The apple of their eyes
Cuban
Radar Read Spanish Version
The
apple of their eyes
A
Service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau
National
Assembly of Popular Power (Cuban parliament) Speaker Ricardo Alarcón
de Quesada said that the recently created Food and Agriculture
Commission pertaining to the legislative organ is "is the apple
of the eyes of the National Assembly."
With
30 members and chaired by Delegate Leonel Martínez, the
Commission "must oversee, supervise, control and channel the
will of the public, of its institutions, its research centers, and
the many experienced people and results in this environment in order
to tear down the walls it encounters," Alarcón said.
The
Cuban parliamentary leader asked everyone to put to use the
Commission’s organizational ability and creativity in order to make a
significant leap forward in food production.
In
its first sessions, which lasted until Wednesday, May 14, the
Commission received reports from the ministries of Fishery,
Agriculture, Sugar and Food Industry.
Experts
agree that with the creation of municipal delegations of the Ministry
of Agriculture, Popular Power at that level will play a decisive role
in the country’s efforts for achieving food security.
Education
and development
The
building and development of the Petrochemical Complex, a joint
Venezuela-Cuba effort that should be completed by 2013 will be
located in the province of Cienfuegos, in Central South Cuba, and
will require a highly qualified work force. In order to satisfy that
demand, 14 new technical specialties will be taught in the next
academic year.
In
its Tuesday, May 13 edition, Juventud Rebelde reported that the
September 5 Polytechnic Institute was chosen and will receive most of
the students who will be taught the new courses.
Microwave
ovens sell out
On
Monday, May 12, without the help of any media ad campaign, the first
microwave ovens were put on sale at different Havana stores.
Panasonic
ovens, priced at 129 to 269 CUC or convertible pesos (1 dollar is
worth 0.82 CUC), were sold out immediately, according to an employee
at a store on 5th Ave. and 110 St., in the neighborhood of Miramar.
Sales were the same at the Miramar Trade Center located on 5th
Avenue and 42nd
Street.
How
did the public find out? Apparently the warning came from employees,
many who allegedly bought several ovens each through friends.
Many
heard of the sales through the grapevine and hurried to the stores,
but arrived too late.
Salespeople
from several stores said to Radio
Progreso Alternativa that
soon they "would receive more ovens, probably Chinese made."
A
solomonic solution
A
few feet from the entrance of any store in Havana, there are plenty
of "pirate" salesmen who offer the same products sold at
the store, but at lower prices.
The
Cuatro Caminos Market — probably the oldest in Havana, it is almost
a century old — was no exception. Always full of buyers, you can
find fruits, vegetables, different kinds of meat and other products
there. Around the premises, and sometimes even inside, the business
pirates are on the prowl for customers. An article titled “New airs
at Cuatro Caminos Market,” was published in Granma
in its Friday, May 9 edition.
According
to the newspaper, most important is the solution offered by
authorities to the illegal sellers of live animals. The measure,
besides punishing the accomplices who worked in the market and
supplied them with products, consisted of offering the pirates "legal
work as independent sellers, provided they pay the customary taxes".
More than half accepted.
Cuba
celebrates World Day against Homophobia
Cuba
is celebrating the World Day against Homophobia with an ample program
of events, from the screening of films, theater productions, sales of
books and magazines, as well as conferences and poetry readings.
The
main sponsor is the National Center of Sexual Education (CENESEX),
chaired by Mariela Castro Espín, who will give the inaugural
speech on May 17, at the Cuba Pavilion, a popular expo center in
downtown Havana.
Many
institutions and government agencies are collaborating with CENESEX,
which include the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, the
Ministry of Culture, the Young Communist Union, the Ludwig
Foundation, the Federation of University Students, the Revolutionary
National Police, the Cuban Film Institute, and the Radio and TV
Institute.
Meanwhile,
the Family Commission of the Cuban parliament is discussing a new
code that would include legal rights for same sex couples.
A
knowledgeable source told Radio
Progreso Alternativa
that "it will not be about a marriage contract, but to give
these alternative couples the same legal rights that heterosexual
couples have."
