Preside Fidel delegación cubana a la toma de posesión de Lula Da Silva  12/31/02 AIN: "La presencia de Fidel en Brasil consolidará las fraternas relaciones de amistad y cooperación existentes entre los dos países y constituirá un testimonio de buena voluntad hacia el nuevo Gobierno brasileño y su presidente electo, destacado luchador y personalidad política a quien nos unen viejas relaciones de amistad y solidaridad y a quien el pueblo cubano desea un exitoso mandato en beneficio del hermano pueblo de Brasil."

Carta del Embajador Richard C. Brown a Congresista del Perú.  12/31/02 Comandos F4: By this letter, the US Ambassador to Peru asserted on 8/5/02 that Comandos F4 were not a terrorist organization, while Cuba remains on the list of terrorist nations. This same Comandos F4 just announced their attempted execution of the 6th Cuban "spy" (counterterrorism officer) who got away to Cuba.

Comandos F4  12/31/02 comandosf4.org: Another reason why Cuban American narcoterrorists are on everybody's watch list, including that of the 5 cuban "spies" who were counterterrorism officers. Note the articles focusing on Venezuela. Three of their members were captured in an incursion into Cuba last April. They helpfully document their violent tendencies on their site at http://www.comandosf4.org/notas-prensa.htm.

Anti-Castro group claims shooting of spy in Cuba  12/31/02 Miami Herald: Comandos F4 - "We are the only exile organization that has publicly declared being after Juan Pablo Roque to execute him for the crime he committed and for having laughed at this country,'' Frometa said. ``We have been following his paces. We know where he works, where he lives, who his lovers are, because our intention is to eliminate him.'' Laughing at this country?

Apoyo de Turquía a los cinco héroes cubanos  12/31/02 Notinet: "En el trabajo periodístico se incluyen las fotos de Gerardo, Ramón, Fernando, René y Antonio y una reseña de las operaciones encubiertas de Estados Unidos contra Cuba en los últimos 43 años. También cuenta a los lectores cómo fue el proceso que llevó al inicuo juicio y condena de los cinco patriotas cubanos, cuyo único propósito en Estados Unidos era impedir que se atentara contra el país caribeño por la mafia terrorista de Miami." Vease tambien comandosf4.org por una muestra de los terroristas en action.

DATELINE HAVANA: Flood of visitors, ideas fuels tug-of-war in Cuba  12/30/02 Access Atlanta: "Cuba today seems stuck between their two views, a tug-of-war that mostly goes on silently, behind the closed doors of crumbling houses. The nation of 11 million seems poised on the verge of change, but nobody knows exactly how that change will play out. Hovering over everything is the dominating figure of Fidel Castro, the fiery revolutionary leader who tore down a corrupt, unequal society in 1959 and replaced it with a Marxist dictatorship that has provided free, universal education and a sophisticated system of health care that for many years provided free care for all." As usual, absent from this analysis is any consideration of the impact of demographics and the fact that 70% of Cubans have African ancestry.

State will be ready when change comes to Cuba  12/30/02 Florida Today: "Behind Gov. Jeb Bush's hard-line stance against Castro is a state preparing to do business with Cuba. State documents reveal Bush's chief economic officer is working on a plan to trade with Cuba the moment there's a change, either in regard to 76-year-old Fidel Castro or in the United States' resolve against his communist regime."

Firms preparing for eventual U.S. travel to Cuba  12/30/02 Tallahassee Democrat: "In the other report, the Monroe County Tourist Development Council cited estimates that the annual number of U.S. visitors could reach 3.2 million after the ban is lifted." Quadrupling the current 1 million visitors…

Cuba, on and off track  12/29/02 Boston Globe: "Cuba was the first nation in Latin America to have trains - steam locomotives kept the sugar industry rolling - and is the only Caribbean island with an extensive network. Today, the colorful hand-scripted signs in stations listing local routes tend toward fiction. The Santa Clara to Cienfuegos local: cancelado. The Santiago de Cuba to Bayamo local: cancelado. Trains to all of more than a dozen towns serviced by the open-air station in Minas: cancelado. Some routes have been cut for years; others are recent victims of fuel shortages. Only the national trains, those running between Havana and other major cities, including the Santiago de Cuba line, keep dependable schedules."

Local girls headed to Cuba for all star tour  12/29/02 Chicago Star: "Bill Lammel is the Chicagoland recruiter for Friendship Through Baseball and Softball. He has recruited some of the area's best girls softball players who'll play on the Illinois McDonalds-Mitsubishi Softball All-Star team that leaves today for a tour of Cuba."

Desde Haiti  12/29/02 El Habanero: compendium of articles on Haiti.

Local group visits Cuba for festival  12/29/02 Herald Dispatch, WV: "Delegation attends Havana jazz fair, hypes Huntington’s own Jazz-MU-Tazz."

Cuba Faces New Traffic Congestion Woes  12/28/02 AP: "With its economy emerging from a decade of stagnation, Cuba finds itself suddenly overwhelmed with traffic -- a situation that officials say is endangering lives. Cubans who depended on bicycles to get them through fuel shortages of the 1990s are getting behind the wheel again, and the resulting gridlock has prompted new traffic laws along with steep fines. They take effect on Jan. 1."

Outgoing congressman says lift Cuba embargo  12/28/02 AP: "Republican U.S. Rep. Sonny Callahan, who is ending his 18-year career in Congress, said the U.S. embargo on communist Cuba should be lifted. Callahan of Mobile said he plans to travel to Cuba once he leaves office in January… Mobile and Havana are sister cities, sharing a unique history, even before they became frequent trading partners - when ships carrying sugar and supplies crossed the Gulf of Mexico between the then-Spanish colony and French Louisiana Territory." - Callahan represented Mobile, Alabama.

Cadena turística jamaicana aumenta presencia en Cuba  12/28/02 Escambray, Cuba: "Matanzas, Cuba - Con la inauguración oficial del hotel Sandals Royal Hicacos en el balneario de Varadero, ceremonia a la que asistió el vicepresidente cubano Carlos Lage, la cadena turística jamaicana Sandals apuesta hoy decisivamente al destino Cuba."

Cuba: Cruise tourism to rebound in 2003  12/27/02 IHT: "Cruise ship visits to the Communist-run island of Cuba are projected to nearly double in 2003. . Gianluca Suprani, managing director of Havana's sole cruise ship terminal, said 45,000 cruise ship passengers arrived in the Cuban capital during a total of 60 stops in 2002. . That compares with the 100,000 passengers who arrived on 200 stops the year before. . But at least 75,000 such passengers are expected on 120 visits in 2003, said Suprani, who manages the terminal, a mixed enterprise between an Italian company and the Cuban government."

Terror threat from Venezuela: Al Queda involved  12/27/02 Militares Democraticos: judging from the "all evil comes from Cuba" themes invoked, the military putchists have their own links to Cubans -- in the Miami Mafia. In fact the author, far from being Venezuelan military, is one Martin Arostegui, of Coral Gables, FL, who also writes for Cuba Futuro and other Cuban exile publications, where he shares billing with the likes of el unico, Myles Kantor.

Holiday Travel: More South Floridians Heading To Cuba  12/26/02 NBC6, South Florida

Recent Grantees and Project Descriptions  12/26/02 Social Science Research Council: details numerous recent joint Cuba/US awards, including - "CUNY/Caribbean Exchange Program, Hunter College School of Social Work and the University of Havana Department of Sociology and Social Work Program: "CUNY Caribbean Exchange: Hunter/Habana Community Organizing Initiative" and Fundacion Amistad, Casa de las Americas, and the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana: "Workshop: Management of Archival Collections." and The University of Michigan and the Cuban Center for Anthropology: "Society for American Archaeology Conference Session on Cuban Archaeology."

Visas Denied  12/26/02 WISHTV: "Members of a Bloomington sister-city group are upset because the government won't let four visitors from their sister city into the country. The visitors are from Cuba, and the government has twice denied travel visas for the group from Santa Clara, Cuba… Mike Gasser was in a group from Indiana that visited Havana earlier this year. He says denying the Cubans visas goes against the whole point of the sister cities idea, which is people-to-people contact. Kelly Shannon of the Bureau of Consular Affairs says cubans are subject to special restrictions. That's because Cuba is on a government list of countries that support terrorism. Shannon says the government can't make exceptions to the rule because it's a national security issue." Dangerous terrorists, 1000 times more dangerous than the narcoterrorists in the Miami Mafia.

For Cubans, Christmas Is Capitalist  12/24/02 NYT: "Plastic trees made in China were a top selling item for Cubans reviving the tradition of decorating their homes. Five-foot trees were $14.40, more than an average monthly wage." The African majority in Cuba has never been particularly Christian.

U.S. threatens to fine man who posted Cuba news  12/24/02 Seattle Post Intelligencer: Nothing in here about the attack on freedom of association and right to travel - "Warner has hired a lawyer to argue that the demand for information violates his constitutional rights of free speech and due process. He and several supporters in the civil liberties community held a press conference yesterday to publicize his plight. "All he did was post information on the Internet and they threatened him with fines," said Neil Fox of the Seattle chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. "This is a serious escalation of the assault on civil liberties in this country. It's outrageous."

U.S. threatens to fine man who posted Cuba news  12/24/02 Seattle Post Intelligencer

U.S., Cuban collaboration grows  12/23/02 Seattle Times: "During a recent weeklong conference, several U.S. researchers lectured at the Havana biotechnology center while their Cuban counterparts presented research on topics such as genetically engineered fish and test-tube fertilization."

Any changes in stance could be incremental  12/22/02 Miami Herald

U.S. support of embargo on Cuba is holding -- but for how long?  12/22/02 Miami Herald: "The outcome of the ongoing skirmish may depend partly on events as disparate as agricultural commodity prices, the behavior of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Republican loyalty to South Florida's two Cuban-American legislators and the fighting spirit of Rep. Tom DeLay, the incoming House majority leader. DeLay's staunch support of the U.S. embargo has in large part helped derail legislative efforts to weaken it."

Le coin des fainéants : recherche sur US Laws and Cuba  12/21/02 Cuba Solidarity Project

Regional > Caribbean > Cuba > Society and Culture  12/21/02 Google: USCSCA listed on Google

End The Embargo Coffee  12/20/02 End the Embargo: "Thanksgiving Coffee created End the Embargo Coffee to raise public awareness about and advocate the end of the nearly 40-year U.S. embargo against Cuba — one of the longest and harshest economic blockades in history. We donate 15¢ (50% of the profit) from every package of End the Embargo Coffee to the U.S.-Cuba Sister Cities Association, a non-profit organization working to develop partnerhips between U.S. communities and their counterparts in Cuba."

Accused Cuban may be deported  12/20/02 Miami Herald: "Aboy's lawyer, Grisel Ybarra, promised an appeal and said the ruling sets a ''terrible precedent'' for deporting Cuban immigrants who did not reveal past party membership. ''Now anyone in the community who never put down they belonged to the Communist Party can be removed,'' Ybarra said."

Tom Warner Here!  12/20/02 Seattle Cuba: "I may have the dubious honor of being the first person who has been attacked by the Bush administration for using the internet to oppose the policies of the government." Actually, observers remark that what is at stake here is not so much freedom of expression as freedom of association and right to travel, as OFAC is not objecting to Warner posting but more to his alleged organizing work for a conference in Cuba.

Posada conspires in prison  12/19/02 Granma: "During a visit to El Renacer prison to record a television report on a cultural event for Mothers Day (a December festivity in Panama), a Panamanian TVN television camera team was witness to an unexpected meeting between Luis Posada Carriles, the hemisphere’s most dangerous terrorist, and known Miami terrorist Ignacio Castro Matos."

Bio-weapons lab in Venezuela for Saddam and Castro  12/19/02 Militares Democraticos: note the use of themes favored by the Miami Mafia, which has many ties to Venezuelan right wing coup plotters.

Boulder OKs Cuban sister city  12/18/02 Colorado Daily: "On Tuesday, the City Council voted Tuesday unanimously in support of the idea, declaring the rural and mountainous Yateras township that lies on the eastern tip of the Cuban island Boulder's sixth sister city."

Embargo in Cyberspace  12/18/02 Seattle Weekly: "Tom Warner did Castro when Castro wasn't cool. The 77-year-old Seattle activist and World War II vet says he was radicalized "to the ways of imperialism" while sailing to Africa and the Middle East as a merchant seaman after the war." By focusing on an admitted communist, the media avoids the larger issue of Bush's attempts to eliminate people to people contact through such forums as the US Cuba Sister Cities Association.

City may declare Cuban sister city  12/17/02 Daily Camera, Boulder: "After nine months of organizing — capitalizing on Councilman Spense Havlick's suggestion that a Boulder-Cuba sister city be formed — a group of more than two dozen is readying to start regular cultural exchanges with the small city on the communist island."

All that jazz, and red tape, at Cuba fest  12/15/02 Chicago Tribune: "Yet many of the American musicians and their managers said they have never had such a difficult time getting into Cuba. They complained of trouble obtaining licenses and other paperwork required by Washington, getting visas from Havana, and problems at airports in the United States and Cuba. "The last time I was here, in 1998, it was totally different," said noted New York trombonist-bandleader Steve Turre, who is among a long list of visiting Americans, including such Hollywood celebrities as Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte. "Last time, you had Cuban and American musicians getting together at parties hosted by the American government," Turre said. "You don't see that this time." Indeed, the American Interests Section, which replaced the U.S. Embassy after the 1960s freeze in American-Cuban relations, this year did not organize a reception for American and Cuban musicians. In past years, jazz festival participants partied into the wee hours in the impeccably landscaped gardens behind the mansion where American diplomats work… "I'm always knocked out by the level of musicianship in this town," said Jean Bach, director of the celebrated jazz documentary "A Great Day in Harlem." "This time it's the same as when I was here in 1948 and '78. The music is colossal."

U.S. may tighten Cuba travel  12/15/02 Miami Herald: from the pen of a Miami Mafia spokesperson - "Under the proposal, which officials describe as one of many ideas being discussed by the administration's policy planners, only Cubans with U.S. citizenship would be allowed to travel to Cuba… However, a U.S. congressman said Saturday in Havana that support is growing for an end to the travel ban and that the law could be changed within two years."

Angola: President On Cuba's Support  12/14/02 Angolan Press Agency: "The Angolan President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, on Friday here, received guaranties for the continue strengthening of the friendship and cooperation relations with Cuba, during an audience paid to the member of State Council of that country Jose Ramon Cabrera."

CIA spy master Ted Shackley dies at 75  12/13/02 Miami Herald: "Shackley was Miami station chief during tensions with Cuba. Theodore ''Ted'' Shackley, a legendary spy master and Cold War figure who ran the CIA's huge Miami operation during the height of U.S. tensions with Cuba during the 1960s, has died of cancer in Maryland. He was 75. Nicknamed ''The Blond Ghost'' because he hated to be photographed, Shackley was an exacting, intense, elusive covert operator. As Miami station chief during Operation Mongoose, an interagency U.S. effort to topple Fidel Castro, he ran about 400 agents and operatives during a period that included the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962." A man steeped in narcotics trafficking, murder for hire, and close collaboration with the mafiosi.

Surprise for Cuba  12/13/02 Washington Times: "The man who helped write a U.S. law that is among the most denounced measures in Cuba is scheduled to lead an American delegation to Havana next week for a periodic review of U.S. and Cuban immigration policies. Dan Fisk, a deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, served on the staff of Sen. Jesse Helms, North Carolina Republican, when Mr. Helms chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 1990s. Mr. Fisk helped draft the so-called Helms-Burton amendment in 1996 that targets foreign companies with links to property in Cuba confiscated by Fidel Castro after the 1959 communist revolution. Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, sponsored the law in the House. "I don't think people know how ironic this is," said one Hill source yesterday, explaining that the Cubans always use the biannual meetings to complain about Helms-Burton."

Jamaica agradece propuesta de Cuba de aumentar número de médicos en el Caribe  12/12/02 Radio Havana: "Jamaica acogió con gran beneplácito la propuesta cubana de reforzar la presencia de su personal médico y paramédico en el Caribe, lanzada por el presidente Fidel Castro recientemente en La Habana. La iniciativa fue expuesta por el máximo líder cubano durante una reunión especial entre Cuba y el CARICOM, efectuada con motivo de los 30 años de relaciones de la mayor de las antillas con Jamaica , Barbados , Guyana y Trinidad y Tobago. El ministro de salud de Jamaica, John Junior, elogió la propuesta cubana de aumentar su destacamento médico en el Caribe, los cuales -agregó- ayudarán a combatir el Síndrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida (SIDA) en la zona. En todo el Caribe existen actualmente unas 440 mil personas infectadas con ese virus mortal, de los cuales 60 mil fueron diagnosticados este año."

Trágico accidente de tren en Cuba  12/11/02 BBC Mundo: "Un tren de pasajeros se descarriló en la provincia de Matanzas este martes, provocando por lo menos 13 muertos y más de 60 heridos, según informó la Agencia de Información Nacional de Cuba (AIN). Siete de los heridos se encuentran en condición crítica, dijo Erneto Letucet, director de Salud Pública. El accidente, en el que volcaron cinco vagones del tren especial que atraviesa la isla, se produjo en horas de la noche en una zona cercana a los pueblos de Jovellanos y Limonar a unos 100 kilómetros de La Habana." Jovellanos and Limonar, beloved of Lydia Cabrera.

Castro's CARICOM Toast, North's Grenada Cruise  12/11/02 Black World Today: "To mark the 20th anniversary of that US military invasion, a group of Americans are currently planning a cruise to Grenada to "celebrate" - yes, celebrate - what remains a dark chapter in the history of the Caribbean, a region that bridges the two Americas. A week-long cruise is being organised by the former military aide to President Reagan's National Security Council, Colonel Oliver North, one of the darlings of rightwing America, who was exposed back in 1985-86 for his disgraceful involvement in what became known as the `Iran-Contra Affair’."

THE FIVE: Defense team only able to see 20% of the evidence  12/11/02 Granma: "He charged that not only did the DA have the five accused men placed in solitary confinement from September 12, 1998 until February 2000 but - even more seriously - that the evidence was also restricted. Anglada added the lawyers were only allowed to see their clients for a few hours during their initial contacts, with the added aggravation that they were not allowed to take notes of anything that was said. The defense was only able to examine 20% of the accumulated evidence. The DA has retained documents, thus hindering the case reaching the Atlanta Appeals Court, commented the lawyer who went on to highlight that the trial lasted six months, filled 16,400 pages of court notebooks, and saw 1,600 entries in the court’s register, with all the necessary entailing documentation." All this for 5 men conducting anti-terrorist operations against the Miami Mafia...

Cuban Plan Against AIDS Well Received by Caribbeans  12/11/02 Prensa Latina: "The Caribbean nations welcomed the Cuban initiative to reinforce the regional struggle against AIDS by increasing the presence of its health personnel in the rest of the area. According to Jamaican Public Health Minister John Junor the proposal by the Cuban government includes raising the number of specialists to help fight against the disease. Although the details of the program have not been revealed yet, the Caribbean peoples and governments welcomed the idea of strengthening the fight against AIDS in the region, said the health minister. Junor also stated that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat entrusted Saint Kitts & Nevis and its Prime Minister Denzil Douglas to analyze the details of the Cuban initiative."

Caribbean: Region Sees Role In Ending Cuba Embargo  12/10/02 Black World Today: "Only Montserrat, still a British dependency, was not represented at the summit and only Suriname was not represented by its head of government. Vice-President Jules Adjodha attended instead of President Ronald Venetiaan. It was the largest group of CARICOM leaders to ever visit Cuba, an indication of how important both sides view relations, officials say. CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington said he hoped the leaders would back suggestions to act as a go-between with the United States and Cuba. ''This state of relations is holding up everything in the hemisphere,'' said Carrington. ''We would like to help to build a bridge between Cuba and the U.S. It is in the Caribbean's interest. The U.S. is dealing with everyone else - Vietnam, North Korea - why not Cuba?'' Speaking for CARICOM leaders, Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo called the embargo ''anachronistic in this era of globalisation and trade liberalisation''.

The lost illusions of Posada and his accomplices  12/10/02 Granma: "Traumatized. There aren’t many other words to describe Posada Carriles and his three henchmen on leaving the court on Thursday, December 5 after discovering the extent of the deceit practiced on them over the months by their defense attorney drugs lawyer Rogelio Cruz… Cruz, a former state attorney and millionaire who lost his position some years ago due to his links with Colombian drug cartels and a series of financial maneuvers that could have sent him to jail, is confronting a team of top-level lawyers in this country, doctors and university professors who are exercising their skills on behalf of various popular groups. And without charge, out of solidarity with trade union, student and indigenous organizations and the Cuban Revolution."

Cuban political prisoners in the United States  12/10/02 Yellow Times: "For most of their detention since being arrested, the five men have been kept in solitary confinement. After their convictions, they were placed in five different prisons spread around the country - Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Wisconsin and Colorado - making it difficult for supporters and attorneys to visit more than one. The wife and five-year-old daughter of René González were denied visas to enter the United States from Cuba to visit him. Hernández's wife was already at the Houston airport with all her papers in hand when she was turned back, although not before undergoing several hours of FBI humiliation. The United States is currently engaged in a world-wide, open-ended, supra-legal campaign to destroy the rights of any individuals who - on the most questionable of evidence or literally none at all - might conceivably represent any kind of terrorist threat. But if the Cubans - with a much longer history of serious terrorist attacks against them by well known perpetrators - take the most reasonable steps to protect themselves from further attacks, they find that Washington has forbidden them from taking part in the War Against Terrorism. This is particularly ironic given that the same anti-Castro exiles have committed numerous terrorist acts in the United States itself." Author William Blum left the U.S. State Department in 1967, abandoning his aspiration of becoming a Foreign Service Officer, because of his opposition to what the United States was doing in Vietnam. He is the author of Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II and Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower.

HAVANA SUMMIT - 30 years of Cuban-Caribbean relations  12/9/02 Granma: "THE presidents and heads of government from the 14 states comprising the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ended their historic reunion in Havana celebrating 30 years of productive relations on December 8."

Congress needs help on OFAC License Refusals  12/9/02 US Cuba Sister Cities Association: "As part of their work on Cuba policy, members of the Cuba Working Group in the House of Representatives are keeping an eye on the Cuba licensing activity of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. In that connection they have asked me to help them by gathering information on actual licensing decisions that have been made by OFAC. So I am contacting a wide number of people, and I encourage you to pass this note on to others."

Vuelven a detener al conocido disidente Oscar Elías Biscet  12/8/02 Nuevo Herald: "LA HABANA Diez disidentes cubanos, entre ellos el médico Oscar Elías Biscet, recientemente liberado tras tres años en la cárcel, fueron detenidos en La Habana, informó ayer la activista opositora Marta Beatriz Roque. La detención se registró el viernes en la barriada habanera de Lawton, cuando Biscet pretendía reunirse con otros nueve disidentes llegados desde la provincia de Matanzas, 100 kilómetros al este de la capital cubana, dijo Roque."

Minister Miller and Cuban Ambassador discuss further co-operation  12/7/02 Barbados Advocate: "BARBADOS could soon be exploring the possibility of increased trade with Cuba. This was one of the main issues discussed when Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Billie Miller met recently with new Cuban Ambassador Jose Joaquin Alvarez Portela. Miller said Barbados enjoyed an excellent relationship with Cuba and she hoped this spirit of co-operation would continue to grow."

Trial of exiles in anti-Castro plot halted in Panama after 4 ½ hours  12/6/02 Miami Herald: "The trial of the man that Cuba calls its ''most wanted terrorist'' and three Cuban Americans started and halted Thursday after a lawyer insisted they be charged with trying to kill Fidel Castro in 2000. Luis Posada Carriles, Gaspar Jiménez and Pedro Remón of Miami and Guillermo Novo of New Jersey, who have been jailed for two years, groaned when the judge suspended the long-awaited trial after only 4 ½ hours."

Miami pulls benefit, Cuba singer rumored to appear  12/6/02 Reuters: "The benefit was the latest in a host of events chased from Miami, including the 2001 Latin Grammys, due to rumored or planned appearances by Cubans seen as sympathetic to the Cuban president, who is reviled by Miami's exile community. Hosts and callers on Miami's Spanish-language radio stations spent more than a week protesting the rumored appearance by singer Rosita Fornes, although it was never confirmed she planned to appear."

Judge: Spy's ex-wife to get proceeds from Cuban plane auction  12/5/02 AP: theft on a grand scale, as is the custom in Florida - "A judge Wednesday ordered the seizure and sale of a Cuban aircraft, which carried eight Cuban defectors to Key West, to help pay off a $27.1 million settlement awarded to the ex-wife of a Cuban double agent."

Grateful Cuba To Thank Caribbean Nations For Support  12/5/02 Black World Today: "That was 30 years ago this week - Dec. 8, 1972 - when Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados ignored backroom pressure from Washington and sceptics at home, to sign documents breaking Cuba's hemispheric isolation. This week, a very grateful Castro, 76, will host leaders from 11 of the 15 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nations in Havana to thank the region for bailing out his communist government at a time when it looked like Cuba would remain isolated, following the stifling economic embargo imposed by the United States more than a decade earlier."

Otto Reich and the Cuban-American Conservative Lobby  12/5/02 Radio Progresso: "Later on, in these ongoing relationships, we’ve had conservative Cubans in the National Security Council – at present, Col. Emilio González – and particularly in key posts for application of policy toward Cuba such as AID (Agency for International Development), which provides funds for the counter-revolutionary groups inside and outside Cuba. It is currently directed by Adolfo Franco, former personnel chief for Congresswoman Ileana Ros. There’s also the Federal Claims Commission, which would approve the claims of Cuban-Americans who would benefit from a chapter of the Helms-Burton Act (if it's ever enforced), and headed by another former Ileana Ros aide, Mauricio Tamargo. The appointment of Otto Reich was a relevant step in this process. For all practical purposes, he placed himself in the center of policy implementation toward Cuba, and had considerable capacity for pressuring Latin American governments to act in accordance with the policy’s interest. His demotion therefore implies an inevitable step backward for the conservative Cuban-American lobby, no matter how much influence they exercise over other government functionaries."

Behind Posada: Drug Trafficking  12/4/02 Granma: Coca Contra, again - "Panamanian sources confirm links between José Valladares Acosta, accomplice of terrorist gang leader Luis Posada Carriles and Orestes Cosío, recently deported from the United States for drug trafficking and involvement in three murders • The extremely dangerous terrorist has always maintained links with drug trafficking circles in Miami - the U.S. drugs capital."

Medical Supplies Released by US Customs!! Let Cuba Live Intends to Reship to Cuba !!  12/3/02 IFCO: AfroCubaWeb, S.A.lutes the courage and tenacity of the hardy folks from Maine.

Violence Forces Gay Jamaican Men To Seek Asylum Overseas  12/2/02 Black World Today: Those who focus on homophobia in Cuba may want to consider it in its Caribbean context - "When the United Kingdom (UK) granted asylum to three Jamaican men last month, it once again shone the international spotlight on the severe homophobia that have cost many here their homes, their jobs and even their lives. The men were granted asylum on the grounds that ”severe homophobia” in this northern Caribbean island, had endangered their lives, and that the Jamaican government failed to protect them from violence."

Lawmakers Want Reich's Reinstatement  12/2/02 CNS News: "Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), along with some members of anti-Castro Cuban exile groups and other Hispanic organizations, are laying plans to pressure Bush to re-nominate Reich."

The Bush dynasty and the Cuban criminals  12/2/02 Guardian: describes some parts of the bestselling Bardach book, Cuba Confidential - "Recarey, who ran International Medical Centres (IMC), employed Jeb Bush as a real estate consultant and paid him a $75,000 fee for finding the company a new location, although the move never took place, which raised questions at the time. Jeb Bush did, however, lobby the Reagan/Bush administration vigorously and successfully on behalf of Recarey and IMC. "I want to be very wealthy," Jeb Bush told the Miami News when questioned during that period. In 1985, Jeb Bush acted as a conduit on behalf of supporters of the Nicaraguan contras with his father, then the vice-president, and helped arrange for IMC to provide free medical treatment for the contras. Recarey was later charged with massive medicare fraud but fled the US before his trial and is now a fugitive." Recarey ran the largets HMO fraud in the history of the US.

Clergy shouldn't support terror  12/2/02 Miami Herald: by ALBERTO MILIAN, whose father had his legs blown off by the Miami Mafia.

Africans buried in Key West to be memorialized  12/1/02 Herald Tribune: "The faded 140-year-old receipt tells part of the story: 294 African men, women and children, buried at a cost of $5.50 each, totaling $1,617. In all, 295 Africans were entombed on a sandy strip along Higgs Beach on this small island's shore. The dead were casualties of a trans-Atlantic trip aboard three American-owned slave ships in 1860, and the cemetery where they're buried is a unique slice of American history. Nine graves were discovered this summer by archaeologists, and leaders of African tribes in the Unites States plan a three-day ceremony starting Tuesday to honor the dead. Rescued from slavery by the U.S. Navy, more than 1,400 Africans on their way to Cuba spent three months here, being cared for by local doctors with supplies purchased by the U.S. marshal and donated by an accepting citizenry. "They were brought here for refuge and became part of our community," said Norma Jean Sawyer, director of Key West's African-Bahamian Museum. "In Key West, they found some peace." But some died, and about 1,000 others were sent back to Africa in a dangerous voyage. Their tale of death and survival is to be told in a new exhibit in a Key West museum which starts Tuesday."

U.S.-Cuba Business Conference: U.S. Agricultural/Wood/Medical Products Sales to Cuba  12/1/02 World Development Federation

Guerrillero»	«Pinar del Río
El Habanero»	«La Habana
Tribuna de La Habana»	«Ciudad de La Habana
Girón»	«Matanzas
Vanguardia»	«Villa Clara
5 de Septiembre»	«Cienfuegos
Escambray»	«Sancti Spíritus
Invasor»	«Ciego de Ávila
Adelante»	«Camagüey
26»	«Las Tunas
La Demajagua»	«Granma
Ahora»	«Holguín
Sierra Maestra»	«Santiago de Cuba
Venceremos»	«Guantánamo
Victoria»	«Isla de la Juventud

Radio Ciudad de La Habana	Radio Metropolitana
Tiempo 21	Radio Cadena Habana
Radio Sancti Spíritus	CMHW Villa Clara
Radio Victoria	Radio Ciudad del Mar

Bohemia	Habanera
Giga	Temas
Prisma	Negocios en Cuba
Alma Mater	Caimán Barbudo
Mujeres	La Jiribilla
La Gaceta de Cuba	Zunzún
Avances Médicos de Cuba	Travel Trade Cuba
Somos Jóvenes	Opus Habana
Tricontinental	Cine Cubano
Revolución y Cultura	Cuba Internacional
Ciencias de la Información	Salsa Cubana
Juventud Técnica	Pionero
Opciones	El economista
Notinet	El Fénix
Orbe	Senderos

Ceniai	IslaGrande
Infocom	Cubaweb
Infomed	Citmatel
Archivo Nacional	Cubaciencia
Cubanic	Cubarte
Cienfuegos	UPEC
Redsolar	Gobierno cubano
Sitio de Elián	Cuba demanda
Cuba contra el bloqueo	CubAhora
Sitio del Ajedrez en Cuba	Marinas Puertosol
Directorio Turístico de Cuba	Ballet Nacional de Cuba
Casa de las Américas	NO al ALCA

Cuba in the News
Archive for 12/02

List of Cuban provincial papers and other sites

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A.

Cuba in the News Archive for 12/02

List of Cuban provincial papers and other sites

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A.

Cuba in the News
Archive for 12/02