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Cuba in the News
Archive: 4/16/03 - 4/30/03
Cuba Travel Bill Introduced 4/30/03 AgWeb: has link to text of bill.
Cuba reelected to UN rights panel - US leaves meeting in protest over nod to 'worst violator' 4/30/03 AP
Immigrants' detention upheld 4/30/03 Boston Globe: Cuba is not mentioned, but this decision leads directly to the return of the excludables, Cuban citizens who are deported for minor crimes but remain in US jails as there is no treaty for extradition to Cuba. Such prisoners are abused in the prison system and have no rights.
Maryland calls off trade mission to Cuba amid strained relations with island nation 4/29/03 AP
Italy moving against Cuba 4/29/03 BBC: "More surprisingly, Italy's left is also condemning repression in Cuba: some of Fidel Castro's best friends can be found in the Italian left, which includes two explicitly communist parties.
Fidel Castro's recent policies have prompted a serious soul-searching exercise in the Italian left, often accused by critics of supporting dictatorships.
The left is increasingly critical of the Cuban leader, with the possible exception of the Party of Italian Communists, who mostly still support Mr Castro.
Not only did the moderate left vote in favour of some sections of the centre-right's motion, but it also tabled its own motion condemning Cuba's clampdown and calling for the respect of human rights."
Powell, Denouncing Crackdown, Calls Cuba `Aberration' in West 4/29/03 NYT: "We're reviewing all of our policies and our approach toward Cuba in light of what I think is a deteriorating human rights situation," Mr. Powell told reporters after a meeting with the Jordanian foreign minister." - deteriorating in parallel with that of the US, where the Cuban dissidents would have received 10 year sentences for their actions.
U.S. Enraged as Cuba Returned to U.N. Rights Body 4/29/03 Reuters: "In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters: "Cuba does not deserve a seat on the Human Rights Commission. Cuba deserves to be investigated by the Human Rights Commission." " - but the US is blameless, Ari?
Cuba renovates its health system with state of the art technology 4/28/03 Granma
The malign idea is to provoke an armed conflict between Cuba and the United States 4/28/03 Granma: by Fidel Castro
Somebody Forgot to tell Mr. Cason 4/28/03 Radio Progresso: "Excerpts from an interview done by a Miami TV station with James Cason, head of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana… My comment: As you can see, Mr. Cason only does diplomatic work. That is, he treats Miami extremist right-wingers who have promoted terrorism as if they were the Cuban government; he says that Americans are not going “to determine Cuba’s future” (I certainly agree with that); right after he dictates what the opposition on the island should do to agree on a 10-point plan. He only gives “moral and spiritual support” and accuses Cuba of lying, because the United States doesn’t finance the opposition. Obviously somebody is not telling Mr. Cason the whole story of how this business is being conducted (read on below), or someone, and it is not Cuba, is indeed lying."
Travel to Cuba 4/28/03 Radio Progresso: "Among the general licenses there was the category of “people to people educational exchange,” created to facilitate meetings between Americans and Cubans on issues of culture and life on the island. This was the license the majority of Americans interested in traveling to Cuba applied for. Perhaps it was the reason the Bush administration canceled it last March 24, even before the controversy dealing with the Cuban opponents to the government.
The origin of the license is interesting if one is to understand the fluctuations of Washington’s policies regarding Cuba. It was born in the aftermath of the Torricelli Act, based on the concept that the contact with the people of the United States would weaken the political bases of the Cuban regime. It was called “Track 2”, since Track 1 consisted on strengthening the blockade and the aggressive measures. According to its advocates, every American that visited Cuba would be a natural agent for the government’s destabilizing plans. The Cuban side accepted the challenge and thousand of Americans went to Cuba. Nothing happened, that is, now it seems the Bush administration would rather keep “pure Americans” away from the evil temptation of contact with Cuba."
Cuba Controversy 4/28/03 Znet: "The Cuban government has enacted draconian legal measures against opponents. The U.S. government, having provoked the situation by decades of machinations including recent acts, will very likely use the events to justify further intervention against the island's people.
Some leftists say that given this dangerous reality, one should only support the Cuban decisions, or at most be silent about them.
Other leftists (myself included) have openly criticized the decisions, though this has taken the form of two different petitions (one that I signed because I felt it placed the criticisms of Cuba in the proper context, criticizing also U.S. imperialism, and the other that I did not sign, feeling that it offered inadequate context and balance)."
Recent Events in Cuba 4/27/03 AfroCubaWeb: by Alberto Jones - "How can we in good faith oppose this sad, terrible, and last resort decision of ending the lives of three people, who had clearly committed a serious crime and punishment that is contained in the Cuban Penal Law, when this could have lead to another mass exodus from Cuba, which the United States Government has already declared to be an act of war, paving the road and justifying the Department of Defense sending its WW III bombers to drop "smart" bombs in the middle of the night over Cuba? ...Cuba and its people MUST be eternally grateful to everyone who have understood and supported its plight in this never ending 40 plus year war of attrition imposed by the United States. The horror of eight year old Ismail Ali charred body with his blown off upper limbs, the killing of his entire family in seconds and the nightmare of millions of children in Iraq who will be afraid of nights the rest of their lives, is just one of the many things your support, understanding and commitment, have shielded the Cuban people against."
New rules make travel to Cuba harder for most Americans 4/27/03 Beacon Journal, OH
The call of Cuba: More Greenvillians visiting Communist island 4/27/03 Greenville News, SC
Cuba Central OFAC Alert 4/26/03 AfroCubaWeb: "On March 24 OFAC, the agency charged with enforcing restrictions on travel to Cuba, issued new travel regulations. The most significant change in the regulations further restricts educational travel to Cuba, impacting many US organizations that sponsor such travel and reducing significantly the number of Americans who may visit the island legally."
Custom Made Justice 4/26/03 AfroCubaWeb: some double standards by Alberto Jones - "The CIA, DIA, FBI, Pakistan Intelligence department and tens of other similar institutions around the world, are hailed as heroes for tracking down and bringing to justice, everyone allied with Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group.
Five Cuban Intelligence agents that infiltrated numerous Cuban-American terrorist groups in South Florida, who have wreaked havoc through invasions, bombing, murder etc in Cuba for the past 40 years, and whose clear objective was to alert the Cuban government of terrorists activities in the making, were captured and sentenced by a Miami kangaroo court to multiple life sentences."
Cuba denies Mexican lawmakers visas to visit the island's opposition leaders 4/26/03 AP: "Cuba has refused to extend diplomatic visas to a group of legislators from President Vicente Fox's party who wanted to travel to the island to show their support for Cuban opposition movements."
Cuba's supporters become chief critics 4/26/03 AP: "Carlos Fuentes called Cuba a "suffocating dictatorship." Jose Saramago said Fidel Castro "cheated his dreams." Shocked at Cuba's recent crackdown on dissent, many leftist intellectuals and authors find themselves criticizing a government they spent years applauding." -- but do they have to live in the shadow of US terrorism?
Cuba Crackdown: A Revolt Against the National Security Strategy? 4/26/03 Counterpunch: "However, under the United States Code, similar "outreach" by a foreign diplomat in the United States could result in criminal prosecution and a 10-year prison sentence for anyone "who agrees to operate within the United States subject to the direction or control of a foreign government or official (Title 18, section 951 of the United States Code)… One Cuban official told Wayne Smith, former chief of the U.S. Interests Section, "This new preemptive-strike policy of yours puts us in a new ball game, and in that new game, we must make it clear that we can't be pushed around." "
Migrant memo focused on Haiti 4/26/03 Miami Herald: Now the Haitian immigrants are being tagged as hiding Pakistanis and Palestinians among them, while Cuban immigrant escape this latest twist on an old theme.
Cubans increasingly head to … Louisville? 4/25/03 AP
Opening of Bahamas Embassy in Cuba 4/25/03 Nassau Guardian: published in what is hardly a leftist paper - "We, in the Caribbean community, must not allow dogmatism and the new emergence of neo-imperialistic propaganda and the global, political double standard against Cuba to prevail. Cuba has been a victim of terrorist attacks and the unjust embargo. In fact, the U.S. embargo has cost Cuba more than $70 billion US."
Civil Penalties Information 4/25/03 OFAC
The moral imperative of trading with Cuba 4/24/03 AgWeb: "At bottom, though, we must be concerned with the welfare of the Cuban people, who have suffered too much. After 44 years of Castro, they need all the help they can get. The wonder of free trade is that it would permit us not only to do well, but also to do good. After four decades of a failed economic embargo, shouldn't we at least give free trade a chance?"
Cuba Says U.S. Spurs New Crisis 4/24/03 AP: "Dagoberto Rodriguez, head of Cuba's diplomatic mission in Washington, also said U.S. hostility toward Cuba has "dramatically increased" during the Bush administration, alleging U.S. outlays of $20 million to "manufacture" dissident groups on the island.
Rodriguez, speaking at a news conference, said the pre-emption doctrine that President Bush used to justify war against Iraq poses a threat, a "dark reality" to Cuba.
His accusations come after vigorous U.S. criticism of the long sentences handed down recently to 75 Cuban dissidents. He accused the United States of "passing instructions and the material means" to these activists "for conducting subversive activities." "
U.S. senator calls for release of Cuban dissidents, continued US-Cuba engagement 4/24/03 AP
Message from Havana to friends
who are far away 4/24/03 Granma: this was signed by a number of folks featured on AfroCubaWeb - "Regrettably, and although that was not the intention of these friends, they are texts that are being utilized as part of the grand campaign to isolate us and prepare the way for military aggression by the United States against Cuba… It is fitting that the only demonstration worldwide in support of the recent genocide took place in Miami, under the slogan "Iraq today, Cuba tomorrow", adding to explicit threats by members of the ruling fascist leadership of the United States."
IFCO Condemns US Provocations Against Cuba. 4/24/03 IFCO: "While the world's attention has been riveted to events surrounding the build up and subsequent invasion of Iraq, the US has launched a series of hostile actions to undermine Cuba, promote terrorism, destabilize its economy and instigate treason.
For nearly two years, US hostility towards Cuba has steadily increased. With the US economy in shambles, the Bush administration will be heavily dependent on Florida, the US base of terrorist anti-Cuban activity, to win a second term. This campaign, waged on diplomatic, economic and political fronts is part of that intentional strategy."
Cubans receiving fewer visas 4/24/03 Miami Herald: the US government finally admits what some view as part of a strategy to provoke a mass exodus with potential for armed conflict.
D.C. foes of Cuba embargo quit group 4/24/03 Miami Herald: ''We organized, funded and supported the foundation because we hoped, and had reason to believe, that its energetic efforts to modify the ban on Cuba . . . might succeed over time,'' the Cuba Policy Foundation, a group of prominent academics, business leaders and former high-ranking State Department officials, said in a statement. ``We can only conclude, however, that in spite of its claims to the contrary, Cuba does not share our enthusiasm for a more open relationship.'' - well, no, not at the point of a well financed gun...
Trade trip to Cuba in limbo 4/24/03 St Petersburg Times: "The federal government is reviewing plans proposed by a Tampa port delegation."
U.S. Weighs Tighter Sanctions on Cuba 4/24/03 Washington Post: "One of the most draconian proposals, officials said, would be suspending a bilateral migration agreement negotiated in 1994-95, after the last mass outpouring of "rafters" -- Cubans trying to cross the 90 miles of water between the island and the United States. Closing down the orderly departure process that grants as many as 20,000 U.S. visas to Cubans each year might precipitate another migration crisis, officials said.
The Cuban government warned last week that U.S. pressure could "stimulate illegal migration, which in no way could be blamed on Cuba." In a news conference Friday, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said his government was trying to avoid "the unleashing of a migratory crisis which would conclude in a war between both countries." "
Cuban Agent Says Anti-Castro Movement in Cuba is Finished 4/22/03 AP
Movement in Congress to ease Cuban embargo slows after crackdown 4/22/03 AP
About that Cuba Letter - The Democratic Left and Castro 4/22/03 Counterpunch: "Since LAUSIstas oppose the Republican parties' combination of apocalyptic Christian fundamentalism, US pre-emptive strike doctrine, and Enron style capitalism, they might worry about the fact that, according to Cooper, who seems to approve, the "Bush administration's top diplomat in Cuba.. has been quite assertive.. Publicly challenging Castro". They might suspect that, given the lengthy history of terrorism and blockade against Cuba that the US has sponsored, he is trying to build a spy network to bring down the regime or at least provide intelligence to ease the likely pre-emptive strike."
Cuba exports city farming 'revolution' to Venezuela 4/22/03 ENN
Who does the Miami mafia represent? 4/22/03 Granma: "The self-proclaimed leader of a group of extremist organizations that attempted to influence the vote on Cuba in the UN Human Rights Commission by pressurizing Latin American foreign ministers in conjunction with State Department blackmailers, Silvia Iriondo was provided with a sufficiently large budget – furnished by the National Endowment for Democracy, USAID and more directly, the CIA – to cover the delegation’s prolonged stay in Switzerland.
The MAR president’s travelling companions included Ernesto Díaz, Janisette Rivero from the Democratic Revolutionary Directorate and Jesús Permuy from Cuban Unity.
Ernesto Díaz was detained in Cuba for participating in an infiltration by the Alpha 66 terrorist group, of which he has been a member for several years. On returning to the United States he rejoined the organization that has been responsible for various terrorist acts committed against the island over a number of years." etc, etc...
Towns in Cuba join
sister-city program 4/22/03 Pantagraph, IL: "Though the United States has enforced trade and travel embargoes with the island nation since 1960, the Twin Cities have started a sister-cities relationship with two of its towns.
Caibarien and Remedios are in the province of Villa Clara, about 200 miles east of Havana.
"When you go over there, and you come back, you really have a feeling that things could be better for the Cuban people," said Gary Hoover, president of Cubamigos Sister City Association of Bloomington-Normal. "Our governments just don't get along. It's people-to-people diplomacy." "
Possible Bush sanctions may affect UA’s Cuba initiative 4/22/03 Tuscaloosa News, AL
Iran-Cuba to cooperate in scientific affairs 4/21/03 IRNA
Chair of African Women Association in Cuba 4/20/03 Angola Press Agency: "Angola has been elected to a one-year term chairpersonship of the Executive Bureau of the Association of African Women based in Cuba.
The Association will be chaired by Angola's embassy press attache in Cuba, Journalist Luisa Damiao, who was unanimously elected… Members of the 18-year-old Association are about 50 women from 13 African countries among diplomats and spouses of diplomats accreditted to Cuba.
It has working relations with the Cuban Women Federation, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples, the Organisation of Solidarity to Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Africa House."
CUBA: Dissidents funded by US government 4/20/03 Green Left, Australia: "Perez exhibited vouchers of monies received last year from the US by several illegal organisations in Cuba. The Centre for a Free Cuba received US$2.3 million. The Task Force for the Internal Dissidency received US$250,000. The Program for Transition in Cuba, headed by Frank Calzon, received $325,000. Support Group for the Dissidency received $1.2 million from the International Republican Institute. Cubanet, an internet magazine, received $98,000 and the American Centre for International Labor Solidarity, whose mission is to persuade foreign investors not to invest in Cuba, received $168,575."
¿DERECHOS HUMANOS O INTOLERANCIA, RACISMO
Y XENOFOBIA? 4/20/03 Jiribilla
U.S. ready in case of major exodus from Cuba 4/20/03 Miami Herald: "Responding to U.S. threats, the Cuban government published a statement Friday saying that U.S. sanctions would not bother Cuba but might encourage illegal migration.
''The presumed measures that are being announced of prohibiting flights and remittances would stimulate illegal immigration,'' the Cuban statement said.
Later Friday, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque told a news conference that three imprisoned hijackers were executed last week to prevent a ''migration crisis'' that could spark war between the United States and Cuba."
Cuba reaches out to Vermont 4/20/03 Rutland Herald, VT
Cuban sister city urged 4/20/03 Time Picayune, LA: "Poindexter said she and some of the 50 local residents who support her plan soon will seek a meeting with Nagin, both to clarify his position and to lobby for the proposal.
One backer, Romualdo Gonzalez, has written to Nagin, stating that the relationship would not violate the embargo and that Mariel is "the premier cargo port on the island."
Gonzalez, a local Cuban-American lawyer, said last week that he thinks the best chance for a change in Cuba's government will come "from a policy of engagement." This approach has worked in the former Soviet Union, China and Vietnam, he said.
Another supporter of the proposal is Cesar Martino, president of The Vega Group, which plans special events. Martino, who also is Cuban-American, said Mariel is undergoing an expansion that will include development of a free-trade zone."
Open trade with Cuba, state’s delegation urges 4/19/03 Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Cuba: intelectuales piden comprensión 4/19/03 BBC Mundo: "Una treintena de los más prestigiosos intelectuales cubanos hicieron público un mensaje en el que piden a los "amigos que están lejos" que comprendan las medidas que Cuba "se ha visto obligada a tomar"… Entre las figuras más importantes que firman el documento están Alicia Alonso, Silvio Rodríguez, el pintor Roberto Fabelo, Alfredo Guevara, director del Festival de Cine, Chucho Valdés y el católico Cintio Vitier… "Nuestro pequeño país está hoy más amenazado que nunca antes por la superpotencia que pretende imponer una dictadura fascista a escala planetaria", dice el mensaje de los intelectuales cubanos.
Agrega que en ese marco "Para defenderse, Cuba se ha visto obligada a tomar medidas enérgicas que naturalmente no deseaba" y pide "No se le debe juzgar por esas medidas arrancándolas de su contexto". "
Cuba's culture a learning tool, if you'd only go 4/19/03 Daily Northwestern, IL
Facing U.S. Threat of Penalties, Cuba Issues a Defiant Statement 4/19/03 NYT
Brown defends policy of sending buses to Cuba 4/19/03 The Royal Gazette, Bermuda
Barbados está al lado de Cuba 4/18/03 Juventud Rebelde
Bush shuts door Clinton left ajar to U.S. visitors 4/18/03 Miami Herald
New Policy Could Ground Cuba Flights - Bush Administration May Also Ban Transfers Of Money 4/18/03 NBC6
UN panel urges Cuba to accept envoy for rights probe 4/18/03 Reuters
Cuba Says It Won't Cooperate with UN on Human Rights 4/18/03 Washington Post: "Communist-run Cuba said on Friday it would not allow a visit by a U.N. envoy to probe alleged human rights abuses on the island following the worst crackdown in decades on opponents of President Fidel Castro.
Facing growing international isolation, Cuba said it was considering the withdrawal of a request to join a European Union preferential trade and aid accord with former colonies due to European criticism of its rights record… The minister said the executions were regrettable but necessary to stop further hijackings and the development of a mass exodus of illegal migrants to Florida.
Perez Roque said the annual U.N. rights resolutions against Cuba were engineered by the United States to keep justifying the economic sanctions and travel restrictions Washington imposed four decades ago to try to oust Castro.
Peru on Friday recalled its ambassador in Havana for consultations after Cuban officials called the four Latin American sponsors of the U.N. resolution "disgusting lackeys" of the United States."
U.S. wants Cuba off U.N. rights commission 4/17/03 AP: "Most commission members leave after three-year terms but Cuba has been able to use its diplomatic clout, especially among Third World countries, to retain its seat on essentially a permanent basis.
Officials said Cuba has been assured a place on the commission for the next several years."
GOP Pols Seek Wider Condemnation of Castro's Crackdown 4/17/03 CNS News
Cutting-edge biotech in old-world Cuba 4/17/03 CS Monitor
Using fierce pressure, Washington manages to impose anti-Cuba resolution 4/17/03 Granma
U.S. puts brakes on one popular path to Cuba 4/17/03 Miami Herald
U.S. May Punish Cuba for Imprisoning Critics 4/17/03 NYT: "Among the more drastic are the possibility of cutting off cash payments to relatives in Cuba — a mainstay for millions of Cubans — or halting direct flights to the island, the officials said.
President Bush is likely to make a public statement soon about the crackdown, which has stirred grave concern among Cuba policy experts here and dampened the hopes of lawmakers and others seeking to ease the current trade sanctions.
At the same time, the president is expected to issue a stern warning to the Havana government that the United States will not tolerate another exodus of rafters, the officials said. Several times during Mr. Castro's 44-year tenure, most notably in 1980 and 1994, he has relieved internal tensions by allowing mass migrations to Florida."
Cuba to Defend Herself against Any US Invasion: Ambassador 4/17/03 People's Daily, China
HBO Pulls Castro Documentary as Havana Cracks Down 4/17/03 Reuters
Belgo-Cuban relations cool 4/16/03 Expatica
Eight AK-47’S please! • In Miami, buying weapons is not a risky business: the FBI isn’t interested in anti-Cuba terrorism. 4/16/03 Granma
Terrorist plot to destabilize Cuba 4/16/03 Granma: "THE head of the United States Interests Section is at the forefront of a conscious plan to stimulate illegal emigration via acts of terrorism with the objective of casting aside the migratory agreements between the two countries and creating a chaotic situation. The objective is to stimulate mass migration, obliging Washington to take aggressive action to avoid it. The granting of visas has decreased to 2.5% of the minimum volume allowed in the agreement."
The felonies committed against Cuba will not make any impression on it 4/16/03 Granma
Asi Paga Roma 4/16/03 Jiribilla: listing of US originated payments to dissidents.
South America Upsets USA: Brazil and Argentina Support Cuba at UN 4/16/03 Pravda: "Argentina's President Eduardo Duhalde confirmed Tuesday that Buenos Aires would back Brazil's position at UN Human Rights Committee on Cuba. The voting is to take place on Wednesday at UN headquarters in Washington and both countries will abstain to condemn Castro's regime, frustrating Washington's diplomatic efforts on the contrary."
Treasury releases list of companies trading with opposition 4/16/03 Scripps Howard
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