Cuba News in Brief 10/11/97 id XAA07298; Sun, 12 Oct 1997 23:29:37 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ============================= Prensa Latina - Havana, Cuba ============================= CUBA SYNTHESIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1997 (EXCLUSIVE SERVICE OF PRENSA LATINA) -FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY- HAVANA.- Cuban leader Fidel Castro was reelected first secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee during the last session of the party's 5th Congress on Friday. The Central Committee's 150 members unanimously reelected Fidel Castro during their first meeting. National heroine Melba Hernandez said that Fidel Castro is a revolutionary and patriotic man who, beside being very modest, has all the merits necessary for the post. Raul Castro was elected second secretary. The list of the 24 members making up the Party's Politburo was read by Fidel Castro. Castro, his brother Raul and Parliamentary President Ricardo Alarcon are some of names on the list. HANOI.- Almost all the Vietnamese media is giving great coverage to the 5th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba. The official newspaper Nhan Dan and Quang Doi Nhan Dan (organs of Vietnam's Communist Party and the Army respectively) has published reports and articles about the event. Both papers called the congress an important event in the history of the Caribbean country. HAVANA.- Cuban Basic Industry (Energy) Minister Marcos Portal announced plans to reduce blackouts on the island taking advantage of international experiences on this field like Peru's. Portal explained some of the ideas on this regard during the debates of the Cuban Communist Party's Congress which discussed a draft economic resolution on Friday. The project includes electricity-saving measures and an investment program aimed at updating power plants' technology and domestic appliances (most of them made in the former socialist countries). Delegates attending the Congress also advocated encouraging foreign investments, but maintaining socialist state property as the ruling form of property. VALLEGRANDE, BOLIVIA.- Renowned human rights activist Danielle Mitterrand identified herself with Ernesto Che Guevara and his thought and expressed her solidarity with the Cuban Revolution and condemned the U.S. blockade against the island. The widow of former socialist President Francois Mitterrand made her statements in Vallegrande, Bolivia during the Ernesto Che Guevara World Meeting. She said the United States is determined to prevent the Cuban Revolution from living and developing, but that the Cuban people is doing everything possible to defend and carry their process on. HAVANA.- The 5th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party acclaimed Nadya Bunke, mother of mythical guerrilla Tania, who accompanied Ernesto Che Guevara during the guerrilla campaign in Bolivia. Nadya travelled to Cuba to attend the ceremonies paying tribute to Che Guevara and six of his comrades killed 30 years in Bolivia. HAVANA.- Che's daughter Aleida Guevara feels sorry for the man who killed her father in Bolivia, respects her father's decision to go and fight for that country and tells about her family's close relationship with "Uncle Fidel Castro." Aleida and her brother Camilo gave a press conference in Havana that lasted for about two hours. PORT OF SPAIN.- The 23rd annual meeting of the Latin America Economic System (SELA) advocated lifting the over 30-year-old U.S. financial and economic embargo on Cuba and condemned the Helms-Burton Act aimed at tightening it. Ministers from the 25 countries making up the organization passed a resolution expressing their demands. The meeting's final declaration warns that the anti-Cuban law passed by Washington is a flagrant violation of international law and the norms and principles that should rule trade between nations. HAVANA.- The museum built in the basement of the monument to Ernesto Che Guevara in Santa Clara will house a permanent exhibition about his life and work. Objects owned and used by the mythical guerrilla during his missions through Latin America, the Congo and Cuba will be exhibited in the museum hall close to the memorial where Che's remains and those of six of his comrades in the Bolivian warfare will be buried. A plate with the name of the street where he lived during his childhood in Altagracia, Argentina, and a book by Eduardo Salca on Che's tour of South America together with his friend ALberto Granada are some of the objects to be exhibited. HAVANA.- The Korean Work Party and the People's Revolutionary Party of Laos congratulated the Cuban Communist Party for its 5th Congress in messages published by the Cuban official newspaper Granma. "The 5th Congress will open new trends in the struggle of Cuban party members and the people to defend and carry on the cause of Socialism," reads the message from the Korean party. The Laotian party highlighted the historical success and the bravery of the Cuban party and people. UNITED NATIONS.- The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is taking steps to help Cuba soften the effects of the U.S. blockade. The organization is promoting regional and international exchanges with the participation of Cuban teachers, scientists, intellectuals and artists. HAVANA.- The staff in charge of the Prensa Latina Website (PL) reported an increase in the number of access to the PL website, particularly in the pages dedicated to Special Coverages. The experts reported that after changing the design and general structure of the website, a total of 1,200 daily access were reported, mainly from the United States, Europe and Latin America. The pages with the largest number of access is the one offering a free coverage of the 5th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, which includes photos and another dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the death of Ernesto Che Guevara and his comrades in Bolivia. MEXICO CITY.- Cuban singer songwriter Pablo Milanes will perform in Chile in April, 1998, after several decades of self-imposed following Pinochet's coup against Salvador Allende in 1973. PARIS.- The Cuban judo contestants competing yesterday at the World Judo Championship in France were defeated in their attempts to win any of the medals in dispute. France, the host country, is leading the tournament with three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Sibelis Veranes (66 kilograms) and Kenia Rodriguez (61 kg), from the women's team, were defeated, while the men Despaigne (86 kg) and Gabriel Arteaga (78 kg) lost their first matches. HAVANA.- The six Cuban athletes competing at the Triathlon World Cup left yesterday for the Mexican beach resort of Cancun, site of the event. Yacceri Leal, Mario Santana, brothers Luis and Ernesto Perez Andino, Alexander Fernandez and Markin Ferrera are ready to compete at the tough international tournament. Athletes competing in this sports should swim 1,500 meters, ride 40 kilometers on a bike and run 10 kilometers. The Cubans athletes also expect to make a good performance at the Central American and Caribbean Games scheduled for Maracaibo, Venezuela in August next year. NM [c] 1997. Latin American News Agency Prensa Latina, S.A. (PL) All rights reserved May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system without specific permission from PL. This limitation includes redistribution via Usenet News, bulletin board systems mailing lists, print media and broadcast. For information about cross-posting, send a message to prensal@prensa-latina.org. 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