Fidel Castro: Attack on Iran Would Become a Global Conflict
Havana, Sept 3 (Prensa Latina) Leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro warned on Friday that any attack on Iran would immediately turn into a global conflict that would escape the control of the warring countries.
"I have no doubt that Iran's conventional response would trigger a fierce war that would escape the control of the warring countries, which would become a worldwide military conflict," Fidel Castro said during a message he read aloud to students at the University of Havana, standing on the steps of the main entrance.
Commenting on a United Nations resolution passed in June authorizing the inspection of Iranian merchant ships within a 90-day period, he said Russia was a nuclear country and a powerful one, whose opinion cannot be ignored.
"I recommend to you that we shoud be attentive to the deadline," he said.
After noting that there are around 25,000 nuclear weapons in the world, he stated that they are 460,000 times more powerful than those dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II in 1945.
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Raul Castro Meets with Visiting Spanish Socialist Delegation
HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 3 (acn) Cuban President and Second Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) Raul Castro met on Thursday with the Secretary of Organization of the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), senator Leire Pajin, who was accompanied by PSOE’s Secretary of Foreign Relations and Cooperation Elena Valenciano.
During the meeting in Havana, they spoke of topics of international interest and the current state of relations between the two political parties.
Present were Cuba’s First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.
The visiting PSOE delegation met in the headquarters of the PCC’s Central Committee with Machado Ventura.
During their stay in Cuba, the visitors also held meetings Rodriguez Parrilla; with Ricardo Alarcon and Jaime Crombet, respective President and Vice President of the Cuban National Assembly (Parliament); with Jorge Marti Martinez, head of the International Relations Department of the PCC’s Central Committee; and with leaders of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC); among other officials and personalities.
They also visited places of social and scientific interest.
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Cuba: Women in Tourism Convention
Havana, Sep 2 (Prensa Latina) As another link in the ascending chain of Cuban tourism, women have a major participation in this industry, as demonstrated in an international meeting of females in the recreational sector.
From this Thursday until September 6, Cuba will host a new edition of the Women in Tourism Convention of the Mexican Organization CONFETUR, an association of women professionals in the tourist industry.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR), the event brings together professional women from Mexico with representatives from Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Merida, Puerto Vallarta, Veracruz and Mexico City.
The main agenda of the meeting relates to the efforts for professional and cultural improvement, the focus of CONFETUR's work, and its presidency expects meetings with the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) and the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) of Cuba.
It includes tours around the historic center of Havana and Viñales Valley, the latter in the western province of Pinar del Rio.
CONFETUR annually organizes its National Convention and an international one, with the mission to foster the spirit of cooperation among women who present tourist services in the Mexican territory.
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UN Authorities Acknowledge Cuba’s Achievements
HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 2 (acn) Barbara Pesce-Monteiro, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Cuba, acknowledged on Thursday in this capital the island’s progress in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established by that international organization.
At the office of the UN Development Program (UNDP) in Havana, which she also represents, Pesce-Monteiro asserted that she’s confident of the good march of works on the island for the fulfillment of these goals, which, in fact, -she stated- it has been fulfilling even before they were established in the year 2000.
In prior reports, access to education, health care services, the reduction of infant mortality rate and other goals had been reached, which I expect will continue to remain the same way, the official told ACN.
She added that the Cuban government is still working on the preparation of the report corresponding to the period that will be analyzed in the next Millennium Summit, scheduled for this month at the UN headquarters in New York.
During the Millennium Summit held in 2005 the economic and financial crisis now shaking the world didn’t exist, she said, adding that “in spite of this, I expect Cuba to continue to move on.
After asserting that she hasn’t seen the Cuban report yet, she described as positive the signs she has been able to observe so far.
With regard to the period established by the UN for the achievement of the MDGs, Pesce-Monteiro recalled that nations still have five years to reach their development objectives, and while speaking about what Cuba can do, she pointed out: “there are goals now being reached and we’ll witness the achievement of all of them.
In the year 2000, the 191 nations making up the UN at the time agreed the eight MDGs, and planned their fulfillment for 2015.
The eradication of extreme poverty, the achievement of universal primary education, the reduction of infant mortality rate, and the improvement of mother’s health are among the MDGs.
The achievement of these goals is checked every five years in a Millennium Summit.
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Cuban Companies Certified as Ozone-Friendly
Havana Sep 2 (Prensa Latina) The national Technical Ozone Office recognized 34 Cuban state companies for discontinuing the use of ozone-depleting substances, a top environmental priority.
Those companies will receive their certificates on September 16, World Day for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
The recognition certifies that the companies no longer use Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) for production, a substance used in refrigeration systems, air conditioners, disposable containers, and other products.
The elimination of CFCs is part of a national program to convert equipment so that it no longer uses ozone-depleting substances, the National Information Agency (AIN) reported.
The UN General Assembly declared World Day for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1994, a date that commemorates the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, the first major environmental agreement and one of the most effective so far.
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Cuba Hosts Int'l. Conference on Cuban 5
Havana, Sep 2 (Prensa Latina) Over 40 countries will be represented at the 4th international conference for the release of the five Cuban antiterrorists jailed in the United States, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples announced on Thursday.
The November 17-21 meeting at the Expo-Holguin fairgrounds includes a live interactive forum on the Internet, said ICAP official Amaury Torno.
First-time guests include Laos, India, Paraguay, Guatemala, Portugal, Iran, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.
The International Brigade against Media Terrorism will officially launch its work of solidarity during the conference, Torno said.
Conference participants include lawyers, journalists, congress members and church officials who are helping to spread the truth about legal process of the Cuban Five, as they are known in the international campaign for their freedom.
Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González were arrested in 1998 and given sentences of up to two life terms plus 15 years for exposing anti-Cuba terrorists operating from Florida, in the southern United States.
