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The Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution said that Fidel Castro’s decision to neither aspire to nor accept the Council of States Presidency ennobles him.

In a message published by Granma daily, the ACRC lauded the Commander in Chief´s determination as “far reaching, legitimate, and honorable.”

We convey our support and decision to keep up our struggle along the people and Raul Castro, elected by the sovereign will President of the Council of States and of Ministers, adds the document.

The Association pledged to brace the unity of which the revolutionary leader taught them, backing every action of solidarity with the five Cuban anti-terrorists imprisoned in the US since 1998.

Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez were imposed abusive terms ranging from 15 years to double life term for fighting terrorism.

“We hope you continue the battle on the field you chose, as the brightest soldier of the motherland, where you may still rely on your top ranking troop,” as you called us in the letter pricing the ACRC foundation in 1994.

Your message touched the deepest of our revolutionary feelings, adds the letter, which reminds of Fidel Castro’s involvement in the struggle for the triumph of the Revolution and its defense.

Among the key such events are the assault of the Mondaca barracks in 1953, then the second military fortress, that marked the beginning of the armed struggle against Fulgencio Batista’s regime.

The letter also highlights his leadership in resisting the attack at Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs), in 1961, and the Missile Crisis 12 months later, that brought the world to the verge of nuclear confrontation.

President Raul Castro will welcome Mozambique President Armando Emilio Guebuza who starts an official visit to on Mar 2-5.

Granma daily says Guebuza will hold talks with Raul Castro and other Cuban officials and tour places of historic, scientific and social interest.

Havana and Maputo, that established diplomatic ties in 1975, have voiced interest in expanding and strengthening bilateral relations and co-operation.

A group of 214 Cubans are working in Mozambique, including 118 in health care, while 3,700 Mozambican professionals were trained in Cuba, plus 48 youth that study now at the Caribbean Island.

Guebuza is accompanied by several ministers: Alcinda Antonio de Abreu (Foreign Affairs and Cooperation); Aires Bonifacio Ali (Education and Culture); and Fernando Sumbana ( Tourism).

The delegation includes Venancio Massingue, (Science and Technology) and Paulo Ivo Garrido (Health).

Born in 1943, Guebuza assumed the presidency in 2004 along the leadership of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front Party.

Cuban scientists from nine institutions met this week to analyze the possibilities to produce ethanol from sugarcane byproducts and other alternative sources without sacrificing food.

The First National Workshop on Cellulosic Ethanol, held at the ICIDCA (Sugarcane Research Institute), was attended by 42 experts, who reviewed the current situation on the international market and technological processes that are not based on food.

The Cuban experts, who gave two master lectures and presented 16 papers at the event, insisted on the danger of using crops to produce ethanol and biodiesel.

Participants in the meeting highlighted the international concern about using corn, wheat and soy, which are humankind’s basic food, as raw materials to produce biofuels.

As an example of that, the European Union has decided to replace by 2010 all vehicles running on fossil fuel by those working on biofuels.

In addition, India is promoting an increase of up to 10 percent in gasoline-ethanol mixtures this year.

At the same time, many transnational companies in the United States are investing in big factories to turn cereals and vegetal oil into fuel to replace oil, gasoline and diesel.

Starvation, water shortage, deforestation, intensive use of fertilizers and herbicides that are dangerous to human health, and the eviction of peasants would be among the many consequences of that new industry.

Cuban scientists and institutions made it clear that the Caribbean Island will make the necessary efforts to contribute to debating and analyzing all possible variants to produce biofuels.

The experts agreed on the deficiencies of the industrial process based on food and the problems caused by that technology for land and food production for human consumption.

The costs of recollection, manipulation, storage and preparation, in addition to energy costs, show that extending that practice as a viable solution to high oil prices and the exhaustion of oil as a major energy source would be counterproductive.

However, insufficient economic information on total costs - not only in the industrial process -, and the attractive prices of hydrated ethanol in contrast to gasoline, are boosting the industry.

Scientists agreed that promising technologies to produce ethanol from waste are being researched and developed at present.

They noted the importance of carrying out economic studies about today’s availability and potential of cellulosic wastes in Cuba.

They also debated the used of genetically-modified organisms to obtain a second generation of biofuels that will not be obtained from food.

The participation of Cuban researchers and institutions allowed attendees to exchange fundamental technological knowledge.

They also got an update of the world’s major ethanol-producing companies and their prospects.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa will travel to Havana next Monday to attend the 10th International Meeting on Globalization and Development Problems, official sources confirmed.

Accompanied by Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador, several ministers and officials, the statesman will speak in the meeting, to be run March 3-7 with the attendance of 1,000 experts from 52 nations.

This is the second time Correa will participate in an event like this in Havana. The first was in 2006.

His agenda here also includes meeting with Ecuadorian youth studying medicine free in Cuba.

His return to Ecuador is slated for Monday night.

Cuban Vice Presidetn Carlos Lage highlighted that replacing imports is important to the country, starting from increasing investments and national production, the national media said on Sunday.

After visiting places where economic and social works are being developed in the eastern Granma province, Lage said there is revival in strategic sectors, as in the construction-material industry and some branches of the food industry.

The Cuban government priority is to guarantee enough products for national consumption, those mostly made out of national raw material, said the vice president, according to the Juventud Rebelde daily.

In El Cacao stone mill, one of the largest in Cuba, Lage said investments in the construction sector will be permanent and will include reduction of electricity and fuel consumption among its objectives.

The possibility to invest more will be determined by a government process to select the economic areas where import replacement is more effective with fewer resources, according to the Cuban National Information Agency.