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In the fall of 1995, [Jesse] Helms, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act. One section of the bill, which has no basis in international law, would allow Cubans who fled after Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and later became US citizens, to advance claims in US courts on property nationalized by the Cuban government. They could even sue foreign nationals and companies which have indirectly benefited from the use of their former property.

The major beneficiaries of this legislation would be the people who mose successfully plundered Cuba under the Batista dictatorship which Castro overthrew: Florida-based sugar barons, cattle ranchers and distillers.

This is no coincidence. Among those drafting the Helms legislation was Nicolas Guitierrez, who sits on the board of the Miami-headquartered National Association of Sugar Mill Owners of Cuba and whose family had 100,000 acres of land expropriated by Castro, and Ignacio Sanchez, a lawyer for Bacardi Rum Co., which has long been seeking a means to sue Pernod Ricard, a French firm which distills rum in Bacardi's old plant in Santiago de Cuba.

Also backing the legislation was Juan Prado, a retired Bacardi executive, whose family lost $76 million (in 1960 dollars) when Castro took power, and Manuel Cutillas, head of both the US-Cuba Business Council and of Bacardi Rum Co. For this reason, Wayne Smith, the former chief of the US Interests Section in Havana who is now billeted at Washington's Center for International Policy, tagged the Helms-backed legislation as "the Bacardi Claims Act."

Helms's efforts have further endeared him to the fanatical exiles massed in the Cuban American National Foundation, headed by Jorge Mas Canosa. Pleased by the workof the senior senator from North Carolina, Cuban groups in Miami have organized two major fundraisers for Helms, who is set up for re-election in 1996, netting him $85,000 and $75,000, respectively. Last May, Radio Marti, which is controlled by the Foundation, give Helms six minutes to deliver a personal "message to the Cuban people."

Bill Clinton, with his habitual eye to the Florida vote, supported most sections of the Helms legislation, but refused to endorse the Bacardi Claims Act, fortcing it to be stripped from the bill before Congress approved it. Expect Helms and Bacardi to try again in the near future.

TEGUCIUGALPA, Honduras, Aug 17

A move by Honduras to set up mutual interest offices with Cuba is not a step towards re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two nations, a Honduran government official said on Sunday.

``That this is a prelude towards diplomatic relations with Cuba is totally inexact,'' Honduras Foreign Affairs Minister Delmer Panting told reporters.

Honduras broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 to condemn the government of Fidel Castro.

A statement from the Cuban government had called the decision to open offices a step towards the re establishment of full diplomatic relations.

Miami, August 15(RHC)-- Cuban music -- REAL Cuban music, `from the source' -- is hot in Miami, despite ultra right-wing pressures to take it off the record stands and remove it from the airwaves. According to the Mexican music magazine "Bembe," Cuban music is the most sought-after in Miami and all of southern Florida.

"Bembe" reports that threats by reactionary elements in the Cuban-American community -- a small minority of those living in Miami and the United States -- forced several FM radio stations to take Cuban music off-the-air. One prominent station -- WRTO-FM -- received numerous bomb threats and was eventually forced to eliminate the music of Los Van Van, NG la Banda, Issac Delgado, El Medico de la Salsa and other musicians working and living in Cuba.

Nevertheless, Cubans and non-Cubans alike are flocking to their favorite record shops to pick up the latest tunes from Havana.

In other news, a number of U.S. and Cuban musicians have joined together to produce a new recording, soon to go on sale. The recording, entitled "Buena Vista Social Club," was produced by the Cuban recording company EGREM. U.S. musician Ry Cooder, the composer of the soundtrack of "Geronimo," is the mastermind behind the new recording production.

Santiago de Cuba, August 15(RHC)--

More than 1000 families from eastern Santiago de Cuba have moved into new homes this year. Local agricultural enterprises are behind efforts to improve the living conditions of agricultural workers and their families -- the owners of the new homes.

Santiago de Cuba tops all of the other provinces in this field. Before the year ends, another 800 homes will befinished and ready for residency in Santiago de Cuba.

Havana, August 15(RHC)--

Cuba's National Bio-Laboratory --BIOCEN -- is celebrating its 15th anniversary. In 1982, the complex's industrial plants began operations. The Center is responsible for the production of the recombinant vaccine against hepatitis, as well as the production of interferon and vaccines against meningitis and tetanus.

Scientists at Cuba's BIOCEN also produce an anti-anaemia medication known as Trofin, which has proven highly effective for the elderly.

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