. The main roles of the ballet version will be interpreted this time by Yadil Suárez, Regina Hernández, Annie Ruiz, Denisse Salvent and Yonah Acosta.

Undoubtedly, Hansel and Gretel is a made-to-measure piece to celebrate Family Day in Canada. The allegoric fantasy is a splendid cooperation work between artists from the two nations.

(Ballet Nacional de Cuba presentará Hansel y Gretel en Canadá)

Russian Solidarity Organization Reinforces Actions for the Release of the Five

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 19 (acn) The campaign for the release of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters held in US jails for over 10 years, will be at the center of actions this year by the Russia-Cuba Friendship Association.

The statement was made in Moscow by Vadim Sayuchev, president of the solidarity-with-Cuba organization. He said that actions in favour of the release of the Cuban Five will join other efforts against the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba, PL news reported.

Sayuchev added that they will deploy a stand during the Moscow Book Fair with information available to the public about Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Gerardo Hernandez and Antonio Guerrero, internationally known as the Cuban Five.

Cuban ambassador to Moscow Juan Valdes extended his thankfulness for the permanent solidarity with Cuba and alerted about the need to have the truth of the Five be spread inside the United States.

The Cuban Five were framed by FBI agents in 1998 and submitted to a biased trial in the US city of Miami, which gave them unfair and extremely long sentences (from 15 years to life terms) for charges that were not proven. The Five were collecting information on Florida-based ultra-right organizations that have undertaken terrorist acts against the Cuban people.

(Redoblan en Rusia campaña por la libertad de los Cinco)

Venezuela's Symphony Orchestra on Tour in Cuba

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Feb 19 (acn) Venezuela's Symphony Orchestra (OSV) began a tour of important Cuban theatres with a performance on Wednesday in this city's Tomás Terry Theatre, which will extend until March 1.

The public at the Tomás Terry enjoyed melodies like Sinfonía del Nuevo Mundo, by Dvorak; Tocata Bacchiana and Pajarillo, by Aldemaro Romero; Moliendo Café, by Hugo Blanco; Alma Llanera, by Pedro Elías Gutiérrez, and Fantasía Cubana, in an arrangement by Sergio Holguín.

Cienfuegos residents will also be able to enjoy the performances of violinist Alexis Cárdenas and oboist Jorge Alcarrá, who will play Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin and Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, by B. Marcello, respectively.

This musical tour is the first international presentation of the visiting orchestra in 2009, and will include performances in theatres of various provinces, like the Amadeo Roldán in Havana and Sauto, in Matanzas , and at the Martha Abreu Central University Theatre, in Villa
Clara.

The OSV, considered an artistic heritage of the South American sister nation, will be conducted by maestro Angelo Pagliuca and by the director of the Presidential Orchestra of Belarus, Viktor Babarikin. Founded in 1930, the Venezuelan orchestra is made up by 95 teachers, who perform over 70 concerts a year.

(Actuará en Cuba Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela)

miércoles, 18 de febrero de 2009

To recover for the future.

By: María del Carmen Fuentes. Television Camagüey.

The Commandant Ernesto Che Guevara`s illustrious thought propitiated the creation of the Union of Companies of Recovery of Matters. Its impact in these 50 years of Revolution means as positive examples of the Improvement Managerial Socialist.
It is evidencet this way the recognitions given to the best squares in address of the 26 industries the Cuban reciclaje.The premiation took place in the Square of the Bigger General Revolution Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz of the provincial capital. There was recognized to the entity of Camagüey like that of better integral results, continued by those of the counties of Granma, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and Santiago de Cuba.
Matters of Camagüey achieved in 2008 registrations above it plans in the storing of recyclable materials and the sales, and it grew by three percent in connection with the precedent year. Equally it leads the chore in the recovery of ferrous and not ferrous materials, the Economic area, of Human resources, Squares and in the combined work with the Pioneer Jose MartíOrganization.
The entity, one of those that received the Flag 50 Anniversary of the Victory of the Revolution in the country, works to increase it administration in the 2009, in spite of the effects of the world financial crisis, with incidence in the international prices and in the production of goods.

Cuba: an Example of Solidarity, says Guatemalan President

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 17 . Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom highlighted Cuba´s solidarity and the new times and developments experienced by Latin America, during a key lecture he gave at the University of Havana.

Colom gave his lecture titled “Social Development in Guatemala,” in the presence of Cuban health minister Jose Ramon Balaguer, professors, diplomats and students from his country and Cuba.

The Guatemalan President said the two nations have boosted a relationship based in solidarity. He said that the Cuban doctors in Guatemala have offered millions of medical consultations in the most remote areas and have returned or improved the sight of thousands of Guatemalans.

After stating that he has never doubted the Cuban friendship, Colom

extended his apologies to Cuba for the fact that his country was used to launch the mercenary invasion on Bay of Pigs in 1961.

" It wasn't us (the current Guatemalan government), but it was our territory." And I want to officially apologize to Cuba as president and head of state, and as commander in chief of the Guatemalan army.”

Previously, the rector of the University of Havana, Ruben Zardoya, gave the Guatemalan president a plaque, which marks the 280th anniversary of that higher education center, in recognition of his work as president and for his friendship and support of the Cuban revolution.

The Manuel Galich Honorary Department of the Philosophy and History Faculty of the University of Havana was also inaugurated today in the presence of Alvaro Colom. The department will serve as a venue for lectures, post-graduate courses and for scientific and educational exchange between Cuba and Guatemala.

(Presidente de Guatemala: Cuba es ejemplo de solidaridad)

martes, 17 de febrero de 2009

Another 100 Salvadorians to Study Medicine in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 17 . Another 100 Salvadorian youngsters from low-income families are getting ready to travel to Cuba to begin studies at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).

The scholarship program boosted by Cuba for El Salvador and other Central American nations started at the end of the 1990s when this region faced the damage by Hurricane Mitch, and the lack of socially committed doctors became evident.

Nowadays, there are over 500 Salvadorians studying Medicine in Cuban universities, where in August 2005 the first 120 youngsters from that country graduated as general practitioners.

Prensa Latina news agency reported that this new group thanked Cuba's government and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, for this opportunity to become doctors in order to be able to help their people.

Jorge Luis Rivas, from the Chalchuapa municipality, in the Santa Ana department, said: "We go with the commitment that our return will bring well-being and health to our people, with no exclusions"

At the farewell ceremony, the youngsters paid homage to Schafik Handal, historic leader of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) who died in 2006, and who boosted the ELAM project to improve the health of his people.

Juana Concepción Vásquez, grandmother of one girl with the scholarship, reminded them that lots of people died from lack of medicines, from not being able to pay for a consultation or an operation.

(Otros 100 salvadoreños estudiarán medicina en Cuba)

Fidel Castro Bestowed Guatemala´s Top Distinction

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 16. The Quetzal Order, in its Great Collar degree, was granted to Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro Ruz by Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom Caballeros.

During a solemn ceremony at Havana´s Revolution Palace, the distinction was handed over to Cuban President Raul Castro. In backing his decision, President Colom said he granted the distinction in a gesture of gratefulness for the over 17 million medical consultations and more than 40, 000 eye surgeries practiced in the context of the Miracle Operation free-eye surgery program, undertaken by Cuban doctors in the benefit of the Guatemalan people.

“I took the decision to grant Fidel the top Guatemalan distinction, and we do it with affection, esteem and acknowledgement, but also based on the thankfulness of all men and women, who are now enjoying the fruit of the Revolution, which has implied a high cost to the Cuban people,” said President Colom.

The distinguished visitor also recalled that Cuban doctors in Guatemala are working in the most remote mountainous areas and settlements; he thanked Cuba for the preparation of Guatemalan youths in the island´s education centers.

On behalf of the historic leader of the Revolution, Raul Castro, stressed that both countries are united by historic and brotherhood bonds. He recalled that illustrious citizen of the eastern Cuban town of Bayamo Jose Joaquin Palma wrote the lyrics of Guatemala´s National Anthem and that the central American nation, know as the Quetzal´s Land, welcomed Jose Marti during his independence pilgrimage throughout Latin America. He also explained that both nations closed ranks against Spanish colonial rule.

The Cuban President also said that after the devastating passage of hurricanes on Central America, thousands of Cuban doctors arrived in the most remote sites of Guatemala to first cure the wounded of the huge tragedy and secondly to contribute to guarantee all citizens access to health care services, particularly for the humble people.

“We feel that once again our two nations are united in a hug of mutual gratefulness and confidence and I also reiterate our will to jointly work with Guatemala to build a common Latin American and Caribbean homeland, in which all its children have a right to enjoy peace, justice and development,” Raul Castro concluded.

Present at the ceremony were the members of the Guatemalan delegation, as well as Cuban government officials and leaders.

(Otorgan a Fidel máxima condecoración de Guatemala)

UNODC Executive Secretary Met with Cuban First Vice President

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 17 . Cuba´s First Vice President Jose Ramon MachadoVentura met on Monday evening with the Executive Secretary of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa. Also present at the meeting was Cuba´s Justice Minister Maria Esther Reus, in her capacity as president of the National Commission on Drugs.

During the meeting, the Cuban First Vice President briefed the visiting UN official on the Cuban experience in the prevention and struggle against drugs and he ratified his country´s willingness to keep cooperating with United Nations mechanisms in that particular issue.

The Cuban government maintains its firms political will in the fight against drugs; it is an effort aimed at achieving the appropriate combination of prevention actions and the struggle in that area, for which the Cuban state allocates the necessary resources despite current economic limitations.

The Cuban effort has allowed increasing effective control and preventing the negative impact of drug abuse in Cuban society.

(Se reúne machado ventura con director ejecutivo de la oficina de la onu contra las drogas y el delito)

Panamanian President Acknowledges Cuba's Solidarity

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 17 . Martin Torrijos, President of Panama, praised Cuban solidarity by saying that the Caribbean nation doesn't give what it has in excess, but shares what it has.

During the granting ceremony of scholarships to 82 Panamanian youngsters to study Medicine in Cuba, Torrijos pointed out that the number of people helped by these scholarships is close to 600, reported Prensa Latina news agency.

The Panamanian President also mentioned the positive outcome of the eye surgery program, Operation Miracle, which has benefited some 37,000 Panamanians to improve their sight thanks to this humane project.

"We are sure that Cuba shares the goal of Panama with more social justice, since we agree on the principle of a more sharing society" said Torrijos.

(Reconoce Presidente panameño solidaridad de Cuba)

lunes, 16 de febrero de 2009

Cuban National Literature Prize at Book Fair Today

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 16 .Cuba's National Literature Prize, the highest distinction in the country, will be announced today during the 18th International Book Fair Cuba 2009.

The Nosside 2008 prize, considered among the best five poetry awards in the world, will be awarded today in the Nicolas Guillen hall in the fair's main venue, the Cabaña Fortress, Havana. The prize is given to unpublished authors without language limitations.

Likewise, Norwegian writer, Jostein Gaarder, will present his new book "El misterio del solitario," edited by Cuban publishing house Gente Nueva. Among other titles to be presented today will be "Evocación," by Aleida March, "El que debe vivir," by Marta Rojas, "La isla y el tiempo," by Eduardo Vazquez and Sobrevivientes, a collaboration between Chile and
Cuba.

Other prestigious writers, among them Carlo Frabetti and Santiago Alba, will lead one the debates to take place during the day about culture, consumption and human values in modern times.

(Jornada de premios hoy en la Feria Internacional del Libro)

The Heights of the Ridiculous

REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL

Oh, I'm so scared! I just about died when I read the statements made by the U.D.I (Independent Democratic Union).

How fortunate for Chile that it is no longer living under the rule of Augusto Pinochet. Reading Chapter 12 of Max Marambio's book " as armas de Ayer" (Yesterday's Weapons), made me recall those dismal days during which the tyrant ordered the bombing of the president's residence in Tomas Moro.

I swear that if I had the money, I would pay for a mass edition of that book.

Maybe the text is on the Internet. I would be very sorry if it isn't.

How much I enjoy seeing the rage of the most conservative sector within the oligarchy! Some of its leaders who visited Cuba some years ago did not hesitate to meet with me and show me how competent and wise they were. Not even them did I treat with arrogance.

The last day of Allende's life was extremely sad.

When he left his home to go to La Moneda after 7:00 a.m., he didn't wake up his wife, Tencha, who was asleep on the second floor along with their daughters Isabel and Beatriz, known as "Tati". He thought that the Tomas Moro residence would be the safest place for them. He could not even imagine that it would be bombed by the coup perpetrators.

Max Marambio, head of the elite, well-trained revolutionary youths making up the G.A.P. (Presidential Support Group), wrote: "For the first time in the history of the institution and the country, Chilean fighter planes took off to attack the president elected by the people.and the Hawker Hunters did so with the expertise acquired in training missions, without fearing the real risk of retaliation from the target. And then the image of the smoking ruin of La Moneda circled the globe."

".Beatriz, "Tati", who was carrying in her bulging womb the grandchild that Allende would never get to know", wrote.

"'The bombing starts at eleven on the dot! And who knows what will happen there. After the bombing we will attack it with the BUIN and the Infantry School troops'. Then he decided that the tanks will start the attack, and they shot more than fifty rounds against the building's façade."

".Pinochet kept his offer of getting Allende out of the country. However, with his soul stripped bare, he added a sordid comment: 'And then the plane falls, buddy'. Admiral Carvajal, his interlocutor, was enjoying Pinochet's remarks."

I shall be spending the 15th following the news about the Popular Referendum, which should say 'Yes' or 'No' to the right of the Bolivarian leader, Hugo Chavez Frias, to run again for President of our sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

I, for one, have no doubt whatsoever about his victory.

Fidel Castro Ruz

February 14, 2009

5:11 p.m.

Guatemala's President is in Cuba for Official Visit

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 15 (acn) Guatemala's President Alvaro Colom Caballeros arrived in Cuba on Sunday for an official visit, that will begin on Monday, at the invitation of Cuba's head of state Raul Castro Ruz.

The Guatemalan President was welcomed at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport by Jose Ramon Balaguer, member of the Political Bureau of Cuba's Communist Party and Health Minister, and by Guatemalan ambassador to Havana Gerber Meneses.

In statements to the local and foreign press, Alvaro Colom condemned the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba, which he described as unjust and anachronic policy.

He said his visit to Cuba is aimed at expanding friendly and cooperation relations between both countries and that, if possible, he will grant the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro the top Guatemalan distinction.

The Guatemalan President also underscored the benefits of Cuba's medical cooperation, particularly the Operation Miracle free eye surgery program, which returned the sight to thousands Guatemalans.

Diplomatic relations between Cuba and Guatemala were reestablished January 27, 1998, under the Alvaro Arzu administration. At present 484 Cuban workersare offering their services in that country, mainly in the areas of health, education, sports, agriculture and others.

Some 620 Guatemalan professionals have graduated from Cuban education centers, 507 of them graduated as medical doctors.

President Alvaro Colom and his delegation will be officially welcomed on Monday. The Guatemalan head of state will also hold official talks with Cuban President Raul Castro and he will pay tribute to Cuban Nationa Hero Jose Marti. Colom will attend an entrepreneurial encounter between Cuban and Guatemalan business people.

The distinguished visitor will inaugurate a park dedicated to the friendship uniting Guatemala and Cuba.

At present ongoing cooperation projects between both countries favor the education field, given the interest by Alvaro Colom in declaring his country free of illiteracy in 2009. Some 1, 537 Guatemalan citizens have learned how to read and write with the assistance of the Cuban methodology known as "Yes, I Can."

(Llegó a Cuba Alvaro Colom, presidente de Guatemala)

Fidel Castro Sent Congratulations Message

Historic Victory of Chavez and the Venezuelan People

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 16 (acn) Over six million votes supported the Yes Option for a constitutional reform in Venezuela, which translated into a historic victory celebrated in Caracas by President Hugo Chavez and a large crowd of citizens.

The Bolivarian President read a message sent to him by Cuban Revolution leader expressing his congratulations to Hugo and to the people for a victory "whose magnitude can not be measured."

"This victory is also yours, Fidel, and of the Cuban people and of all Latin American peoples," Chavez exclaimed as he was cheered on by the crowd.

President Chavez described as historic the victory during the vote, which supports a constitutional reform that allows for continuous re-election of public offices, by democratic decision of the people.

Chavez dedicated the triumph to "our children and grandchildren," and added that it is the victory of Venezuela, even of those who did not vote and of those who favored the No option, although they do not accept it.

"With this victory, we start the third historic stage of the Bolivarian Revolution from 2009 through 2019. "We have opened the doors to the future in order to keep on the way towards the dignity of man," he said and recalled that such a way towards dignity is Socialism. "I want to ratify my commitment to Venezuelan Socialism," stressed Hugo Chavez.

Recalling Simon Bolivar, President Chavez reiterated that only the Revolution will allow Venezuelans to really "have their own homeland." He also congratulated all those who supported the vote, from the ones who carried out the campaign throughout the country to every woman and man in each community and settlement.

Histórica victoria de Chávez y el pueblo venezolano
--Transmite Fidel felicitaciones por el triunfo


viernes, 13 de febrero de 2009

Chinese Company Proud to Be Part of Cuban Energy Revolution

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 13 (acn) Fang Chun Song, vice-president of the Chinese Group Haier, said this Thursday that he was proud that his group is part of a project as important as the Cuban Energy Revolution.

This company's products were designed to be used exclusively in the Caribbean nation, with technological adaptations made according Cuban consumer habits, said the official whose company is one of the 150 foreign companies attending the Informatica 2009 International
Convention and Trade Fair.

"We have been working here at the Electronic Industrial Enterprise for several years because we are interested into having Cuba as Haier's Latin American headquarters", he stated.

The vice-president said that his company expects that its output can satisfy the domestic demand and in the future could export to other countries.

Haier is currently collaborating with Cuba's Ministry of Informatics and Communications on manufacturing projects for digital televisions, and its immediate goal is to build these factories in Cuba.

Haier is mainly known in Cuba for its TV sets and refrigerators, but at this Fair, ending tomorrow, it has also shown computers and DVD players,
among other appliances.

(Satisfecha empresa china por Revolución Energética en Cuba)

Guatemalan President Sees Off Students to Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 13. Alvaro Colom, President of Guatemala, saw off 80 low-resource youngsters going to Cuba on scholarships to study at the Latin American Medicine School (ELAM), in Havana.

Colom highlighted that Cuba is sharing with Guatemala the results of its sacrifices, of a revolution for the people and with people.

"These comrades can go to ELAM because of a people that fought for their freedom" said the head of state and added his admiration and respect for the Cuban Revolution, for its people and its leaders.

The ceremony took place at the National Culture Palace, and was attended by the chosen youngsters, their relatives and members of the Cuban diplomatic Mission in Guatemala. This scholarship program for Latin American and other countries was started by Cuba 10 years ago.

Celso Cerezo, Guatemala's Health Minister urged the youngsters to come back to work in the always forgotten interior of Guatemala. He also praised the outstanding work performed by the Cuban doctors in that Central American nation.

The 80 youngsters will join 538 Guatemalan students of medicine and 71 studying other specialities in Cuba.

Eliseo Zamora, business attaché at the Cuban Embassy highlighted that Guatemalans have already graduated as doctors and another 38 as sports and physical education majors.

(Presidente guatemalteco despide a 80 jóvenes estudiantes)

Cuba Reports Lower Presence of Drugs

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 12 (acn) Cuba had the second lowest level of drug confiscation of the past 14 years as a result of improved comprehensive strategies to prevent and confront the issue in the country.

Granma daily reported on Thursday that a little more than 1,801kg of narcotics, most of that in connection with 260 packages washed ashore, had been seized.

The newspaper adds that coastguard units with the help of the local population had managed to recover 1,746.3 kg, less than the amount found in 2007 (3,074.6 Kg) mostly from 172 packages that hit the Cuban coasts.

The largest amount of narcotics confiscated last year came from a failed drug trafficking operation frustrated by the U.S Coastguard Service thanks to information provided by Cuba, which reported the sighting of the boat carrying the shipment.

Even though drug trafficking operations continue with speedboats and aircrafts in routes close to Cuba, only 44 boats and 4 planes possibly involved in such actions were seen in 2008.

Since 2004, no case of droppings of drug packages in the sea have been reported, neither similar operations.

On the other hand, 13 operations of international drug trafficking were frustrated in Cuban airports by Costumes and the Interior Ministry, while 121 foreign tourists were detected carrying small quantities of drugs for their consumption on their way through the island's air frontier.

Cuba has strengthened its relations with international institutions and other multilateral mechanisms that fight drug trafficking, to which it contributes experiences and leads joint investigations.


(Decrece presencia de drogas en Cuba)

Cuba Plans Production of Bee Propolis Pills

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 12. Cuba is planning to produce bee propolis for oral and vaginal use, reported Radio Rebelde on Thursday. The announcement was made by Carlos Hernandez, president of the Mountain Agriculture Business Group.

The Cuban national radio station said that the design is ready for both the pills and a propolis-based ointment.

Propolis is a resinous substance obtained by bees from the bark of some trees and leaf buds. Bees use it to cover up and protect hives. It is rich in essential oils, vitamins and amino acids.

Due to its bactericide, fungicide and anti-inflammatory properties, and its quality to aid the formation of scar tissue, propolis is very effective in the treatment of vaginal parasitism associated with acute cervicitis.



( Fabricará Cuba tabletas de propóleo)

Fidel Castro Enjoys Good Health, says Chilean President

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 12."Fidel Castro is enjoying good health; he is very active, as usual, and willing to learn about everything; that is something that impresses you," said in Havana Chile's President Michelle Bachelet, after she met with the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution for over an hour today.

In statements to the local and foreign press, President Bachelet, who is paying an official visit to Cuba, said that she spoke with Fidel for quite a long time. "He was very interested in Chile-related issues," she said and added that Fidel is looking at lots of information and statistics. "He was very interested in learning about the performance of the sectors in which we
have been successful."

Bachelet said that in her exchange with Fidel, he addressed the wine production and other Chilean economic sectors and he also spoke of ways to expand commercial relations between both countries.

"It was a very important dialog, particularly about the challenges facing the region and about what Latin American nations are currently experiencing amidst the international crisis," said Bachelet and noted that the meeting was very pleasant and significant since she believes that it has been positive for bilateral exchange; " a moment to show the way we are doing
things in Chile and to listen to his reflections and views."


(Fidel está muy bien de salud, afirma Presidenta de Chile)

A Meeting with Michelle Bachelet, the President of Chile

REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL

It doesn’t matter what I say about the friendly meeting, some news agencies and papers will take the information and will print that the old man, convalescing after a serious illness or some other descriptor directed towards reducing the modest value of whatever I expressed to my prestigious interlocutor.

Michelle has the merit of having been elected president of Chile by the majority vote which was bestowed upon the Socialist Party that nominated her. For the first time in recent years in Latin America, a leftist organization had won such a victory, without the backing of money,
weapons and the Yankee publicity apparatus.

And especially since this honour had to do with the Socialist Party of Salvador Allende, who died under the wily direct air attack on La Moneda where he was occupying his position as the constitutional president of Chile. He neither asked for nor granted any truce. He was determined to die at his post, just as he had promised.

There were no precedents for the sinister treason committed by the head of the Chilean army who pretended and duped everyone right up to the end.

Even the house, at Tomas Moro, where his family resided, was also attacked and destroyed.

During very difficult moments in that period, after thousands of people had been tortured, murdered and disappeared, a very young woman named Gladys Marin was leading the Communist Party of Chile, built up throughout decades of effort and sacrifice by the Chilean working class that had taken her to that responsibility.

Gladys Marin and her party made no mistake; they gave all their support to Michelle Bachelet, thus determining the end of the influence of Augusto Pinochet. It was inadmissible that the tyrant who had been designed and led to power by the empire would once again rule the
destiny of Chile.

World opinion loathed his conduct.

In spite of that, it has not been nor is it still, easy to undo the legal intricacies that the vengeful and fascist oligarchy, with Yankee help, bound up the Chilean nation, deserving of a better fate.

More than one hundred years ago, in a war begun in 1879, that same oligarchy robbed Bolivia of the maritime coastline that gave it ample access to the Pacific Ocean.

Bolivia suffered an extraordinary historical humiliation in that struggle. Not only was its maritime coastline and access to the ocean stolen away from them, but extensive territories were taken away from that country, authentically American in origin, especially the Aymara
and Quechua peoples; territories rich in copper that constituted the greatest reserves in the world, which had been exploited for 130 years and today, its production is up to 5,364 million tons per year, bringing approximately 18,452 million dollars per year to the Chilean economy.
One cannot conceive of modern society without the copper metal whose prices have a tendency to rise.

Other extremely valuable minerals and natural products, some of them already exhausted and other new ones commanding very high prices, have appeared. One doesn’t know which of them were Chilean and which were Bolivian.

The president of Bolivia today, Evo Morales, holds no grudge because of that; on the contrary, he offered his territory for a wide, modern highway over which the products of the efficient Chilean industries, at the top of their form in their growth and with their laborious and
productive workers, could be sent to many world markets.

Chile is also particularly efficient in the production of nutritional food and high quality woods, in its agricultural lands, its mountains and its exceptional climate.

There is no other country that surpasses it in the efficiency of its ocean produce and high-demand products like salmon and the other cultivated and natural species that abound in its rich maritime and inland waters.

Today we are very close to February 15th, the day for the referendum on the constitutional amendment in our sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

José Martí was Cuba’s most profound revolutionary thinker and our national hero. Before the granite effigy of that thinker, Michelle Bachelet laid a floral tribute on behalf of her people, and we are very grateful.

He said about Bolivar, 115 years ago: “What he hasn’t accomplished, is still unaccomplished today; because Bolivar still has things to do in America.”

“Bolivar awakens every one hundred years”, proclaimed the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

At the point of celebrating the second century of his rebellion against the Spanish metropolis Bolivar awakens once again in Chavez’ revolutionary action. If the new leader who is leading his combative people will not attain his goal, it is difficult to imagine that any other leader would be able to achieve it. The media resources of the oligarchy and the empire would not be able to be surpassed.

What should we do then so that this planet does not become like Dante’s inferno, where the sign at its entranceway exhorts us to abandon all hope?

Nevertheless, I harbour the certainty that the Revolution will be victorious in Venezuela, and that in Chile the ideal of socialism for which Salvador Allende struggled and gave his life will finally triumph.

I spoke about those matters with Michelle Bachelet who did me the honour of listening to me with interest, chatting warmly and extensively expressing her ideas.

I shall always be satisfied with her friendly visit.


Fidel Castro Ruz

February 12, 2009

5 : 12 p.m.

Namibian President Visits Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 13. Hifikeunye Lucas Pohamba, President of Namibia and of the Southwestern African People’s Organization (SWAPO) arrived in Havana at the invitation of Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz.

Lucas Pohamba and his delegation were welcomed by Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Minister Rodrigo Malmierca at the Jose Marti International Airport. The visitors will stay in Cuba until next Sunday.

The Namibian President will hold official talks with Raul Castro and he will also meet with other Communist Party and government leaders. Lucas Pohamba will tour different places of economic, scientific, social and historic interest.

This is the fourth occasion that the African leader comes to Cuba, since he traveled here in 2002 as SWAPO General Secretary. His latest visit took place in 2006, as he headed a delegation to the 14th Non-Aligned Summit.

Cuba and Namibia established diplomatic relations on March 21, 1990. Both nations enjoy increasing bilateral cooperation links in different fields. At present, 154 Cuban workers are offering their services in Namibia, 116 of them are boosting the Comprehensive Health System, which saved the life of some 71, 000 Namibians who were submitted to surgery,
vaccination and other treatments.

Up to date some 1, 281 Namibian youths have graduated from Cuban education centers, most of them as medical technicians and other professions, while another 121 students are still taking different courses.

Namibia has always supported the Cuban Resolution against the US economic blockade of Cuba, at the United Nations.

During the 4th Congress of the SWAPO, held in 2007, the historic leader of Namibia Sam Nujoma and Lucas Pohamba acknowledged the contribution made by Cuban internationalist forces to Namibia´s independence and to the end of the racist Apartheid system.

Namibia was the first country to have expressed its solidarity with the Cuban people after the passage on the island of hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma last year; that country donated one million dollars for the recovery process.

(De visita en Cuba presidente de Namibia)

miércoles, 11 de febrero de 2009

Michelle Bachelet says She is Satisfied to be in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 11 . We are very happy to be in Havana and to be the first Chilean head of state to come here in the past 37 years, said Michelle Bachelet upon her arrival at the Jose Marti Intenational Airport Tuesday evening, where she was welcomed by First Cuban Vice-President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura.

Bachelet is being accompanied by a large delegation made up of cabinet officials, parliamentarians and entrepreneurs. She expressed her gratefulness for the fact that Chile is the guest of honor at the 18th International Book Fair.

We hope this visit will further strengthen regional integration, political dialog and the search of common solutions to the challenges we are facing in our region, said the Chilean President.

Michelle Bachelet is scheduled to hold official talks with Cuban President Raul Castro. She will attend the inaugural ceremony of the International Book Fair and will tour different places of economic, scientific, cultural and historic interest.

(Satisfecha presidenta de Chile por su presencia en Cuba)

martes, 10 de febrero de 2009

The comparisons, sometimes, are necessary

By:Ernesto Pantaleòn Medina

The last September 8, 2008, the Cubans received (and of what way) a bad news: the hurricane "Ike" had destroyed a good part of the country, but the day 9 we already had another news, this good time: the town rose on the brashes and fallen trees, on the satiny crops, and as a single arm rushed to the recovery.

Some weeks later, another meteorological phenomenon of great intensity, "Paloma", crossed the oriental region of the archipelague and left a sad rake of collapses and floods.

Without stopping the works that had undertaken, thousands of men and women should tighten their forces to resist the lash that only in Santa Cruz del Sur, coastal population of the county of Camagüey, demolished 300 properties almost and damaged severely other 200. A couple of months later the constructions run off with of what will be the new establishment, in a surer area, far from the coast.

From regions fewer affected, and still of those that suffered the effects of the nature, manufacturers' brigades, electricians and non specialized people went, as the peasants that insisted immediately in the restoration of the houses of curing tobacco in Pinar del Río.

Hundred of thousands of having evacuated received sure housing in schools or other facilities far from the areas of danger, and that for their conditions guaranteed the security of the most valuable well in today's Cuba: the human life. Medical care, constant information through television and the radio, appropriate feeding, even the one prescribed old men, sick persons or children, who stayed in a stable way, next to the most transcendent thing in situations like those described: the solidarity, a hand friend in the place and the precise moment
And although the comparisons could not sometimes be good, in some cases they are necessary and definitories

Several years after the "Katrina", thousands of black North American don't have housing, neither grieve services of health and the education exhibits big breaches.

Has not a high percent of the population of New Orleans returned to its residence places, neither data that allow to predict a soon return, exist because where to make comfortable to restart a life that the waters were taken? Thousands of knocked down houses or crawled by the floods still wait for a modest constructive effort that doesn't arrive.

No authority was able to foresee the disaster, neither there is apparently who remedies it.
And what is worse: to who to go? that it is known, don't exist in the United States societies protectors of the black , neither there are that occupies in charge of the Indian or of the poor person in favor of who no hand rises, as it is not with an imperative gesture, that that places a vertical finger on the lips, and that seemed to say: " silence, men and women without rights."

Chile´s Michelle Bachelet to Pay Official Visit to Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 10 (acn) Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet today begins an official visit to Cuba at the invitation of President Raul Castro Ruz. Bachelet is heading an official delegation made up of cabinet members, parliamentarians and entrepreneurs.

The visit to Cuba by the Chilean President will contribute to further strengthening friendly and cooperation links between Cuba and Chile, Granma daily reports.

During her stay in Cuba, President Bachelet will hold official talks with her Cuban counterpart Raul Castro; she will attend the inauguration of the 18th International Book Fair, which is dedicated to her country, and she will also tour places of economic, scientific, historic and cultural interest.

(Llegará hoy a Cuba la Presidenta de Chile)

Cuban President Returned Home After Visiting Russia, Angola and Algeria

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 10 (acn) President Raul Castro returned to Cuba after having paid official visits to Russia, Angola and Algeria.

Early on Tuesday, Raul Castro and his delegation were welcomed at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport by Cuba's First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and other government officials, Granma daily reported.

The successful world tour by the Cuban President contributed to further strengthening political, economic and friendly relations with the governments and peoples of Russia, Angola and Algeria.

Shortly after leaving Algeria, the third and last leg of his trip, Raul Castro and his delegation was seen off in Algiers by President Abedelaziz Bouteflika.

The Cuban delegation was made up of Revolution Commander Ramiro Valdes Menendez, also Communications and Information Technologies; First Deputy Minister of the Cuban Armed Revolutionary Forces, Army Corps General Leopoldo Cinta Frias; the Vice President of the Cuban Council of Ministers Ricardo Cabrisas; Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Foreign Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca.



(Regresó Raul a la patria)

lunes, 9 de febrero de 2009

WHO Praises Cuba´s Contribution to Zimbabwe’s Health Care System

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 9 . World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Zimbabwe Custodia Mandlhate praised the work of a medical brigade from Cuba in that country and its contribution to the health care system of the African nation, in a meeting with the Cuban Ambassador Cosmne Torres in Harare.

WHO’s top official highlighted Cuba’s medical help to other Third World countries and stressed that it is an example of international cooperation, says a press release by the Cuban embassy to that country.

Mandlhate welcomed Cuban Ambassador’s proposal of having Cuban doctors more involved, with the WHO in the struggle against the cholera epidemic that has hit Zimbabwe.

Likewise, Harare’s mayor Muchadei Masunda expressed admiration for the laudable work of the Cuban medical personnel in Zimbabwe, said the diplomatic source.

In a telephone conversation with the Cuban ambassador, the mayor extolled the work of the Cuban doctors.

Masunda noted that it was praiseworthy the spirit of selflessness our internationalist workers show in their work in his country as well as in other African nations, where they do their best and show their high professional levels.

The Zimbabwean official showed his interest on knowing more on the social, economic and political developments that are taking place in Cuba. He recognized the island’s achievements in the sports field and stated his admiration for former boxer Teofilo Stevenson, whom he would like to meet personally.

(Organizacion Mundial de la Salud Destaca Contribucion de Cuba al Sistema
de Salud de Zimbabwe)

Rahm Emanuel, Reflections by comrade Fidel

What a strange name! It is easy to pronounce and it sounds as if it were Spanish but it is not. Among tens of thousands of names I have read of students and compatriots and people I have met in my life, I have never heard that name before.

Where does it come from? I thought. Once and again, the name of Inmanuel Kant, the most brilliant German thinker, came to my mind. Kant, with Aristotle and Plato made up the trio of philosophers with the greatest influence on the human thought. As I would learn later, this was not far from the philosophy of the man closest to Barack Obama, the current President of the United States.

Another recent possibility led me to reflect on the strange name. This time it was the book by German Sanchez, Cuban ambassador to the Bolivarian Venezuela, entitled “La transparencia de Enmanuel”, although in this case the name was written without the letter “I”, the first in
the name of the German philosopher.

Enmanuel is the name of the child conceived and born in the thick forest occupied by the guerrilla, where his very worthy mother Clara Rojas Gonzalez became a prisoner on February 23, 2002. She had been a candidate to vice-president of Colombia in the same ticket with Ingrid Betancourt who was running for the presidency of that sister nation in
the election to be held that same year.

I had read with great interest the abovementioned book by German Sanchez, our ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, who had the privilege of taking part in 2008 in the release of Clara Rojas an Consuelo Gonzalez, former deputy to the National Assembly for the FARC, the revolutionary army of Colombia, which made them prisoners.

Clara had stayed with the guerrilla in solidarity with Ingrid whom she accompanied in her six years of captivity.

German’s book is entitled “La transparencia de Enmanuel”, almost exactly the name of the German philosopher. I was not surprised the mother had given such a name to her child for she is a talented and learned attorney. It simply made me recall my years of imprisonment in solitary confinement due to the almost successful assault on the second military fortress in Cuba on July 26, 1953 to seize thousands of weapons with a selected group of 120 combatants willing to fight against the Batista’s tyranny imposed on Cuba by the United States.

Of course, that was not the only objective or the only idea in which we found inspiration, but the truth is that after the victory of the revolution in our homeland on January 1st, 1959, I still remembered some of the German philosopher’s aphorisms:

“The wise man can change his opinion; the fool never does.”

“Do not treat others as a mean to attain your objectives.”

“A man can only grow to be a man through education.”

This idea was one of the principles proclaimed since the first days of the revolutionary victory of January 1st, 1959. Obama and his advisor had not been born; they had not even been conceived. Rahm Emanuel was born in Chicago on November 29, 1959, to an immigrant of Russian descent. His mother Martha Smulevitz, an advocate of civil rights, was
sent to prison three times for her activities.

Rahm Emanuel joined the Israeli Army as a volunteer in 1991, during the first Golf War unleashed by Bush, sr., using uranium- loaded rockets that caused serious illnesses among the U.S. troops taking part in the offensive on the retreating Iraqi Republican Guard and among an
incalculable number of civilians.

Ever since that war, the peoples of the Near and Middle East have become consumers of enormous amounts of armament placed in the market by the U.S. industrial military complex.

If the extreme right racists were able to quench their thirst for ethnic superiority and assassinate Obama as they did Martin Luther King, a great human rights leader, which is theoretically possible, although it does not seem likely at the moment given the protection provided to the President every minute of the day and night after his election.

Obama, Emanuel and all of the talented politicians and economists they have brought together would not suffice to solve the growing problems of the American capitalist society.

Even if Kant, Plato and Aristotle were resurrected together with the late brilliant economist John Kenneth Galbraight, they would neither be capable of solving the more frequent and deeper antagonistic contradictions of the system. They would have been happy in the days of
Abraham Lincoln, so much admired, and rightly so, by the new President; but those days are now far behind.

All the rest of the peoples will have to pay for the huge waste and ensure, first of all on an increasingly contaminated planet, the American jobs and the profits of that country’s big transnational.


Fidel Castro Ruz

February 8, 2009

5:16 p.m.

Cuban Biotechnology Products in 58 Countries of the World

HOLGUIN, Cuba, Feb 8 . Cuban biotechnology has taken its scientific results to some 58 countries of the world, said the director of the Molecular Immunology Center, Doctor Agustin Lage in a key lecture in this eastern province.

The expansion of the sector reveals the potential of the Cuban scientific community, in its effort to increase its contribution to the search for more effective formulas in the field of medicine, both in the country and at international level, said the expert.

Lage Davila explained that the biotechnology industry contributes the Cuban Health Ministry over 160 products, which reveals the significance of the centers working in the scientific area.

The biotechnological products, aimed at achieving more accurate diagnosis of specific diseases, include clinical essays on cancer vaccines and the production of recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies.

Also included is the production of a natural restorative and anti-anemia product, known as TROFIN, mainly dedicated to the local Mother-child attention program. The product is being developed at the National Immunology Center in this eastern city.

Doctor Lage Davila, an outstanding Cuban scientist and author of numerous works in the field of medicine, attended the last session of the Third Provincial Forum on Biotechnology, held here on Saturday.


(Se extiende a 58 paises la biotecnología cubana)

President Raul Castro Stresses Cuba-Algeria Positive Relations

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 8 . Cuban President Raul Castro today underscored the positive character of official relations between Cuba and Algeria, after he met with Abdelaziz Bouteflika, head of state of that African nation.

The Cuban leader held official talks with the Algerian President on Sunday at the Presidential Palace in the capital Algiers, according to a Cuban TV report.

Referring to his meeting with President Bouteflika, Raul Castro said that they addressed bilateral relations and cooperation issues, and that Cuba and Algeria fully share views on main international issues.

After explaining that bilateral relations between both countries have strengthened with the passage of time, the Cuban President stressed the need to further expand relations in the economic area and progressively work towards the complementation of both economies.

The Cuban head of state announced upcoming meetings between Cuban and Algerian officials to expand bilateral cooperation relations, which date back to 1963 when Cuba sent 52 medical doctors to help the Algerian people, PL news reported.

Raul Castro also referred to an eye-treatment hospital currently working in Algeria with the assistance of Cuban personnel and the setting up of companies to produce vaccines, plus the technological transfer in the field of hemo-derivatives.

The Cuban President said he was impressed with his visit this morning to the Sanctuary of the Martyrs, where he laid a wreath to those killed in combat during the independence war against French colonialism. The place raised in 1982 on a hill in the capital Algiers, pays homage to the victims of the national liberation war.

Raul Castro also corroborated the gratitude of the Algerian people to Cuban solidarity, highlighted by the huge media coverage of the visit by the Cuban President and his delegation to that country.

(Destaca Presidente cubano relaciones con Argelia)

Cuban Cycling Tour Begins on Tuesday

HAVANA , Cuba, Feb 9 (acn) The 34th 'Vuelta a Cuba' cycling tour begins on Tuesday with the participation of over 100 cyclists divided into four foreign teams and 14 local squads.

The competition will begin in the easternmost city of Baracoa and participants will have to cover 1,780 kilometers in 13 stages.

The first leg of the event will consist of 153 kilometers between Baracoa and the city of Guantanamo, with two mountain primes in Vivero and in Alto de Cotilla. There will also be sprints in Imias, San Antonio del Sur and Yateritas.

Cuba 's main squad is led by Raul Granjel and Arnold Alcolea, runners-up in the individual and the mountain categories, respectively, in the 'Vuelta a Cuba 2008'.

Cuban Pedro Pablo Perez, who has won the cycling tour on several occasions, will be absent this year as he is still recovering from injuries he suffered in a car accident in July.

Foreign teams from Venezuela, Mexico, Germany and Canada will take part in the competition while Cuba will be represented by its national squad, ten provincial teams, a squad from the Manuel Fajardo Institute of Physical Culture, and two teams from technical centers in Cienfuegos and Guantanamo.

Venezuelan Manuel Medina, who topped the ranking of the America Tour 2008, and Colombian Gregorio Ladino, who won the mountain category last year, are some of the top foreign participants.

(Arranca mañana la XXXIV Vuelta Ciclística a Cuba)

viernes, 6 de febrero de 2009

Perez Esquivel: Cuban Solidarity Example of Human Rights

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 6. "Cuba's solidarity with other nations is an indisputable example of human rights," said Argentinean Adolfo Perez Esquivel, the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in favor of human rights.

"In spite of the unjust US blockade against the Island, Cuba sends doctors, teachers and technicians to assist nations in need," Perez Esquivel told Presa Latina news agency on Thursday as Cuba presented its report on human rights at the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council.

The prestigious intellectual, who is also the president of the Peace and Justice Service Foundation, stressed that the issue of human rights should be assessed in an integral manner, always considering mutual respect as well as political, economic and social rights.

(La solidaridad cubana es ejemplo de derechos humanos)

Jose Marti and the Cuban Revolution Honored in Australia

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 6 . The Australia-Cuba Friendship Society (ACFS) of the western city of Perth paid tribute to Cuba's National Hero Jose Marti on the occasion of the 156th anniversary of his birth, and the 50th of the victory of the Cuban Revolution.

With the reading and debate of the article La carrera, written by Marti and published in Patria newspaper in 1883, the members of the Association opened a literary evening in which they also read some of his verses in English and Spanish, Prensa Latina news agency reports on
its Web site.

The debate focused on Marti's legacy, not only for the Cuban people, but also for all of the Americas. The head of the solidarity group in Perth, Tony Lakis, highlighted the international scope of the Cuban patriot's writings.

Participants in the gathering also recalled the recent mass demonstration in support of Cuba in Madrid, and condemned the anti-Cuban stand of political sectors in the Spanish opposition.

The ACFS renewed its call for the cessation of the US blockade against Cuba, and declared that it expects that the new US administration recognizes the island's right to self-determination and its remarkable social achievements.

(Título español: Honran en Australia a José Martí y a la Revolución Cubana)

Busy Agenda for Cuban Delegation Attending African Union Summit

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 6 . The Cuban delegation to the 12th Summit of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, met with numerous African personalities and dignitaries as part of its busy agenda during the gathering.

The island's mission was headed by Ambassador Ivan Mora, director of the Cuban Foreign Ministry's Sub-Saharan Africa Division.

Among the African leaders met by the Cuban delegation were outgoing frican Union Chairman Jean Ping, the Vice President of Ghana, John Mahama, and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States, Mohamed Ibn Chambas.

Ambassador Mora also met with the foreign ministers of Angola, Benin, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Zambia, the Ivory Coast, Chad, Sudan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Malawi, Algeria and Ethiopia.

Issues of bilateral interest were discussed during the various meetings, particularly Cuba's cooperation in different fields. Also, the expressions of solidarity toward Cuba and wishes for the speedy recovery of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro were also unanimous.

(Intercambia funcionario cubano con personalidades africanas )

Surrender in Camagüey Distinction 495 anniversary

Camagüey, Feb 6. The recognition to those who carry out a creative work and of great social impact, this Thursday was materialized, with the delivery of the Distinction 495 to representatives of diverse social sectors of Camagüey.

In the individual order received that reward Norberto Puentes, regular of the famous orchestra of the county “Maravilla de Florida”, the artistic director Rigoberto Álvarez, Isabel Liriano president of the Philatelic Association, and the grateful speaker of the Radio station Radio Cadena Agramonte Rafael López Álvarez.

The Distinction 495 anniversary, recognition conferred by the government in the territory, distinguished in a collective way to among other centers to the Provincial Museum Ignacio Agramonte, the scale model of the Historical Center, The Adult's native house, the comercializer Vitral, the Historian's Office and Radio Camagüey.

The protocol living room Nicolás Guillén of the Square of the Revolution Ignacio Agramonte, welcomed the solemn ceremony, presided by Leonardo Soto Romero, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in the municipality of Camagüey, and Andrés Morales Leal, president of the Assembly of the Popular Power (Govern) to that instance.

jueves, 5 de febrero de 2009

Reopens its doors Center of Health and Beauty Venus in Camagüey

Camagüey. The Center of Health and Beauty Venus reopened its doors this Wednesday, with a totally rejuvenated image, after seven months without offering services to the population to be subjected to a capital repair.

The entity began to pay attention with a different comfort, new technological teams and its completely acclimatized main living room.

Services every day of the week will be lent in the schedules from eight of the morning to seven of the night, except on Sundays that will close in the schedule of the noon.

As Eneida Cerceller informed, boss of the department of services, in the installation all the departments will work, excepting the podology area for not being complete the instrumental necessary and the area of the sauna that is still in repair process.

The entity has a cafeteria located in the hairdresser living room where the clients will be able to consent to different offers like are the liquid products and the fruits, to a moderate price.

Celebrate anniversary of la Trova`s House Patricio Ballagas of Camagüey

Camagüey. For more than 30 years minstrels, soners and poets, have found a space for the diffusion of it work in an emblematic construction, marked with the number 171 of the old street bigger today Salvador Cisneros, in the vicinity of the park Ignacio Agramonte.

Some years ago it was transformed into an institution ,cultural institution that takes the prominent musician's name Patricio Ballagas who bequeathed to the culture Cuban, valuable compositions and a peculiar stamp in the execution of several inrtuments.

Before 1959 that property functioned as an establishment worked for the sale of musical instruments, being the revolution the main inspiring of what is at the moment: replies of the colonial art of Camagüey, and space of having forced attendance for those who love the popular traditional music.

In that corner of the trova have offered the best in it talent several generations of consecrated artits of the national culture as Cesar Portillo de la Luz, Esther Borges, Nicolás Guillén, Luis Carbonell, the feeling lady Elena Burke, González Allue, Rosa Fornes, María Elena Pena, Sergio Farias, Carlos Puebla and many more than the patio and of other regions of the country.

The camagüeyan house of the trova, arrives to its anniversary XXXV of having constituted with an intense program of cultural diffusion, being the prospective presentations of the extraordinary Candita Batista and the grouping Soneros de Camacho, farming grouping of the son,since the years 30 of last century, those of more artistic relief.

Since it opening so far, the music house of Camagüey, not only has included in it programmings the trova, but also charge life other musical styles as the filing, the danzon the bolero and until the tango rocks, which had in their moment many followers.

The house of the trova "Patricio Ballagas" of group with the representation of ARTEX in the county, determines to maintain alive the most authentic cultural traditions in the city of the earthenjars and it people, an aspiration that crystallizes thanks to the passion of groupings, soloists and composers of the fertile plain of Camagüey.

martes, 3 de febrero de 2009

Cuban Health Workers in Suriname Defend their Theses

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 3 . Three Cuban health professionals, members of the José Martí Column One Medical Brigade now working in Suriname, defended their theses for their master’s degrees at the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Health in that South American nation.

The Minister of Health in Suriname, Celsius Waterberg, and Cuba’s ambassador to Paramaribo, the capital, Andres Gonzalez, presided over the activity.

The teaching director of the Cuban Medical Brigade, Alexis Hernandez, pointed out that the three collaborators dedicated this achievement, performed for the first time by Cubans in Suriname, to the 156th anniversary of the birth of Cuba’s National Hero José Martí, celebrated
on January 28.

The theses were: Community participation in some aspects of sexuality in adolescents, by Mildred Ramos; Nutritional Energy Malnutrition in children under 15 year-old, by de Kenia Morales; and Behaviour of High Blood Pressure in the elderly, by Eddy Millan, head of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Suriname.

The members of the examining board, headed by Rafael Corona, explained the legal aspects inherent in master’s degrees and underlined the importance of carrying out these educational exercises, especially amid Cuba’s international medical cooperation.

The activity was also part of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, by the Cuban voluntary workers in
that nation.

(Discuten tesis cooperantes cubanos de salud en Suriname)

Cuban VP Meets President of Hungarian Communist Party

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 3. Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo met on Monday in Havana with Gyula Thurmer, President of the Hungarian Communist Workers’ Party, who is visiting the Caribbean country at the invitation of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC).

According to Granma news daily, during the meeting, both leaders spoke about topics such as the current international situation caused by the deep economic crisis.

In this regard, Lazo gave the visitor details about the efforts made by the Cuban Government and the PCC to maintain the social and economic development of the country in spite of the devastation and huge economic losses caused by three hurricanes in the last months of 2008.

The Cuban official also thanked Thurmer for the Hungarian Communist Workers’ Party’s rejection of the US economic blockade of Cuba and for their solidarity with the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters who remain unjustly imprisoned in the United States.

For his part, Thurmer congratulated the Cuban people on behalf of his Party for the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.

Also present in the meeting was Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, head of the Foreign Relations Department at the PCC’s Central Committee.


(Reciben a Presidente del Partido Comunista Obrero Húngaro)