News In Brief

Cubans, Nicaraguans get Comecon bloc's blessings

The annual conference of Comecon, the communist trading alliance, ended here Wednesday with a joint communique expressing solidarity with the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions.

And the Soviet Union said Comecon countries will have to invest up to $65 billion on energy-related industry. Soviet delegate Nikolai Baibakov said more nuclear plants, higher coal and gas production, and even the mass production of methane-powered cars were planned to cut the alliance's dependence on Soviet oil.

Mexico, meanwhile, has urged the USSR to do more to help stabilize the oil market.