Ra

Cuban
Radar                                                                            Read Spanish Version

Raúl
Castro and Hugo Chávez sign new agreements

A
service of the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana bureau

Interim
President Army General Raul Castro Ruz and Venezuelan President
Commander Hugo Chavez Frias were present during the signing of 13 new
accords which, according to Raul Castro, signify a significant
addition “to the growing process of union and integration”
between Cuban and Venezuela.

Both
governments, who promote the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas
(ALBA), have already established 19 economic associations which the
recent agreements must now be added to the count. They also are
pushing 352 projects in 28 important sectors for the development of
both countries.

The
agreements signed on Monday, October 15, include an array of things
from partnerships for petroleum prospecting and exploitation on
behalf of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) in Cuba’s Gulf of
Mexico exclusion zone, to the construction of a hotel in a highly
sought after key in the Cuban archipelago.

Relations
and interchanges between both countries touch almost every sector of
the production and service industries.

During
his brief speech, Raul Castro reiterated that the fundamental
principles of the ALBA define commerce and investment as “instruments
to reach a just and sustainable development” and not as “an end
in itself.” The same text, reminded the Second Secretary of the
Cuban Communist Party, states, by definition, that in the
integrationist process that state’s role would be of “regulator
and coordinator of the economic activity” since the integration
“cannot be the blind sister of the market, nor a simple strategy to
grow the external markets or stimulate commerce.”

For
his part the Venezuelan president in his speech repeated the idea of
a Confederation of United Nations. The leader of the Venezuelan
process reminded that the Latin American forefathers never spoke of
integration, but of unity – a more profound concept.

“It
does not deal with illusion, no. It does not deal with delusion, no…
only the union makes the force necessary to be free.”

The
idea of a Confederation of Nations is recurrent in speeches by the
Bolivarian president, who together with Cuban leader Fidel Castro,
gave life to the ALBA and have been the motors behind this
integrationist movement which puts cooperation, complementation and
the social factor in the front lines.

The
signed agreements occurred in Havana’s Convention Center.

The
Camilo Cienfuegos refinery

The
afternoon of Sunday, October 14, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez,
during a work-visit to Cuba, stopped by the Camilo Cienfuegos oil
refinery in Cienfuegos, a city in the south-central region of the
island.

The
refinery is the result of an investment and joint project between
PDVSA and CUPET.
This installation almost ready to begin working was first started by
the Soviet government but became paralyzed after the disbanding of
the USSR.

The
refinery has the capacity to process 65,000 tons of crude daily and
its official inauguration is slate for this coming December.

During
the visits to the installation, the Venezuelan leader was accompanied
by Vice President Carlos Lage Davila, the Minister of Basic
Industries Yadira Garcia, and Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez
Roque along with other Communist Party local government dignitaries.
 

Petrochemical complex

“This
province will become a real example of Cuban and Latin American
industrial development,” said Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez
Frías during a visit to the Camilo Cienfuegos refinery, 250
kms southeast of Havana.

According
to Granma newspaper, as soon as this facility is inaugurated in
December, a gas-processing plant, likely to function with Venezuelan
raw materials, will start to be built. In this respect, the official
daily reported that Chávez made emphasis of the potential of
gas as a source of electricity, either for homes, industries or
agriculture. In fact, the program to generate more electricity out of
gas is to be fostered in Cuba with the construction of several
plants, and Chávez also foresees the production, in Cuba, of
plastics and fertilizers.

Zelaya
and Castro on the phone

Honduran
President
Manuel Zelaya told the media of his conversation with Fidel Castro
during his recent visit to Cuba.

The
conversation, according to AFP, lasted 30 minutes and was held
through the phone.

Castro
“sounded very firm and lucid,” Zelaya remarked, adding, “the
exchange of questions and answers between us was especially telling.
I can attest to this person’s full capacity.”

Zelaya
did it “with pleasure,” he said, since “it was a dialogue
between two heads of state.” As to the topics, he said they dealt
with issues specifically relevant to both countries.

The
Honduran
president’s visit was criticized in certain political sectors of
his country.

Heavy
rains in Cuba’s east

The
last three weeks
have witnessed intense rain in six of Cuba’s eastern provinces. No
human losses have been reported but agriculture and hundreds of
houses are the victims.

The
whole of the economic damage is yet to be ascertained. Nevertheless,
Radio Rebelde reported that only in the Santiago de Cuba province,
500 houses have partially or totally collapsed. Also, highway
communications between this province and Guantánamo, in the
island’s farthest eastern sector, have been affected by landslides.

In
order to avoid accidents, fatal or not, the authorities proceeded to
evacuate more than 20,000 persons in the oriental region. They were
accommodated in ad hoc shelters as well as in the house of friends or
relatives.

Dozens
wounded in traffic accident

The
National Information Agency (AIN), reported that last Thursday,
October 11, 48 people were wounded when a truck carrying personnel
capsized in the Guantánamo province, 900 kilometers from
Havana.

The
truck, covering the trajectory between the cities of Guantánamo
and Baracoa, “unlawfully passed another vehicle only to find a
third one coming head on.”

According
to AIN, the 48 wounded received medical attention at the Agostinho
Neto hospital, in Guantánamo city. No one is reported to be in
critical condition.

In
Cuba’s
countryside, plenty of trucks have been transformed to be used as
passenger carriers, but more often than not without the right
conditions. To make things worse, there is a tendency to carry more
than reasonable amounts of personnel.

Last
year, traffic accidents were the cause of death for more than 800
people.