Today’s News 16
March 01, close hour 11:00
|
| News Service by the Information and Analysis Division |
-Raul Castro Meets with Spanish Former FM Miguel Angel Moratinos
-Cuba’s First VP Machado Ventura Receives Prime Minister of East Timor
-Documentary Reveals Links of Cuban Mercenaries with US Interests Section in Havana
-Freedom for the Cuban Five and Lifting of the Blockade Demanded in France
-Cuba: Example of Humanism, Says Prime Minister of East Timor
-Eastern Cuban Wind Farms Produce More Than 21,000 Megawatts in Three Years
-Mexico: Guest of Honor at Cuban Tourism Fair
-Cuban Heberprot-P Proves Effectiveness in Treatment of Diabetic Foot Patients
Raul Castro Meets with Spanish Former FM Miguel Angel Moratinos
HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 28 (acn) The Cuban President Raul Castro met Sunday with Spanish former foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, deputy of the Spanish Workers Socialist Party, in Havana, Granma newspaper reported.
Granma says Raul and Moratinos talked about the current international situation particularly of the world food crisis.
Moratinos was accompanied on his visit to Havana by Spanish ambassador to Cuba Manuel Cacho.
The meeting was attended on the Cuban part by foreign and deputy foreign ministers Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla and Marcelino Medina Gonzalez, respectively
Cuba’s First VP Machado Ventura Receives Prime Minister of East Timor
HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 1 (acn) The First Vice President of the Cuban councils of State and Ministers, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, met on Monday afternoon at Havana’s Revolution Palace with the Prime Minister of East Timor, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, who is on an official visit to the Caribbean nation since last Friday.
During the meeting, both leaders checked the excellent state of bilateral relations and expressed the willingness of both governments to further strengthen cooperation ties.
They also spoke of topics of international interest.
Present in the meeting, on the visitor’s side, were the ambassador to Havana, Egidio de Jesus; Education Minister Joao Câncio Freitas; the Vice Minister of Foreign Business, Alberto X. P. Carlos; and the State Secretary of Security, Francisco Guterres.
Present on the Cuban side was the acting Foreign Minister, Marcelino Medina Gonzalez, as well as other officials from the Cuban Foreign Ministry
Undercover Agent Emilio: "I have always been and will be a revolutionary"
HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 28 (acn) Members of the Association of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC) paid homage on Monday, in Havana, to Carlos Serpa Maceira, agent Emilio of the State Security, who ratified that he has always been and will be a revolutionary.
Serpa, who was presented the condition of Member of Honor of the organization, had been working undercover since 2001 as independent journalist and spokesperson of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White).
He expressed his satisfaction of having done his duty; he referred to sad moments in his life like being away from his family; and pointed out that even though he went through very difficult moments, he was always faithful to his country, to the Revolution, and to the example set by the five Cuban antiterrorists imprisoned in the US for trying to prevent terrorist actions against Cuba.
Serpa added that agent Emilio will continue in the struggle in a different battle field.
The president of UPEC, Tubal Paez, highlighted Serpa’s stoical and risky work, which contributed to prevent counterrevolutionary actions.
Colleague Maray Suarez talked about her indignation and hatred towards the supposed independent journalist, feelings that today have turned into gratitude and pride.
She added that he really confused us, and hoped for those who will replace him to be as true revolutionaries as he is. Carlos Serpa Maceira and Moisés Rodríguez, also agent of the State Security, were interviewed for the production of the documentary "Peones del Imperio" (Empire Pawns), broadcasted over the weekend by the Cuban Television.
The documentary condemns the plans of aggression by the US Government and right wing anti-Cuba groups based in Miami, against Cuba
Documentary Reveals Links of Cuban Mercenaries with US Interests Section in Havana
HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 28 (acn) National and foreign media outlets echo on Monday the revelations made on Sunday by the documentary ‘Peones del imperio’ (Pawns of the Empire) —broadcast by Cubavision on Sunday night— on the links of Cuban counterrevolutionary elements with the US Interests Section in Havana and anti-Cuba groups in Miami.
Moises Rodriguez and Carlos Manuel Serpa Maceira, members of the Cuban State Security infiltrated into so-called dissident groups, revealed their identity and gave testimony —with interviews, videos and other evidence— of the US Government’s links with these counterrevolutionary groups in Cuba.
Rodriguez, or “Agent Vladimir,” and Serpa, “Agent Emilio,” denounced that money —coming from the United States— and the possibility to leave the country, are the only interests of the so-called “Independent Journalists”, the “Ladies in White”, and all the other counterrevolutionary groups in Cuba.
In an interview published on Monday by Juventud Rebelde newspaper, Serpa —who acted as an “independent journalist” and prepared reports on the activities of the “Ladies in White”— explained how an internal “dissident” is created.
He also referred to the key role played by the Havana-based US Interests Section in instructing these mercenaries and labelled it as their headquarters in Cuba, although he pointed out that there is a group of embassies from European Union countries that also support these plans of subversion in the Caribbean nation.
In this respect, he mentioned Jacek Padee, from the Polish embassy; Pete Brandel and Volker Pellet, from the Czech and German embassies, respectively; as well as the diplomatic representations from Holland and Sweden.
Serpa spoke of the mercenaries’ links with the Miami-based terrorist Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), with Horacio Salvador Garcia Cordero —of the so-called Council for Cuba’s Freedom—, and with Angel Pablo Polanco Torrejon, promoter of another counterrevolutionary project.
“I am a ‘fabricated’ dissident. My case is an example of how it is possible to make people abroad believe that there is a ‘big’ opposition here and a large number of ‘anti-Castro’ groups, as they usually call them,” the State Security agent stressed
Freedom for the Cuban Five and Lifting of the Blockade Demanded in France
HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 28 (acn) Actions for the freedom of the five Cuban antiterrorist unjustly imprisoned in the US and for the lifting of the US economic blockade imposed against Cuba, were held in Paris.
According to Prensa Latina news agency, the documentary “66 horas”, which relates the Cuban victory over the invasion organized by the US government in Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs), was exhibited as part of the program of an anti-colonial week in Paris.
A member of the national council of the French Party The Greens, Patrick Farbiaz, said that the victory of Bay of Pigs set an example of the resistance capacity of the peoples over US aggressions.
Farbiaz recalled that this victory took place in parallel with an offensive against revolutionary processes in Africa that started with the killing of Patricio Lumumba in Congo, and with military interventions against national liberation and anti-colonial movements in Asia.
He condemned the US economic blockade imposed against Cuba for more than 50 years, and the US presence in Guantanamo, and demanded the immediate release of Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino and Fernando Gonzalez ––internationally known as the Cuban Five.
The unjust incarceration of the Cuban Five, since 1998 for trying to prevent terrorist actions against Cuba, was also condemned during an evening at the City Hall in district 14th.
The district mayor, Pascal Cherki, highlighted the importance of the book “Cinco Cubanos en Miami” (Five Cubans in Miami), by French journalist and writer Maurice Lemoine, who criticizes the biased treatment these men have received in US soil.
The evening, organized by the Friendship Associations with Latin America, ended with a collection of signatures in support of the campaign for the freedom of the Cuban Five.
As reported by Granma and Juventud Rebelde newspapers, there are an increasing number of people worldwide joining the international campaign for the return of these men to Cuba.
Defense lawyer Leonard Weinglass said in an article published by Le Monde Diplomatique and by the website www.antiterroristas.cu, that the Cuban Five were not incarcerated for violating US laws, but for uncovering those who were actually doing it.
Cuba: Example of Humanism, Says Prime Minister of East Timor
HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 28 (acn) The Prime Minister of East Timor, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, said that Cuba is an example of solidarity and humanism for the rest of the world.
During a visit to the Havana-based Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), Gusmao —also Minister of Defense and Security of East Timor— added that the Cuban Revolution was an inspiration for the rebels of country during their liberation struggle.
He pointed out that East Timor, following the example of Cuba, will help its small neighboring countries in the health sector.
After praising the medical training of youths from his country in Cuba, he announced that East Timor will soon implement training programs for young people in that Asian nation.
Dr. Juan Carrizo Estevez, the rector of ELAM, offered details on the origins and the current state of the higher education center, where thousands of youths from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the United States are studying medicine.
He noted that more than 8,500 specialists from these countries have already graduated from the ELAM.
Before leaving the school, Gusmao and his delegation met with some of the 225 youths from East Timor who are being trained in Cuba as physicians or health technicians
Eastern Cuban Wind Farms Produce More Than 21,000 Megawatts in Three Years
HOLGUIN, Cuba, Feb 28 (acn) The two wind farms in the municipality of Gibara, in the eastern Cuban province of Holguin, contributed with 21,000 megawatts to the National Electric System, in three years of functioning.
The director of the National Electric System, Jose Pifferer, told ACN that this contribution saved the Cuban economy more than 4,000 oil tons, taking into account that these two wind farms produce nine megawatts per hour.
It also played a part in ceasing to emit to the atmosphere more than 15,000 cubic meters of toxic gases, which benefits the environment.
The Cuban program of energy generation from the wind has other two facilities, with less generation capacity, located in the special municipality of the Isle of Youth and in the central province of Ciego de Avila.
Pifferer noted that the Gibara I, in Holguin, was severely damaged by hurricane Ike, in September 2008; otherwise, these two farms could have made a larger contribution.
The director of the Electric Company of Holguin, Hector Lugo, pointed out that the project to use the energy of the wind began in the province with the inauguration of Gibara I, on February 16, 2008, and expanded recently with Gibara II
Mexico: Guest of Honor at Cuban Tourism Fair
HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 28 (acn) Mexico will be the guest country at the 31st edition of the International Tourism Fair -the main tourism market on the island-, which will take place from May 2 through the 7 at Havana’s Morro-Cabaña Complex.
Alicia Perez, representative of the Cuban Tourism Ministry (MINTUR) in Mexico, explained that the meeting will be attended by over 300 tour operators of Europe, Asia and the Americas.
This edition will include an evening dedicated to Mexico, with a banquet in honor of that nation, composed of typical dishes, the Xinhua news agency reports, reproducing statements by Perez to that country’s press..
The initiative is sponsored by the MINTUR office in Mexico, the Mexican embassy to Havana, the Mexican Secretariat of Tourism, the Mexican Council for Tourism Promotion, and the governments of the states of Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo.
Canada, France, Great Britain, Spain, Russia, China and Japan will be among the countries sending their tour operators, considered as some the most important in the world, added the source.
This 31st edition of the event will also be dedicated to multi-destinations, and to the capital as the most significant one, which has, among its attractions, the historic area of Old Havana, declared a World Heritage Site.
The increase in international tourism is one of the island’s main goals, which hopes to receive two million 700 thousand vacationers in 2011.
This destination, one of the most important in the Caribbean, closed 2010 with a 4.2 percent increase, after welcoming over two million and a half foreign visitors.
At the end of January, the island registered the record figure of 296,222 international tourist arrivals, a 15.9 percent increase as compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the National Office of Statistics
Cuban Heberprot-P Proves Effectiveness in Treatment of Diabetic Foot Patients
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, Feb 28 (acn) Heberprot-P, a leading medicament in the Cuban biotechnological and pharmaceutical industry, has proven its effectiveness and safety in the treatment of more than 22,000 patients suffering from diabetic foot ulcers.
The director of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), Luis Herrera Martinez, affirmed that a clinical study in several European countries will contribute with new data on the product.
He recalled that it has been applied with excellent results in the quality of life of patients in Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Algeria, Dominican Republic and Libya; aiming at its expansion towards Russia, China, and South Africa.
Herrera noted that pharmacosurveillance studies confirm that Heberprot-P is safe to use in the treatment of deep ulcers in lower limbs with almost no relapses, second injuries or amputations for this cause.
He explained that CIGB is carrying out researches addressed to improving treatments with this medicament, the only one of the kind in the world, and it aims at developing a new clinical study in ulcers with high levels of ischemia, to continue expanding its use.
According to some data offered by the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 450 million people are expected to suffer from diabetes for 2025, and it is likely that 15-35 per cent of these people will suffer from a diabetic foot ulcer.
That’s why, it is so important to spread the use of this Cuban therapeutic alternative, patented in 2006, which stimulates the formation of useful tissue to close injuries, and reduces considerably the number of patients to go through amputation surgeries.
Aquí están mis emoticones personalizados. El sentado a la derecha de Luna (la perra) es un niño amigo que
a diario viene y toma su vaso de leche. Ese día la mitad se la ofreció a Luna (miren la lengua del animal).
fotos: el anciano en seis fotos soy yo Eladio González toto argentino hasta la muerte
y después también.
