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Raúl
Castro meets with Brazilian foreign minister
A
service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau
Cuban
President Raúl Castro received Brazilian Foreign Minister
Celso Amorim culminating his two day visit to Cuba, where he arrived
on Friday, May 30.
According
to a report by Prensa Latina news agency, "Raúl Castro
and the Brazilian Foreign Minister discussed the excellent state of
relations between Cuba and Brazil and exchanged opinions on several
international and regional issues."
Previously,
Amorim had met with Vice President Carlos Lage to examine the course
of 10 bilateral agreements signed in January, on the occasion of
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s visit to Havana.
Brazil
has insisted that it wants to become Cuba’s first trading partner, a
claim that was reiterated by Amorim during his meetings with Cuban
authorities.
Cuban
Minister of Foreign Trade Raúl de la Nuez, also present at the
meeting with Lage, said that trade between both countries is in a
favorable state, contrary to the existing situation 20 years ago,
when those links did not exist.
This
has been possible in part due to Cuban imports from Brazil, which
include food products, agricultural machinery and means of
transportion.
He
added that Cuban exports to the Brazilian market are also growing,
particularly biotechnology and pharmaceutical products, and the
potential is great for minerals, such as zeolite.
Cuba’s
first vice president calls for increase in food production
Speaking
at a meeting of the Cuban Communist Party’s Provincial Committee in
Granma, José Ramón Machado Ventura, first vice
president of the Council of State and Council of Ministers, as well
as a member of the Party’s Politburo, said that the country has to
exceed its historical records in food production.
Machado
pointed out that due to the present global food crisis, the country
is forced to work hard, stabilize good results and make a rational
use of resources.
He
stressed that the Party has to lead all actions with an integral
vision, exemplary attitude and intelligence, and not limit itself to
satisfying local needs.
Several
delegates spoke about the province’s possibilities for increasing
production of cane sugar, rice, milk, shrimp, fish, edible roots,
vegetables, grains, fruits and other products, which would mean an
increase of exports, substitution of imports and more consumption.
Cuban
Parliament creates commission for overseeing strategic areas
The
Cuban parliament continues its updating of several social and
economic sectors through the creation of the Industry and
Construction Commission for the present legislature. The recently
created work group will oversee very sensitive sectors, such as
housing and water supply, previously subordinated to another
commission that was overloaded with responsibilities. The new body
will also oversee the chemical industry as well as nickel and cement
production.
A
well-defined strategy for the rice program
A
program for increasing rice production in Cuba proceeds with a very
well defined development strategy, as the moment demands, claimed
Vice Minister of Agriculture Juan Pérez Lamas.
While
giving a master conference at the 4th International Rice Meeting at
Havana’s Palace of Conventions, with 400 delegates in attendance, he
explained the resources that the Cuban government allocates for food
security, at a time in which constantly increasing prices for oil and
other products are unsustainable.
According
to Vice Minister Pérez, work is being done to reduce, as soon
as possible, 50 percent of rice imports. He added that in order to
reach this objective it is "indispensable to recuperate the
150,000 hectares that were in production in the 1980s" and
incorporate areas not in production then which have potential.
For
that purpose, the country has enough varieties and experienced
technicians at the Institute for Rice Research and at the Industrial
Agribusiness Group who are constantly increasing genetic diversity.
Marcio
Porto, FAO’s representative in Cuba, praised the will of the Cuban
government for facing and solving food problems. Porto pointed out
that Cuba can show positive examples in this field and commended
technical collaboration and solidarity that its government has always
given through FAO to other sister countries in the Caribbean.
Cuba
and Dominican Republic sign agreement at Expocaribe
An
agreement for joint actions to promote trade and investments was
signed by representatives from Cuba and the Dominican Republic at
Expocaribe International Fair, held in the eastern city of Santiago
de Cuba.
Among
the accords are the organization of business missions between both
countries and the participation in events such as Havana’s
International Fair and Expocaribe, in Cuba, and the Technological and
Food fairs in Dominican Republic.
At
present, Dominican Republic sells fertilizers to Cuba and buys from
the island several steel products.
Eddy
Martínez, executive director of the neighboring country’s
Center for Exports and Investment, underscored their interest in the
Cuban fields of medical care and biotechnology, as well as in
tourism. As for the latter, Aerocaribbean presented its new
international route Varadero-Punta Cana at the fair.
Acknowledgement
of quality primary health care in Cuba
The
high quality of primary health care in the island was acknowledged in
Santa Clara by Arun Chockalingam, Secretary General of the World
League against Arterial Hypertension (AH).
Chokalingram
said that Cuba is a valuable member of the organization due to its
results in the expansion of scientific knowledge, of which the
recently held 4th
International Symposium of Arterial Hypertension was an example.
At
the meeting, held at the Bolívar Convention Center of this
Central Cuba city, it was reported that AH affects 30 percent of the
world population, a figure similar to the one recorded in the island,
where over 2.2 million adults have hypertension.
Work
is done in Cuba to detect the ailment in children and adolescents,
especially those who have, among other risk factors, low weight at
birth, obesity, and parents who suffer from AH.
Experts
from Cuba, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, UK, Venezuela, Germany and
Colombia debated on population segments that are at risk, its effects
and proposals on prescription, prevention and health promotion.
The
meeting is sponsored by the Serafín Ruiz de Zárate
Medical University and Marta Abreu Central University, both in the
province of Villa Clara, with the support of the World League against
Arterial Hypertension and the Oviedo Municipality in Spain.
Spanish expert
praises Cuban program for organ donation and transplant
Rafael
Matesanz Acedos, president of the Iberian American Council of
Donation and Transplant’s Network, characterized the development of
the coordination program as "impressive" on the island,
where there are 63 hospitals participating in that work of
solidarity.
The
expert from Spain, a country that leads the world in organ
transplants, stressed that Cuba is one of the nations that offers
greatest support to the Network.
Organ
transplant is a universal health problem. More than a million
patients in the planet could benefit from it, but donations are not
enough, said Matesanz, who is also Spain’s National Coordinator of
Transplants.
Cuba,
together with Uruguay, reports the highest level of organ, tissue and
cell donations in Latin America, with a rate of 18 donors per million
inhabitants, a higher average than Europe’s.
Juan
Alberto Falcón, director of the Cuban National Center for
Medical Urgency, pointed out that in 2005 Cuba had a rate of 11 per
million, and at the end of 2007 it had increased to 18, the second
most in Latin America. He thanked relatives of the deceased for their
altruism and solidarity that have contributed to saving the lives of
other human beings.
World
Festival of Popular Music in Varadero
Some
22 bands from abroad and 130 from Cuba will participate for the first
time in Varadero 2008 World Festival of Popular Music, to be held at
the famous beach resort from June 11-15, sponsored by the Ministries
of Culture and Tourism, and the Cuban Institute of Music.
"We
want the participation of all", said Juan Formell, composer and
leader of Cuba’s emblematic dance band Los Van Van, and president of
the festival’s Organizing Committee.
Among
other well known artists in show business who have confirmed their
participation are the Spaniard Dyango, Puerto Rican salsa performer
Andy Montañés, Portuguese troubadour Luis Represas and
Cubans Beatriz Márquez, Carlos Varela and Eliades Ochoa.
The
Festival will have over ten venues in the beach resort, among them
the Plaza of Festivals, Varadero’s Amphitheater and theaters in the
neighboring cities of Matanzas and Cárdenas.
