| CUBA
NEWS
The
Miami Herald
Rare Cuban sound: U.S. rock
Audioslave will perform
tonight in what may be the first outdoor
rock concert by a U.S. group in Cuba. Band
members promise a long, loud evening.
By John Rice, Associated
Press. Posted on Fri, May. 06, 2005.
HAVANA - It's been a long time -- maybe
forever -- since a U.S. band has rocked
the Havana waterfront, where crowds are
more used to denouncing the United States
than dancing with it.
Audioslave is promising to make its concert
tonight the longest, loudest and best Cubans
will have heard.
''We will play the longest concert we have
ever had as Audioslave,'' promised Tom Morello,
adding, "We will endeavor to play the
best we have ever played as Audioslave.''
Cubans, too, have an obligation, he told
a crowded news conference at a hotel ballroom
facing the Caribbean: "They have to
come to the show and go absolutely crazy
tomorrow.''
The hastily organized show is being billed
as the first outdoor rock concert by a U.S.
band in Cuba, though some Cuban artists
have disputed that claim.
The concert at the Anti-Imperialist Tribunal
-- on the Malecón waterfront facing
the U.S. Interests Section here -- easily
has the potential to be the largest, far
bigger than the few earlier, relatively
controlled indoor concerts involving artists
such as Billy Joel and Bonnie Raitt.
Crowds of 1 million people have sometimes
turned out for government-sponsored demonstrations
against the United States that file past
the stage for hours.
JUST MUSIC
While Audioslave's members have a social
activist bent in the U.S., so far they are
shying away from politics here. ''It's all
about the music, period,'' said Tim Commerford.
Audioslave broke away from a U.S. tour
promoting an upcoming album, Out of Exile,
to come to Cuba after what Morello described
as a lengthy effort to win approval of both
governments.
The concert was called on such short notice
that many Cuban rock fans were just getting
word of the event on Thursday. Those who
can't make it -- from here or abroad --
may be able to see and hear it later on
DVD.
The U.S. government's restrictions on Cuba's
communist government often have made it
tough for artists of all sorts to travel
to and from the island.
Cuba's government considered rock subversive
in the 1960s, but has since warmed to some
forms of it -- even dedicating a park to
the late Beatle John Lennon. But it has
been slow to celebrate the grungier, more
rebellious forms of rock.
Officials closed Havana's most important
rock club about two years ago, but allow
twice-monthly performances at another venue,
said Juan Manuel Montoto, who promotes a
thrash group called Agonizer.
He said, however, that officials have authorized
several outdoor rock festivals around the
country.
This time, both governments have given
approval for Audioslave. The biggest threat
may be the weather, which has been glum
and rainy this week.
STARTING SOMETHING
The Audioslave guys so far have enjoyed
being a part of history. ''We all hope it
will be the start of something that continues,''
said lead singer Chris Cornell.''
''It is very important to us that this
could be a free concert so that everyone
in Cuba who wants to come can come and hear
the music,'' Morello added. He promised
"the loudest rock concert that Cuba
will ever hear.''
Cuban exile, father of two Florida congressmen,
dies
Associated Press. Posted
on Fri, May. 06, 2005.
MIAMI - Rafael L. Diaz-Balart, a Cuban
exile politician who fervently opposed Cuban
President Fidel Castro and fathered two
U.S. congressmen, died Friday after a long
battle with leukemia. He was 79.
Diaz-Balart died at his home in Key Biscayne
with his four sons - Rafael, Jose and U.S.
Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart - wife
Mercedes and her daughter, Belen, by his
side, a family spokesman said. A funeral
mass is scheduled for Saturday at St. John
Bosco Catholic Church in Miami.
"His death constitutes another reason
to continue to fight for Cuba's freedom,
which was the ideal of his life, and of
so many Cubans who have died longing for
free Cuba," said U.S. Rep. Lincoln
Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.
The elder Diaz-Balart was an attorney and
politician who rose to the position of majority
leader in the Cuban Republic's House of
Representatives before Castro seized power
in the 1959 communist revolution. After
leaving Cuba, he founded the White Rose
Party that was dedicated to fighting the
Castro regime and also was a diplomat for
Costa Rica and legal adviser for Spain.
A sister, Mirta Diaz-Balart, was Castro's
first wife and the mother of his first child,
Fidel Felix "Fidelito" Castro
Diaz-Balart, who was born Sept. 1, 1949.
Castro and Mirta Diaz-Balart divorced in
1955.
Nation may seek militant's extradition
from the U.S.
A Venezuelan court ruling
opens the door for that country to formally
ask the United States to extradite a Cuban
militant accused of bombing an airliner
in 1976.
Posted on Wed, May. 04,
2005.
CARACAS - (AP) -- Venezuela's Supreme Court
approved a petition from a local court that
is seeking to extradite a Cuban militant
accused of bombing an airliner who asked
for asylum from the U.S. government last
month, according to a statement issued Tuesday.
With the Supreme Court's approval, Venezuela's
government can formally ask the U.S. government
for the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles,
who is wanted in Venezuela for a 1976 Cuban
airliner bombing that killed 73 people.
Eduardo Soto, Posada's Coral Gables immigration
attorney, said a legal strategy to defend
his client against a Venezuelan extradition
request was being drawn up.
Key arguments against extradition, he said,
include: a 15-year statute of limitations
in the extradition treaty has expired; Venezuela
lacks jurisdiction because the plane exploded
off Barbados; Posada was acquitted twice
of charges in Venezuela; and Venezuela may
extradite him to Cuba, where he would face
a firing squad.
In Washington, a top State Department official
suggested that Posada does not deserve asylum
in the United States -- the first time a
senior American official has publicly spoken
against granting protection to the exile
militant.
The United States ''has no interest in
giving quarter to someone who has committed
criminal acts,'' said Roger Noriega, the
top State Department official for Western
Hemisphere affairs. "We are a country
that respects the rule of law.''
Noriega also voiced doubts Posada is here.
''I don't even know that he is in the United
States,'' said Noriega.
But Soto said Tuesday night that he has
seen his client in South Florida. He told
a news conference last month Posada sneaked
into the United States in March through
the Mexican border.
Posada escaped from a Venezuelan prison
in 1985. He had been tried and acquitted
twice before.
''Posada Carriles has been the author or
accomplice of homicide and treason, so he
must be extradited and judged by the courts
of Venezuela,'' said the Supreme Court statement.
The anti-Castro militant claims he worked
several years for the CIA and is seeking
asylum in the United States because he says
that he will likely face execution in Cuba.
Posada Carriles was arrested in Panama
in 2001 and accused of plotting to kill
Cuban leader Fidel Castro during a summit
in Panama. He was pardoned last year.
Vermont food trade deal signed
Posted on Wed, May. 04,
2005.
HAVANA - (AP) -- Cuba on Tuesday signed
a general promise on Tuesday to buy food
from Vermont, and an official said U.S.
restrictions -- not rivalry with Venezuela
-- are holding back larger American sales.
Pedro Alvarez, head of the Cuban government
food-purchasing agency Alimport, signed
the agreement with Vermont Sen. James Jeffords.
It gave no figures for how many apples,
milk or head of livestock Cuba might buy
over the coming two years.
Presidents Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo
Chávez of Venezuela last week signed
a $412 million deal for fuel and other goods
-- some of which until now have come from
the United States. Alvarez said U.S. government
restrictions -- not the Venezuela deal --
were harming trade.
''What the Americans should do is eliminate
the restrictions, put their products on
equal terms and trade can grow,'' he said.
The U.S. Congress in 2001 eased restrictions
on food sales to Cuba, leading to some $1.3
billion in sales. But the Bush administration
this year imposed tighter rules on how Cuba
must pay for such goods.
Jeffords also criticized the embargo and
restrictions on visits to Cuba.
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