HAVANA, Cuba. Cuba will participate in the First World Forum on Social Sciences -"Separate Worlds?"- to be held in Bergen, Norway, from May 10 to 12.
The Paris-based United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) will take part in the forum, which is sponsored by the International Council of Social Sciences, the University of Bergen, and the Stein Rokkan Center, reported the Prensa Latina news agency.
Participating in the meeting will be some 800 delegates from numerous countries, including Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Spain, the United States, Russia, France, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway and Palestine.
Among the experts invited are 1998 Nobel Prize for Economics Laureate Amartya Sen and the President of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Climate Change, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri.
The first day of discussions will center be called "Migration, the Missing Link of Globalization."
Scheduled for the third day of the event are several debates, with special emphasis on the Management of Social Transformation and reevaluating policies to respond to the international financial crisis.
(Cuba en Foro Mundial de Ciencias Sociales en Noruega)
jueves, 7 de mayo de 2009
Well-Cooked Pork Does Not Transmit Influenza A
HAVANA, Cuba. Pork and pork products handled in accordance with good hygienic practices will not be a source of infection for the influenza A(H1N1) virus, according to a WHO, OIE and FAO joint release.
World Health Organization, World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agricultural Organization reissued their joint statement due to growing concerns about the possibility of the virus being found in pigs and the safety of pork and pork products in the ongoing spread of the
disease.
Influenza viruses are not known to be transmissible to people through eating processed pork or other food products derived from pigs, says the statement and adds that heat treatments commonly used in cooking meat (e.g. 70°C/160°F core temperature) will readily inactivate any viruses potentially present in raw meat products.
The report does, however, stress that authorities and consumers should ensure that meat from sick pigs or pigs found dead are not processed or used for human consumption under any circumstances.
More information about Influenza A (H1N1) can be found in:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
(Cerdo Cocinado no transmite Influenza A)
World Health Organization, World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agricultural Organization reissued their joint statement due to growing concerns about the possibility of the virus being found in pigs and the safety of pork and pork products in the ongoing spread of the
disease.
Influenza viruses are not known to be transmissible to people through eating processed pork or other food products derived from pigs, says the statement and adds that heat treatments commonly used in cooking meat (e.g. 70°C/160°F core temperature) will readily inactivate any viruses potentially present in raw meat products.
The report does, however, stress that authorities and consumers should ensure that meat from sick pigs or pigs found dead are not processed or used for human consumption under any circumstances.
More information about Influenza A (H1N1) can be found in:
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
(Cerdo Cocinado no transmite Influenza A)
Solidarity with Cuba Campaigns Underway in UK
HAVNA, Cuba. An extensive campaign to promote solidarity with Cuba is underway in the United Kingdom to "show that British and Cuban peoples have a lot in common," said campaign director Rob Miller.
In an interview with Juventud Rebelde newspaper, Miller said the campaign seeks to promote positive change in the UK government's policy towards Cuba.
He said they want to encourage people to travel to Cuba to meet with the Cuban people and witness firsthand the reality of a country that lives with daily hardships due to the US blockade. Then, when they return to the UK, to tell their government about their experiences in order to
foster understanding and the realization that the British and Cuban people have a lot in common.
Miller also spoke about the need to work hard with British members of parliament and unions to urge the government to adopt a positive stance.
As part of the campaign, organizers have sent a postcard to British Foreign Minister David Miliband with an enticing landscape of a Cuban beach; the question, "Would you like to be here?;" and an invitation for him to visit the Caribbean island to show that the British government is genuinely interested in developing relations with Cuba.
Miller explained that the postcard sent to Miliband came after recent government statements that it will not send ministers to visit Cuba unless to meet with counterrevolutionaries.
Rob Millar also asked that if Spanish, Irish and representatives of many countries, including from the EU, travel to Cuba, why does the British government insist on maintaining George W. Bush's failed policy against the island.
He also noted that some 200,000 British travellers take their holidays in Cuba every year, bringing back favourable impressions of the island and, particularly, of its people.
(Impulsan en Reino Unido campaña de solidaridad con Cuba)
In an interview with Juventud Rebelde newspaper, Miller said the campaign seeks to promote positive change in the UK government's policy towards Cuba.
He said they want to encourage people to travel to Cuba to meet with the Cuban people and witness firsthand the reality of a country that lives with daily hardships due to the US blockade. Then, when they return to the UK, to tell their government about their experiences in order to
foster understanding and the realization that the British and Cuban people have a lot in common.
Miller also spoke about the need to work hard with British members of parliament and unions to urge the government to adopt a positive stance.
As part of the campaign, organizers have sent a postcard to British Foreign Minister David Miliband with an enticing landscape of a Cuban beach; the question, "Would you like to be here?;" and an invitation for him to visit the Caribbean island to show that the British government is genuinely interested in developing relations with Cuba.
Miller explained that the postcard sent to Miliband came after recent government statements that it will not send ministers to visit Cuba unless to meet with counterrevolutionaries.
Rob Millar also asked that if Spanish, Irish and representatives of many countries, including from the EU, travel to Cuba, why does the British government insist on maintaining George W. Bush's failed policy against the island.
He also noted that some 200,000 British travellers take their holidays in Cuba every year, bringing back favourable impressions of the island and, particularly, of its people.
(Impulsan en Reino Unido campaña de solidaridad con Cuba)
Raul Castro Meets Visiting Laotian Prime Minister
HAVANA, Cuba. Cuban President Raul Castro met on Wednesday with Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh who concluded a four-day official visit to the island.
According to the Granma newspaper, Raul and the distinguished visitor spoke about bilateral relations and other topics of general interest.
The Cuban head of state sent greetings to the Laotian people and reiterated Cuba's gratitude for their solidarity.
For his part, Bouasone Bouphavanh said that their solidarity was in accordance with the long-standing bonds of friendship between the two nations and recalled Raul's visit to Laos in 2005. He also thanked the leader of the Caribbean archipelago for Cuba's contribution to the
development of his country.
Also present in the meeting were Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla and Laotian Ambassador in Havana Khampo Khaykhamphithoune.
(Fraternal encuentro de Raúl y el Primer Ministro de Lao)
According to the Granma newspaper, Raul and the distinguished visitor spoke about bilateral relations and other topics of general interest.
The Cuban head of state sent greetings to the Laotian people and reiterated Cuba's gratitude for their solidarity.
For his part, Bouasone Bouphavanh said that their solidarity was in accordance with the long-standing bonds of friendship between the two nations and recalled Raul's visit to Laos in 2005. He also thanked the leader of the Caribbean archipelago for Cuba's contribution to the
development of his country.
Also present in the meeting were Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla and Laotian Ambassador in Havana Khampo Khaykhamphithoune.
(Fraternal encuentro de Raúl y el Primer Ministro de Lao)
Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon in Canada for Academic Conference
More than 200 experts from Cuba, the United States and another 12 nations will attend the forum, which will focus on Cuba´s economy, politics, government, and international relations.
A delegation of 39 members will represent the Caribbean nation at the event, which begins today at the University of Queens, in Kingston, a city located on the eastern side of Lake Ontario, PL news agency reported.
Also attending is the head of the Cuban Foreign Ministry´s North America Division, Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, as well as Cristina Diaz Lopez, vice-rector of the University of Havana, and Cuba´s ambassador to Canada, Teresita de Jess Vicente.
Before arriving in Kingston, The President of Cuba´s National Assembly of the People´s Power (Parliament) paid a working visit to the Canadian capital Ottawa, where he met with members of the Chamber and the Senate.
Ricardo Alarcon also held talks with the Canada-Cuba Inter-parliamentary Group, as well as with the leader of Quebec bloc, Gilles Duceppe, and the president of the Senate´s Health Committee, Wilbert Keon.
During a solemn ceremony held at the Canadian Parliament, Alarcon presented Senator Marcel Prud'homme, founder of the Canada-Cuba Inter-parliamentary Group, with the Friendship Medal granted by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba.
Interviewed by Prensa Latina news agency, Prud'homme stressed the social achievements of the Cuban Revolution, among which those in the fields of education and public health stand out.
A QUESTION WITH NO ANSWER
Obviously, the State, with its rigor and coercive force, was considered an obstruction by those like Marx, Lenin and other theoreticians, who saw it as an instrument used by the exploiters to impose the heinous capitalist system, and conceived the idea of turning it into an instrument of the Revolution in the stage of transition to and entirely new society.
Colonialists, capitalists and imperialists have created their own codes of conduct and imposed their values. They talk about freedom, democracy, human rights and so on. After the United States was founded, millions of human beings continued working as salves; the Creator had not granted them any right, as was stated in the Philadelphia Declaration. During almost 100 years they were like merchandise which was bought and sold in the market, and for another 100 years, after the civil war, they were atrociously discriminated against and marginalized. Today, together with the American Indians and the Latin Americans, they are the poorest citizens to be found in the US prisons; they do the toughest and worst paid jobs.
It is never said that billions of people in the world suffer the consequences of ignorance, unemployment, underdevelopment, diseases that curtail their life span to two thirds or by one half –and sometimes less than that- as compared to the life span enjoyed by people in rich countries.
New problems, such as drug trafficking, organized crime, brain drain and illegal migration, add to the old ones. There is even an attempt to submit the human minds using the mass media and the most modern techniques of the so called entertainment industry.
They mint unlimited amounts of the hard currency required by international trade, and with that they acquire properties for their multinationals and take hold of the natural resources and the fruits of peoples’ labor in order to prop up the societies of consumption and waste that they have created.
Furthermore, the United States keeps a monopolist control over the international credit and investment agencies.
Whenever these concerns start going around the minds of many millions in the world who do not let themselves be misled by the lies that are proclaimed, news begin to flow showing different realities.
Gathering a number of national and international news showing the national privileges that country has imposed on the whole world could even be an enlightening pastime. There are politicians inside and outside the United States who take offense if someone dares to describe that system as an empire, as if there were another word that could better define it.
The other side of the coin offers a much gloomier picture. On several occasions reference was made to the seven fleets with which the US imposes its military might on the world, resorting to more than 800 military bases scattered throughout the planet. Guantánamo, whose prison camps and tortures astonished the world’s public opinion, is only one of the hundreds of military bases that they have.
Maybe we could have a better idea of the military power with which the superpower supports the economic and social system it has imposed on humankind by referring to some data which were recently published by the specialized press.
The US military power is based on its nuclear arsenal.
It has 534 Minuteman III and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM); 432 Trident C-4 and D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) installed on board of 17 Ohio submarines; and around 200 long-range nuclear bombers that can be supplied in mid-air, among them 16 invisible B-2. The missiles carry several warheads. The number of nuclear warheads deployed ranges between five thousand and ten thousand. Its Armed Forces are made up by more than 2 million men. Added to all these there are hundreds of military and communication satellites which make up the space shield and are the means for an electromagnetic war.
Russia, the other big nuclear power, has been surrounded by offensive nuclear weapons.
It is hardly necessary to add one more word, except for being reminded that thanks to the monopoly over money and natural resources, the United States announced yesterday through the Pentagon’s principal commander for cyber-war that that country was determined to lead the global effort to use computer technology to deter or defeat the enemies, while protecting people’s constitutional rights. The news was broadcast by the AP, the main US news agency.
How much security can be found in today’s world? That is a question with no answer!
May 6, 2009
3:32 p.m.
Cuban Cigar Roller Officially Receives Guinness Award
HAVANA, Cuba. Cuban cigar roller Jose Castelar Cairo (Cueto) will receive officially this Wednesday his fourth Guinness Record certificate, this time for his 45,38 meters long Habano cigar.
The ceremony will take place on Wednesday afternoon during the 29th International Tourism Fair (FITCUBA'09) underway at the Morro-Cabaña Fortress, reported the Opciones online newspaper.
Cueto, rolled his cigar during the 2008 international tourism fair and the record has just been certified by London's house of world records.
The Cuban roller has made other three univer al habanos. The first was a 11.04 meters long cigar, the second one was 14.80 meters and the third one 20.41, all of them registered as Records.
Cueto works in La Triada store, of the Grupo Caracol. He told Opciones that he was very happy with the acknowledgement and that he receives the record on behalf of Cuba, a country known for producing the best cigars in the world.
Cueto is a celebrity with people from all over the globe hunting him down at La Triada, located by the entrance of the Morro-Cabañas fortress complex.
"They approach me with a zillion questions and some confess that they have never seen a Guinness record holder in person. Then they take pictures with me, and look at my hands and touch them, astonished," said Cueto.
(Entregarán hoy Record Guinness a tabaquero cubano)
The ceremony will take place on Wednesday afternoon during the 29th International Tourism Fair (FITCUBA'09) underway at the Morro-Cabaña Fortress, reported the Opciones online newspaper.
Cueto, rolled his cigar during the 2008 international tourism fair and the record has just been certified by London's house of world records.
The Cuban roller has made other three univer al habanos. The first was a 11.04 meters long cigar, the second one was 14.80 meters and the third one 20.41, all of them registered as Records.
Cueto works in La Triada store, of the Grupo Caracol. He told Opciones that he was very happy with the acknowledgement and that he receives the record on behalf of Cuba, a country known for producing the best cigars in the world.
Cueto is a celebrity with people from all over the globe hunting him down at La Triada, located by the entrance of the Morro-Cabañas fortress complex.
"They approach me with a zillion questions and some confess that they have never seen a Guinness record holder in person. Then they take pictures with me, and look at my hands and touch them, astonished," said Cueto.
(Entregarán hoy Record Guinness a tabaquero cubano)
Solidarity with Cuban Five in Belgium
HAVANA, Cuba. The growing participation of Belgians in the efforts to obtain freedom for the Cuban Five, unfairly imprisoned in the United States, was confirmed by Senator Sfía Bouarfa.A Juventud Rebelde newspaper report says Bouarfa, also the president of the Belgium-Cuba Friendship Association, is highly motivated to promote support for the cause of the Cuban Five, not only among friends but also with everyone she encounters.
The Cubans have been held in US jails since their arrest in 1998.
The paper quotes Sfía Bouarfa as saying that there are many groups in Belgium dedicated to supporting the cause of the Cuban Five and also to denounce the more than four decades of the US blockade against Cuba.
"We have also demanded respect for Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez right to visit their respective husbands in their US prisons, Rene and Gerardo, as well as calling for their immediate release," said the Belgian politician.
She said many demonstrations have been held in front of the US embassy to lobby for the immediate release of the five men imprisoned for having tried to defend their people from terrorism.
Sen. Bouarfa said the Friendship Association was created as a place for encounter between Cuban and Belgium parliamentarians, "a space that could provide us with better conditions to spread the truth about the Cuban Revolution," she said.
(Creciente participación en Bélgica en favor de Los Cinco)
"Che, The Argentine" Opens at Cuban Theaters
HAVANA, Cuba. The film "Che, The Argentine", by Steven Soderbergh will be playing as of Thursday at theaters throughout Cuba, after being presented in many countries, including the U.S., and during the 30th Latin American Film Festival in Havana last December.Starring Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro, a chief promoter of the cinematographic project, the film will be screened over a week at movie and video theaters. Its second part, "Che The Guerrilla", will be premiered on May 14 and will be also on shown for a week.
Nearly a year after the world premiere of Che in the Cannes Festival, Soderbergh donated twenty copies of the two part production to the Cuban Film Institute (ICIAC). The donation was announced by the film's producer during the Latin American Film Festival in Havana in December, 2008.
The Puerto Rican actor, who won the Best Actor prize in Cannes for his portrayal of Che, traveled to the Cuban capital for the festival. He expressed his admiration for the Argentinean revolutionary and noted that he deserves respect for having being such a consistent man.
The roles of Raul Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos are played by Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro and Colombian Santiago Cabrera.
The two-part film, a U.S-France-Spain production, features the life of the revolutionary after his mythic trip through America masterly portrayed in "Motorcycle Diaries" by Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles, starring Mexican actor Gael García Bernal.
(Cinta "Che, el argentino" se estrena en cines de Cuba)
Brazilian Friends of Cuba for Increased Solidarity
HAVANA, Cuba. Thousands of friends of the Cuban Revolution and its people are increasing their actions in solidarity in countries like Brazil.
The main focus of the campaigns is a demand for the immediate release of the Cuban Five, unjustly incarcerated in the United States, and the lifting of the US blockade on the country, Juventud Rebelde newspaper reports.
Brazilian Workers Party member Max Altman, who is also the president of the Committee in Solidarity with the Cuban Five in his country, highlighted that this work continues to grow, expanded by committees already constituted in several cities of the South American nation.
"The objective -he said- is to break the wall of silence raised by the corporate media. In order to make the truth known, we have carried out as many activities as possible, from interviews to public meetings, including the use of community media and the holding of debates with
students."
In addition, he pointed out that many Brazilians have sent messages of support and solidarity to the Cuban Five.
The Brazilian Solidarity-with-Cuba Committee was created in 2001. Since then, he pointed out: "We have been working to inform the population on the Cuban Five case, noting that they have been unjustly imprisoned in the US since 1998 for fighting terrorism and defending their homeland and people, which is an enormous injustice."
Altman is of the firm opinion that 2009 may be an important year in the struggle for the release of the Cuban Five. "We have to remain firm in our demand for justice to be made in this case. All of us, everywhere," he said.
(Amigos de Cuba acentúan acciones solidarias en Brasil)
The main focus of the campaigns is a demand for the immediate release of the Cuban Five, unjustly incarcerated in the United States, and the lifting of the US blockade on the country, Juventud Rebelde newspaper reports.
Brazilian Workers Party member Max Altman, who is also the president of the Committee in Solidarity with the Cuban Five in his country, highlighted that this work continues to grow, expanded by committees already constituted in several cities of the South American nation.
"The objective -he said- is to break the wall of silence raised by the corporate media. In order to make the truth known, we have carried out as many activities as possible, from interviews to public meetings, including the use of community media and the holding of debates with
students."
In addition, he pointed out that many Brazilians have sent messages of support and solidarity to the Cuban Five.
The Brazilian Solidarity-with-Cuba Committee was created in 2001. Since then, he pointed out: "We have been working to inform the population on the Cuban Five case, noting that they have been unjustly imprisoned in the US since 1998 for fighting terrorism and defending their homeland and people, which is an enormous injustice."
Altman is of the firm opinion that 2009 may be an important year in the struggle for the release of the Cuban Five. "We have to remain firm in our demand for justice to be made in this case. All of us, everywhere," he said.
(Amigos de Cuba acentúan acciones solidarias en Brasil)
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