Fidel meets with top Chinese Communist Party official
Cuban
Radar Read Spanish Version
Fidel
meets with top Chinese Communist Party official
A
service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau
The
leader of the Cuban revolution Fidel Castro met for two hours with He
Guoqiang, member of the Politburo’s Permanent Committee and secretary
of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Commission for Disciplinary
Control, who is visiting Havana at the invitation of the Cuban
Communist Party.
According
to Granma
daily,
the
meeting was held
"in
a cordial and fraternal environment."
"We
have always admired your struggle, your will power and your courage,"
said He Guoqiang remembering that as a young man he participated in
China in many demonstrations of solidarity with Cuba.
He
said that he had read the Chinese edition of 100
Hours with Fidel
and the foreword that the Cuban leader had written for that edition.
He also commented on the Reflections that Fidel had dedicated
recently to the history and the present struggles of the Chinese
people.
Both
leaders exchanged opinions on bilateral relations, the provocation by
the West on the Tibet matter, the Taiwan situation, the manipulation
of the human rights issue against socialism, the food crisis, the
information society and other important matters.
Fidel
stressed the advances of the Chinese people and the importance of the
concept of Socialism with Chinese characteristics.
For
his part, the Chinese leader underscored the importance of Fidel’s
thinking for his people in the development of Socialism and the
strengthening of its fighting spirit, and thanked the assistance
given by Cuba in the aftermath of the recent earthquake with the
presence of a Cuban medical brigade, which included three Chinese
medical students who study in Cuba.
Speaking
about Cuba with the visitor, Fidel praised the efforts of the
revolution’s leadership, particularly Raúl’s, on the issues
of unity, productivity, increase of agricultural production and
savings, which are so important.
"What
do I do? I cooperate collecting news and data, and analyzing the most
delicate international problems, which I deliver to the Party’s and
the State’s leadership. I have time to collect much information, to
which I dedicate many hours each day," Fidel said.
Raúl
Castro meets He Guoqiang
Cuban
President Raúl Castro met with China’s top Communist Party
official visiting Cuba.
According
to news media, He Guoqiang said that China and Cuba are good friends
and have assisted each other in the construction of socialist
societies.
President
Castro said he appreciates the support and assistance from China and
the values he has learned from China’s experience in development. He
also said that Cuba will continue strengthening cooperation with
China and promoting the development of bilateral ties.
After
the meeting, both President Castro and He Guoqiang attended the
signing of an agreement of cooperation between both governments.
Communist
Party members meet in the City of Havana
Chaired
by José Ramón Machado Ventura, Politburo member and
Secretary of Organization of Cuba’s Communist Party (PCC), the
evaluation assembly of the Party in Havana closed on Sunday, June 22,
in that city’s Palace of Conventions. The objective of this type of
meeting, held periodically, is the review of the organizing work and
the election of a new leadership.
Characterized
as critical and realistic by the media, the assembly discussed the
main internal issues of the Party, as well as its role in society,
particularly in the sectors of production and services.
According
to Granma daily in its Monday, June 23, edition, during his closing
speech, Machado said, "There is no other alternative but to
strengthen the Party: improve it, temper its work to the present
world situation and so that it may impact our nation (…) we should
not fear public acknowledgement of our problems, even if hey are
manipulated and distorted by some international press who are
determined to propogate a propaganda war against Cuba."
Machado,
who is also Cuba’s First Vice President of the Council of State and
the Council of Ministers, added: "No one should misunderstand
when we speak of strengthening, improving, changing methods, for the
Party is strong, united, its members know what is at stake if we
flirt with a policy that is not in line with the revolution’s
principles; and our people have a very good nose for detecting any
possible deviation. Because people can express their nonconformity,
their concerns, but if someone attacks the roots of the revolution
they know how to take their place in defense of our Socialism."
First
Secretary of the Party in Havana, Pedro Sáez Montejo, who is
also a member of the Politburo, was reelected as the Party’s
provincial leader.
Cubans
sweep mini knowledge olympics
Although
harshly criticized in popular meetings held all over the country
since July, 2007, the Cuban educational system took first place at
the Second Comparative and Explicative Regional Study, Serce 2006.
The event, sponsored by UNESCO, was held among 195,000 third through
sixth grade students in 15 Latin American countries. Students were
evaluated in Math, Science, and Reading.
More
than 54% of Cuban children had the best level possible in the
evaluated matters, and the performance of the rest is in the regional
average.
It
was reported that according to the UN’s Human Index that includes 156
countries, Cuba has the best results in Latin America, followed by
Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico.
Over
9 million barrels of oil processed
The
Camilo Cienfuegos oil refinery, inaugurated on December 21, 2007, by
presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Raúl Castro of
Cuba, is about to reach the 9 million barrels of crude oil mark. The
figure marks the tendency to overachieve its quota, for according to
Granma,
on June 11, it had processed 8 million barrels. The city of
Cienfuegos in Central South Cuba is to become the great petrochemical
center of the country. Joint plans with the Venezuelan government
consider the development several plants of oil derived products.
CANF
and the Gulf Cartel
Over
a week ago, 33 Cubans made an illegal entry into Mexico and were
captured by the country’s authorities. Subsequently, when they were
en route to a detention center of the National Institute of
Migrations, the bus that was transporting them was hijacked by
several men in ski masks and armed with assault rifles. After being
rescued by force of arms or bribes, news media reported that 18 of
them had crossed the border into the U.S.
Granma,
in its
June 24 edition, reported information provided by Mexican press
sources that stated that the Cuban American National Foundation, a
group based in Florida, "has been linked for three years with
the Los Zetas gang that belong to the Gulf Cartel, in order to take
Cuban and Central American immigrants to the U.S. through Mexican
territory."
Nairobi
Claro and Noriel Veloz, both born in Cuba and living in Mexico, after
their arrest, declared to Cancun authorities that "they are
members of CANF and receive money for bribing Mexican authorities and
obtaining apocryphal traveling documents."
Cuban
vaccine against lung cancer
The
National Information Agency (AIN) reported that CIMAVAX EGF, the
first therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer, was registered in
Cuba. It is an immunogen created at Cuba’s Center for Molecular
Immunology whose efficiency has been demonstrated in patients with
lung cancer in an advanced state.
Project
manager Dr. Gisela González said to AIN that the vaccine can
prolong the patient’s survival and improve quality of life.
According
to the report, the vaccine was obtained by recombinant technique
(gene manipulation) at the Center for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology, another one of the centers in Havana’s Scientific
Park.
González
told AIN that already five phase one (laboratory) assays have been
concluded, as well as two phase two (clinical) assays — one in Cuba
and another one in Canada and England.
In
the phase two assays it was found that there was a clinical
improvement in those patients, compared to subjects who were not
administered the vaccine. Subsequently the register was applied for
with the proper Cuban regulating authority.
CIMAVAX
EGF is already patented in Cuba and other countries in Europe, Asia,
Latin and North America, including the United Status, Canada, China
and India.
