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Castro's health 'excellent': Cuban government
HAVANA, 17 (AFP) - Cuban President Fidel
Castro, 79, is in excellent health, the
head of Cuba's legislature said, denying
that illness explained his absence from
an Ibero American summit.
"He enjoys excellent health, which
is enviable," said Ricardo Alarcon,
president of Cuba's National Assembly, after
a reporter asked about Castro's decision
not to attend the summit of leaders from
Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries
with leaders of Spain and Portugal in Salamanca,
Spain over the weekend.
Expectations were high that Castro would
attend the summit, which he has not attended
since 2000, in Panama, where anti-Castro
militants plotted to bomb him.
Since then, Castro fell down steps to a
dais, in 2004, limiting use of his arm.
Cuba's government announced at the last
minute that it would not attend so that
it could better coordinate aid missions
to Central America and Pakistan, where Cuban
doctors are helping with natural disaster
victims.
China's Zhengzhou Yutong to export 630
buses to Cuba
ZHENGZHOU, Oct 17 Asia Pulse - Zhengzhou
Yutong Bus Co. Ltd (Yutong) in central China's
Henan Province will export 630 buses to
Cuba, according to information released
by Yutong recently.
Yutong and Beijing Branch of China National
Aero-technology Import and Export Corporation
have signed an agreement for the export.
The buses exported to Cuba will be used
for long-distance passenger transport. The
export deal involving a total value of US$50
million includes 400 buses and assembly
parts for 200 buses.
According to the contract, all buses will
be delivered to the Cuban side by January
2006.
Child Dies When Boat Capsizes Off Fla.
MIAMI, 4 (AP) - A 6-year-old Cuban boy
died early Thursday after the speedboat
he was being smuggled on capsized as the
U.S. Coast Guard tried to intercept it,
trapping him underneath, authorities said.
The other 30 people in the boat were rescued.
"This terrible incident is an example
of the dangers inherent to illegal entry
to the United States by sea," Rear
Adm. D. Brian Peterman, commander of the
Seventh Coast Guard District, said in a
statement.
The 33-foot boat initially spotted on radar
about 45 miles south of Key West just before
1 a.m. The Coast Guard cutter Dauntless
pursued the vessel, but the boat refused
orders to halt and was maneuvering erratically
in an attempt to get away, the Coast Guard
said.
The Dauntless lost sight of the boat briefly,
then found it capsized with 30 people clinging
to the hull. The 30 were rescued by two
other boats and the cutter, and it was learned
that the boy was missing. His body was found
when the cutter's crew overturned the boat,
authorities said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials
were investigating.
Officials said the quality of the boat
makes it clear that it was a smuggling operation
and not a group of Cubans trying to leave
the communist island without help.
"Small boats, very fast, trying to
evade us - that's typical with what we see
when we're dealing with migrant smugglers,"
Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Doss said.
"We don't see these types of boats
leaving Cuba unless they're smuggling."
The 30 survivors were being held aboard
the Dauntless until a decision is made whether
to return them to Cuba. It was not known
if the boy's parents were among the survivors.
Under the U.S. government's "wet-foot,
dry-foot" policy, immigrants intercepted
at sea are usually returned while those
who make it to land are generally allowed
to stay.
The U.S. government has prosecuted smugglers
for the deaths of Cubans at sea. The Coast
Guard was trying to determine if any of
those rescued were the smugglers.
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