CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

Mob attacks on Castro's critics are increasing

Cuban dissidents are increasingly being set upon by violent groups that support President Fidel Castro, a tactic first used during the Mariel boatlift of 1980.

By Frances Robles. frobles@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sun, Jan. 22, 2006.

Dozens of angry Cubans shouting insults and pounding their fists in the air surrounded dissident Guillermo Fariñas one recent afternoon, demanding to know: Did he have the nerve to denounce Fidel Castro in front of them?

Outnumbered and his heart thumping with fear, the psychologist and dissident journalist said, he dropped to his knees on a street in his hometown of Santa Clara in central Cuba.

'I got on my knees and said, 'Down With Fidel!' '' the 43-year-old Fariñas claimed in a telephone interview from Cuba. "They started kicking and beating me, bruising my back, arm and head. They stopped when they saw I would not lose my dignity and say things I didn't feel.''

Fariñas was a victim of an old-time Cuban government tactic that's back with a vengeance: ''acts of repudiation'' -- mob attacks by Castro supporters against critics of the government, first used in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift, which brought more than 125,000 refugees to South Florida. Dissidents on the island say they have logged more than 50 such attacks in the past six months alone.

While the government paints them as spontaneous acts by committed socialists, Cuba-watchers say they are part of a concerted campaign by the Cuban government to quell opposition. Dissidents also have reported evictions, detentions, random acts of violence, 40 arrests and some confrontations with semi-official groups of tough men known as Rapid Response Brigades.

The flood of incidents against dissidents underscores a tenuous time in Cuba, as the government openly struggles to combat corruption and grapples with a fragile economy and a rising number of migrants headed to sea. Experts say it may also be a response to an increase in dissidence. A December report by the International Republican Institute recorded 1,805 acts of civil disobedience in 2004, up from 959 in 2002.

''We are seeing levels of oppression we haven't seen in 20 years in Cuba,'' said Caleb McCarry, the U.S. State Department's Cuba transition coordinator. "It's a clear indication that the dictatorship fears the Cuban people.''

Ramón Colas, a former dissident who now lives in Mississippi, said five independent libraries -- where Cubans can find books not approved by the government -- have been hit with acts of repudiation in two months.

In October, the Roman Catholic Church denounced an attack against one of its deacons, who was beaten up on his way to church. And Juan Carlos González, a dissident who is blind, said in September that he had faced 15 acts of repudiation in a single month.

Dissidents said that although no one has been killed, several people have been injured and some have suffered broken bones.

''These are organized by the government. . . . You can find the police cars three or four blocks away,'' said dissident Carlos Rios, who claimed he was beaten by a mob Aug. 27. 'They try to provoke you into saying something like 'Down with Fidel!' so then they can lock you up in jail for six months.''

The wave of attacks against government opponents began July 14, when dissidents gathered to commemorate a 1994 disaster in which 37 would-be migrants trying to flee Cuba aboard a tugboat died in a struggle with other Cuban government boats. Hundreds of counterprotesters disrupted the July event, and at least a dozen dissidents were arrested.

Two weeks later, Castro mentioned the incident during one of his speeches.

''The people, angrier than before over such bold-faced acts of treason, intervened with patriotic fervor and didn't allow a single mercenary to move,'' he said. "And this is what will happen whenever traitors and mercenaries go a millimeter beyond the point that our revolutionary people . . . are willing to accept.''

Human rights activists say the speech gave a green light to members of the Cuban Communist Party and State Security to harass dissidents more than ever.

''A group of dissidents was going to meet, but we're not going to allow that on Mondays, not Tuesdays or Wednesdays,'' José Enrique Oliva, a Communist Party delegate, told the EFE news service in October while disrupting a meeting of the Progressive Rainbow opposition group.

To be sure, the increase in harassment pales in comparison to the sweep against government opponents that occurred in 2003. That year, Castro jailed 75 political activists and sentenced them to decades in prison. Fourteen were later released for medical reasons.

Perhaps in response to the increased activity, the government is now engaging in a publicity campaign to smear its opponents. Government TV programs often center around allegations that the dissidents are mercenaries on the payroll of U.S. exile groups and U.S. diplomats in Havana.

The Cuban Interests Section in Washington and the international media representatives at the Foreign Ministry in Havana did not return calls seeking comment.

''There is no country in the world where the empire's mercenaries enjoy the privileges they do in Cuba,'' Castro said in the July speech.

''The much publicized dissidence or alleged opposition in Cuba does not exist except in the overheated imagination of the Cuban-American mob and White House and State Department bureaucrats,'' Castro said.

But the tactic may be backfiring. A week after a Palm Sunday repudiation act against about 30 members of Ladies in White -- wives, daughters and mothers of jailed political prisoners -- the number of women participating in the group's weekly march more than doubled.

''They thought that would silence the opposition,'' group member Miriam Leiva said by phone from Havana. "They thought nobody would find out, so we started hitting the streets, and we haven't stopped.''

Human rights activists in Cuba say that although the acts of repudiation are rising in number and intensity, they also carry a bit of good news: Neighbors who were once a staple of such attacks now rarely participate.

''These people were with the [Communist] party,'' said Ernesto Roque, an independent journalist, who said he was pushed and shoved by a group of government supporters recently. "These are old, retired communists. Finding a young person to participate is difficult.

"It's a beautiful message: At least the youth, I'm convinced, are not interested in this.''

But Fariñas, the psychologist turned independent journalist, said the dissidents nevertheless live with fear.

''I have been jailed three times and beaten,'' Fariñas said. "Sure, I'm afraid.''

o COMING MONDAY: Many newly arrived dissidents, most of them children when Fidel Castro rose to power, wonder how best to promote freedom in their homeland from the outside.

Cuba's powerhouse baseball team got the sign to ''Play Ball!''

By Oscar Corral and Pablo Bachelet, pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sat, Jan. 21, 2006.

WASHINGTON - Cuba's powerhouse baseball team got the sign to ''Play Ball!'' after President Bush personally agreed Friday to let the squad take part in the World Baseball Classic, a first-of-its-kind clash of baseball titans from around the globe.

The catch for Havana: It cannot profit from the event or send too many security guards.

A month ago, the Cubans were told they were not welcome in the United States, where many of the games, including the championship game, will be played. That decision pleased Cuban-American hard-liners, but not Major League Baseball, which sees the 16-team tournament as a showcase event and affirmation of the sport's growing popularity outside the United States.

The Cuban team has not played on American soil since beating the Orioles in an exhibition game at Baltimore's Camden Yards in 1999.

Under the first application for a U.S. Treasury Department license, Cuba would have received some profits from the tournament. The Bush administration has been tightening sanctions on Cuba in recent years to deny resources to the island's communist government.

But on Friday, Treasury reversed its decision after U.S. officials said President Bush, a baseball fan and former part-owner of the Texas Rangers, personally agreed to the deal after the limits on money and personnel were imposed.

''The president wanted to see the matter resolved in a positive way,'' said Frederick Jones, a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council. "Our concerns were making sure that no money was going to the Castro regime and that the [tourney] . . . would not be misused by the regime as a tool for espionage.''

Treasury worked closely with the State Department and World Baseball Classic Inc., the firm organizing the event, to ''reach a licensable agreement that upholds both the legal scope and the spirit of the sanctions,'' said Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise.

The deal limits the Cuban team to 30 players and 15 coaches and support staff, said a Bush administration official who requested anonymity to discuss delicate negotiations. An additional 21 people will be allowed to accompany the team, including members of the island's baseball federation, journalists and a small security contingent. All will be vetted to exclude objectionable persons before U.S. visas are issued.

Each Cuban player will be entitled to $100 per day from the tournament organizers, said a congressional aide familiar with the issue. U.S. government officials declined to confirm the amount, but one said the license specifies that the Cuban government cannot obtain any money from the games.

Havana officials agreed to the limitations in a contract attached to the license that one official described as ''bulky.'' Cuba earlier had offered to donate any proceeds from the tournament to victims of Hurricane Katrina, or skip any proceeds altogether.

Cuban-American lawmakers had lobbied strongly for barring the Cuban squad from the tournament, which will be played in March to allow professional ballplayers to participate. Teams from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and other countries will be loaded with Major League talent, ensuring a high level of competition.

Cuba has frequently triumphed in international tournaments, including the Olympics, but seldom has had to face Major League-caliber opponents.

Miami Republican Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart, who wanted Cuba to be represented by players who had defected, called the decision ''lamentable and unfortunate'' and said it would allow Havana "to utilize a sporting event for propaganda purposes while Castro's security agents keep a watchful eye on the Cuban players to prevent their escape to freedom.''

Cuban sports teams are often accompanied by security agents on trips abroad because of fears of defections. Díaz-Balart said he would help any Cuban player who wanted to defect.

Some, like Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, who was born on the island, had proposed having Cuba represented by a team of Cuban American ballplayers.

The ruling on the World Baseball Classic came just weeks after Cuban Americans in South Florida were angered by the Coast Guard's decision to return to Cuba 15 migrants who had reached a piling on an old Florida Keys bridge.

Major League Baseball officials were clearly pleased with the decision. ''The presence of Cuba in the tournament ensures the highest level of competition for the tournament which, for the first time, will bring together the very best players throughout the world in a single event,'' said Bob DuPuy, MLB president and chief operating officer in an e-mail response.

The Cubans are expected to play in a four-team qualifying round in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 12-15. If they win that round, and a second round, they would advance to semifinals in San Diego on March 18. The championship game will be played March 20 in San Diego.

The rejection of the first license application sparked an outcry from critics who argued that sports and politics should not be mixed. And its reversal Friday was hailed by critics of U.S. economic sanctions on the island.

''Allowing Cuba to play in this baseball tournament was the right decision, both for the fans and for international relations,'' said Rep. José Serrano, a New York Democrat who enjoys friendly relations with Cuba and signed a letter with 90 other lawmakers urging that Cuba be allowed to play ball.

But despite the resolution to the baseball issue, tensions between the two nations are likely to continue dogging Cuba's participation in U.S. sporting events.

On Friday, Cuba's official Granma newspaper carried a story protesting a U.S. decision to deny visas to two cyclists and their trainer to take part in the third stage of the World Cycling Cup qualifiers. José Peláez, head of the Cuban Cycling Federation, was quoted as saying that the denial violates international sporting regulations that oblige host nations to guarantee entry to athletes.

Miami Herald sports writer Clark Spencer contributed to this report from Miami.

Conference set on 'wet-foot' policy

State Department officials promised a meeting soon to discuss the ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' policy applied to Cubans seeking U.S. entry.

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sat, Jan. 21, 2006.

Three Cuban-American members of Congress received a letter from the State Department on Friday confirming that officials will be meeting to discuss the controversial U.S.-Cuba migration accords.

''We would be pleased to meet with you to discuss the Migration Accords, and to facilitate discussions with other agencies to discuss other relevant issues,'' said the letter signed by Jeffrey T. Bergner, assistant secretary of legislative affairs for the State Department.

DETAILS PENDING

Details such as a date, place and who will participate in the meetings have not been ironed out. The message comes two days after Cuban exile activist Ramón Saúl Sánchez gave up a hunger strike in Little Havana following declarations from the White House that officials will meet to discuss U.S.-Cuba immigration policy.

GOP TO BUSH

Bergner's letter did not address the hunger strike. It was prompted by a note that Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, all Miami Republicans, sent to top Bush administration officials last week seeking a meeting to discuss the controversial ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' policy.

The request was made in response to the repatriation of 15 Cuban nationals who were found on a piling of the old Seven-Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys.

The Coast Guard decided that since the bridge did not connect to land because some sections were missing, the migrants were ''feet wet'' and were sent back to the island.

''We appreciate the interest you and your congressional colleagues have in this issue and your commitment to a policy that advances the Cuban people's aspirations for democracy,'' the letter said.

The ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' policy was started a decade ago by the Clinton administration in the wake of the 1994 Cuban rafter crisis.

Under the policy, Cuban migrants intercepted at sea are usually repatriated, while those who reach dry land are allowed to stay. Before the policy was implemented, Cubans picked up at sea were brought to the United States because until then, Washington's blanket policy accepted Cubans who were fleeing the island as political refugees escaping a repressive communist regime.

On Friday, Sanchez held a news conference at Our Lady of Charity Church in Coconut Grove and held up the letter as evidence that his demands -- and those of others in the exile community to be heard -- had been met.

''Through the force of dignity, the most powerful nation in the world has listened to us without having to do anything violent,'' Sanchez said.

'AWAKENED'

Seated next to him at the news conference was Auxiliary Bishop Agustín Román, who worked closely with Gov. Jeb Bush to broker a meeting between exile leaders and Bush administration officials. Roman said Sanchez's hunger strike had gotten people's attention.

''A people have awakened,'' he said. "When people are asleep, they don't see and don't do anything.''

Cuba can play, but will it show up?

Even though the United States allowed Cuba's invitation to the World Baseball Classic, there are several reasons why the three-time Olympic champions might choose not to participate in the event.

By Kevin Baxter, kbaxter@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sat, Jan. 21, 2006.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - The approval Friday of Cuba's invitation to play in March's World Baseball Classic assures the participation of the 15 other invited nations and might give the inaugural tournament prestige it would have lacked without the three-time Olympic champion.

What it doesn't do, however, is assure Cuba's participation. Some international baseball experts -- many of whom doubted Cuban's participation from the start -- believe there are a number of things that could keep the island nation out of the event, including the high probability of defections, the good chance that Cuba would not make it past the tournament's second round and the timing of the World Classic, which falls in the middle of Cuba's domestic baseball championships.

And consider that injuries have sidelined three of the national team's best pitchers, and a last-second pull-out by Cuba appears possible despite the U.S. Treasury Department's approval.

''Personally, I don't think they're going to show up,'' said Joe Kehoskie, a baseball agent who follows the Cuban program closely. "All the factors working against them before are all still there. There's not only the risk of defections, but the risk of losing, which would be an embarrassment.''

Since the 1959 Castro revolution, Cuba's seleccion nacional has established itself as the best amateur team in the world. Aside from its three Olympic titles, the Cubans have won countless major global championships and once went more than a decade without losing an international tournament game.

STILL DOMINATES

And though the Cuban baseball program has been rocked by the defection of more than 100 players to the United States since 1991, it has continued to dominate international amateur play -- largely because the majority of the important competitions take place in the summer or early fall, when the best players from the Dominican, Venezuela, the U.S. and Japan are playing for their major-league teams.

As a result, the World Classic will mark the first time Cuba will face the best players from the other major baseball-playing countries -- and that could mean not only an early elimination from the tournament but a propaganda setback as well, because the Cuban government always has pointed toward the success of its baseball team to validate its political ideology.

Cuba is scheduled to open play March 8 against Panama. Its four-team pool also includes Puerto Rico and the Netherlands. Should it advance to the second round, Cuba likely would meet powerful teams from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela that are full of major-league stars.

That's stiff competition for a team that will be missing right-hander Norge Vera, who outdueled first-round draft pick Jared Weaver in the 2003 Pan Am final; right-hander Danny Betancourt, who won the 2004 Olympic gold medal game; and right-hander Vicyohandry Odelin, leaving only two front-line pitchers -- left-hander Adiel Palma and veteran right-hander Pedro Luis Lazo -- to anchor a weak Cuban staff that will be furthered hampered by tournament rules, which include a strict pitch count.

On offense, the Cubans are in better shape with right fielder Osmani Urrutia, a .400 hitter in Cuba's national series, versatile infielder Yulieski Gourriel and veteran catcher Ariel Pestano all available.

DEFECTIONS POSSIBLE

In an effort to make defections more difficult, Cuban's national team has not played on U.S. soil since beating the Baltimore Orioles in an exhibition at Camden Yards in 1999. Yet Friday's agreement with Classic organizers reportedly requires the Cuban team to show up in Puerto Rico without its regular -- and sizable -- security contingent.

''That's a perfect out,'' Kehoskie said. "That gives them a reason not to come.''

If Cuba does pull out, it likely would be replaced by Nicaragua, which would be interesting, because the Nicaraguan media recently released a national team roster that included two Cuban defectors with Nicaraguan residency, including World Series star Jose Contreras.

But whether Cuba shows up, Friday's announcement figures to placate the International Baseball Federation, which had threatened to withdraw its sanction of the Classic if Cuba had been banned.

''I don't think they're going to show. But if the news arrives that the Cuban team is in San Juan, I might go over and check it out,'' Kehoskie said. "I think it's going to be an interesting tournament.''

U.S. gov. allows Cuba to play in World Baseball Classic

By Oscar Corral and Pablo Bachelet, pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Fri, Jan. 20, 2006.

WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department Friday announced it has cleared the way for Cuba to play in this year's World Baseball Classic after an agreement that bars Havana from profiting.

''Working closely with World Baseball Classic, Inc., and the State Department, we were able to reach a licensable agreement that upholds both the legal scope and the spirit of the sanctions,'' Molly Millerwise, a Treasury Department spokeswoman said, reading from a prepared statement.

Treasury earlier had denied the special license required by U.S. economic sanctions on the communist-ruled island. The Bush Administration has tightened the sanctions in an effort to deny resources to Cuban leader Fidel Castro's government.

Millerwise declined to discuss how the administration came to the decision amid intense lobbying by Cuban American lawmakers against letting the team play in a tournament billed as the first time that the world's best professional and amateur baseball players can play against each other.

But both Treasury and the State Department stressed that the license approval announced Friday ll decision does not signal a new approach on Cuba.

Millerwise said the agreement ''ensured that no funding will make its way in the hands of the Castro regime,'' and added that Treasury "looks forward to seeing all of the teams showcase their talents on the international stage.''

Eric Watnik, a spokesman for the Western Hemisphere bureau of the State Department, said the administration's policy still was to deny any funds to the Castro government.

He said the second license application was "in full compliance with U.S. policy on Cuba. Our decision in both the previous denial and this approval is fully consistent with U.S. regulations and the normal procedures for sports exchanges.''

Cuba has offered to donate any proceeds from the tournament to victims of Hurricane Katrina, or skip any payments altogether.

Another official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the subject, said the administration also received assurances that no Cuban government members would be included in the "who shouldn't be traveling (to the United States).''

Cuba's powerhouse national baseball team, like most of the island's other sports teams, are often accompanied on trips abroad by security agents because of fears of defections. Dozens of Cuban athletes have defected over the years.

Major League Baseball and the Players Association organized the World Baseball Classic to be played in March by 16 of the world's teams. Cuba's team regularly wins the Olympics and other international tourneys.

About 80 members of Congress weighed in after the first application for a license was rejected, saying that Cuba should be allowed to play ball. MLB officials reapplied last month for the permit.

Despite the resolution to the baseball issue, tensions between the two nations are likely to continue dogging Cuba's participation in U.S. sporting events.

Just Friday, Cuba's official GRANMA newspaper carried a story protesting a U.S. decision to deny visas to two cyclists and their trainer to take part in the third stage of the World Cycling Cup qualifiers.

José Peláez, head of the Cuban Cycling Federation, was quoted as saying that the denial violates international sporting regulations that oblige host nations to guarantee entry to athletes to compete in international events. The event is to be held in Los Angeles on Jan. 20-23.

Cuba's Alarcón may take questions at journalism conference

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Fri, Jan. 20, 2006.

Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba's National Assembly, is considering participating in a question-and-answer session with reporters during this summer's National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Fort Lauderdale.

An invitation to Alarcón was hand-delivered to him personally by South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editor Earl Maucker in the last two weeks, said NAHJ Executive Director Iván Román.

Maucker's secretary said Maucker was unavailable for comment Thursday afternoon.

''The editor of the Sun-Sentinel, who was in Cuba on business, actually hand-delivered a letter from us,'' Román told The Miami Herald Thursday. 'All [Alarcón] basically said was, 'Sure, I'll think about it. Let's work on the logistics.' ''

Román said Alarcón has not reached out to NAHJ or anyone planning the convention, including the Sun-Sentinel, since he got the invitation. The plan is to have Alarcón appear via satellite from Cuba, and undergo questioning from journalists chosen by NAHJ, Román said.

One staunch anti-Castro Cuban exile group, the Cuban American National Foundation, said they hope Alarcón accepts the invitation.

''I think it's a great opportunity to ask Ricardo Alarcón why there is no freedom of the press in Cuba,'' said CANF Executive Director Alfredo Mesa. "I think it's a great opportunity to ask him why he participates in a forum where everyone else has to play by the rules of free speech and freedom of the press, and once the forum is over, his government is unwilling to offer the people of Cuba that same opportunity.''

Chávez wants to weaken judiciary, rights group says

A human rights group accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of trying to undermine the country's judiciary and limit press freedom, partly due to a lack of economic growth.

By Richard Jacobsen, Associated Press. Posted on Thu, Jan. 19, 2006.

MEXICO CITY - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who says he is leading a socialist revolution for the poor in his country, has teamed with allies in Congress to undermine the country's judiciary and limit press freedoms, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

In its annual report on the global rights situation, the organization said Latin America nations -- from Haiti to Argentina -- were still plagued by abuses ranging from overcrowded prisons to torture and widespread impunity.

There is growing discontent over the lack of economic growth and opportunities in the region, which has led some to turn away from democracy, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth said.

''That's one way to understand the Chávez phenomenon,'' Roth said.

WASHINGTON'S ROLE

But Roth was also critical of Washington's role in Latin America, saying it was polarizing the region. He noted officials in President George W. Bush's administration were treating Bolivia's president-elect Evo Morales as if he were another Chávez, without waiting to see how Morales governs.

''That's not a helpful approach,'' Roth said.

The New York-based rights group expressed concern in its annual report over the state of Venezuela's democratic institutions, citing a ''packing'' of the country's Supreme Court with Chávez allies in December 2004, which it called ''a severe blow'' to the independence of the nation's judiciary.

Venezuelan legislators ''have also enacted legislation that seriously threatens press freedoms and freedom of expression,'' the rights report said.

Chávez, first elected in 1998

and up for re-election in December, insists he supports democracy. At loggerheads with Washington, he remains popular at home amid high oil prices that have funded his social programs and helped bring economic growth of 9.4 percent last year.

While raising concern over developments in Venezuela, the rights group's report said Colombia's internal conflict -- pitting government forces, guerrilla groups and paramilitaries -- is responsible for creating the region's most serious human rights and humanitarian situation, the report said.

It noted in the last three years, more than three million people, as much as 5 percent of Colombia's population, have been forcibly displaced because of the fighting. The guerrillas and paramilitaries are responsible for the bulk of Colombia's abuses, the report said.

CUBAN GOVERNMENT

The report called Cuba "a Latin American anomaly: an undemocratic government that represses nearly all forms of political dissent.''

It said Fidel Castro's government enforces political conformity through a range of measures including criminal prosecutions, mob harassment and politically motivated job dismissals.

''The end result is that Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law,'' the report said.

Mexico's criminal justice system, meanwhile, continues to be plagued by abuses, and law-enforcement officials often do not investigate and prosecute human rights violators, the report said.

''President Vicente Fox has repeatedly promised to address these problems and has taken important steps toward doing so -- establishing a special prosecutor's office to investigate past abuses and proposing justice reforms designed to prevent future ones,'' it said.

"Unfortunately, neither initiative has lived up to its potential.''

Castro announces electrical overhaul

Cuba's president said his nation will replace five large power plants with smaller, regional plants to reduce the number and length of blackouts.

By Anita Snow, Associated Press. Posted on Thu, Jan. 19, 2006.

HAVANA - Fidel Castro announced a long-awaited renovation of Cuba's energy system to combat blackouts that have afflicted the island nation for two summers running.

In a Tuesday night speech published the next day in state newspapers, Castro said Cuba would decentralize its power system, gradually replacing five massive thermoelectric plants with smaller, regional plants supplemented by solar and wind power.

In the wake of technical problems at the huge plants that have caused severe blackouts across the island beginning in 2004, ''new ideas about the development of a more efficient and secure national electrical system have been put into practice,'' Castro said in a speech of more than two hours.

The president also said Cuba had ordered more than 4,000 diesel and oil generators, with more than 3,000 already delivered.

Generators have been installed to maintain power during emergencies at critical sites such as hospitals, schools, meteorological stations and tourist hotels, Castro said.

Blackouts occur in Cuba year-round, but they increase during the hot summer months when electricity use spikes.

Problems in the electrical grid are compounded in the late summer and fall when hurricanes batter the island with high winds and heavy rainfall, causing additional damage to the antiquated infrastructure and often knocking out power in some regions for days.

Last summer, Cubans sweltered during frequent blackouts that kept them from operating fans and water pumps during heat topping 90 degrees.

In many homes, milk and other refrigerated food soured, and power surges damaged refrigerators, televisions and other appliances difficult to replace on meager Cuban salaries.

Castro has promised Cubans since early 2005 that a major overhaul of the electrical grid was being planned.

The plan also calls for replacing old electrical cables tying the national energy system together, and governmental studies on ways to make better use of solar and wind energy, Castro said.

The president detailed the proposal in a speech given to electrical workers and Communist Party faithful in the western province of Pinar del Río.

Activist ends hunger strike

Cuban exile activist Ramón Saúl Sánchez ended his hunger strike after the White House promised talks with exile leaders over the controversial ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' policy.

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Thu, Jan. 19, 2006.

Cuban exile activist Ramón Saúl Sánchez ate strawberry gelatin and sipped potato broth not long after giving up his 12-day hunger strike Wednesday -- a day after the White House promised talks with exile leaders long upset by the U.S. ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' policy.

''It was the best gelatin and the best broth I've ever eaten,'' Sánchez said from his bed at Coral Gables Hospital where he was taken for tests after he ended his hunger strike.

Sánchez said that the White House statement given to The Miami Herald on Tuesday night -- coupled with a call Wednesday morning from a lawyer involved in the case of 15 repatriated migrants -- was enough to compel him to end the strike. The lawyer, William ''Willy'' Sánchez, told him the White House would make good on its promise, and said his own sources had confirmed the planning of a meeting.

''I feel very happy. I feel that a principle right of citizens to ask the government to be heard has been granted, and the first victory is the government's for having listened to us,'' Ramón Saúl Sánchez said.

A date has not yet been set for the meeting, however.

White House spokesman Blair Jones said Tuesday that the Bush administration would meet with exiles: "The administration has reached out to representatives of the Cuban-American community to express our interest in hearing and understanding their concerns about U.S. migration policy.''

Sánchez started his hunger strike the weekend before the U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 15 Cubans on Jan. 9 who were found on pilings in a section of the old Flagler Bridge in the Florida Keys. The Coast Guard determined that because the inoperable bridge is not connected to land, the migrants were ''feet wet'' and should be taken back to Cuba.

On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who was in Miami, said that he and Auxiliary Bishop Agustín Román had been negotiating for several days to help broker a meeting in Washington between Bush administration officials and Cuban exile leaders to discuss the controversial policy, which was crafted by the Clinton administration in 1995 as thousands of Cubans took to the seas to reach the U.S.

Under the ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay, while those stopped at sea are returned to the communist-ruled island unless they can demonstrate a fear of persecution.

Congressional leaders sent a letter to Bush administration officials last week asking for reform, which gives a good indication of the changes they will seek during talks with the administration.

They asked for an immediate review of how ''credible fear of persecution'' is determined by the Coast Guard; for legal counsel for all refugees picked up at sea, or their transfer to the U.S. military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for immigration proceedings. They also are seeking that a percentage of the 20,000 visas allocated for Cubans every year be set aside for some refugees picked up at sea and that the U.S. Interest Section in Havana issue status reports on repatriated Cubans to determine if they are trying to migrate legally once returned to the communist island.

Hunger striker's goal may be met

The White House said it would meet with Cuban exile leaders to discuss the 'wet-foot, dry-foot' immigration policy. Hunger striker Ramón Saúl Sánchez said he would start eating if the promise becomes official.

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Wed, Jan. 18, 2006.

The tent on Southwest Eighth Street where Ramón Saúl Sánchez is publicly starving himself to get the government to do what he asks is well-versed in the architecture of drama. On Tuesday, the White House entered the picture.

White House spokesman Blair Jones told The Miami Herald Tuesday night that the Bush administration has agreed to meet with exile leaders to discuss the ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' policy -- the most controversial aspect of U.S. immigration policy toward Cuba.

''The administration has reached out to representatives of the Cuban-American community to express our interest in hearing and understanding their concerns about U.S. migration policy toward Cuba,'' Jones said. "We have agreed to meet with appropriate representatives of the community, and we are discussing the date for such a meeting and are committed to holding it as soon as possible.''

Told of the White House declaration, Sánchez was thrilled and said that he would eat once the promise was official.

''I think it's a great step and I am very happy to hear that, and as soon as I see that formalized by their side in a statement or in writing, I will stop the hunger strike,'' he said.

The Bush administration's promise capped 11 days of high drama, beginning with a bridge to nowhere and the U.S. Coast Guard's repatriation of 15 Cubans who thought they had reached U.S. soil on pilings in a section of an old bridge in the Florida Keys. The Coast Guard determined that because the inoperable bridge is not connected to land, the migrants should not be granted asylum.

By Tuesday morning, Gov. Jeb Bush was weighing in -- telling reporters that he was working with Rev. Agustín Román and other exile leaders to try to get Sánchez to end the strike. By the afternoon, Miami-Dade county commissioners were proposing a resolution urging the federal government to review the policy, the same demand Sánchez -- and South Florida's Cuban-American congressional members -- made last week.

WORK STOPPAGE

And there were threats of a general work stoppage in Miami, too -- a move not seen since the federal government snatched young Elián González from the home of his Miami relatives in 2000.

Sánchez has been protesting against ''wet foot, dry foot'' since its inception more than a decade ago by the Clinton administration in the wake of the 1994 rafter crisis. Under the policy, Cuban migrants intercepted at sea are mostly repatriated, while those who reach dry land are allowed to stay. Before the policy was implemented, Cubans picked up at sea were brought to the United States because until then, Washington's blanket policy accepted that all Cubans who were fleeing Cuba were political refugees escaping a repressive communist regime.

On Tuesday, the scene around Sánchez was a cross between a funeral and a fishbowl. Sánchez lay on a hospital bed in the middle of the sidewalk, his legs wrapped in a plaid blanket. Cuban exiles, tourists and even homeless people crowded around to catch a glimpse. Hanging from the edge of the tent were poster boards with a list of his demands, quotes from supporters, photographs and his living will forbidding anyone to try to save him should he fall unconscious.

The portable toilet where he was taking brief bathroom breaks was positioned just behind the tent, at the threshold of a half-mile long promenade on Cuban Memorial Boulevard honoring Cuba's greatest heros.

EMOTIONAL SCENE

Women wept into handkerchiefs and brandished rosaries, asking God why Sánchez would have to die. Priests, friends and supporters leaned over Sánchez whispering words of encouragement.

''Ramón is risking his life,'' said Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa. "We are trying to make sure this reaches the president. There is frustration here. And it's nonpartisan.''

Miami Herald staff writer Tere Figueras Negrete contributed to this report.

Journalists invite Alarcón to speak

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Wed, Jan. 18, 2006.

The National Association of Hispanic Journalists has invited Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba's national assembly, to participate in a question-and-answer session with reporters during this summer's convention in Fort Lauderdale.

NAHJ Executive Director Ivan Román told The Miami Herald on Tuesday night that the invitation to Alarcón went out in the last few days after a planning committee selected several high-profile Hispanic leaders to invite.

''There will be people who will be upset about this in Miami, and we know that, but we are journalists availing ourselves of an opportunity to interview people in power and who are newsmakers, that is what we do,'' Román said. "Nothing has been confirmed. We don't know if it's even going to happen.''

The invitation to Alarcón is sure to anger some members of Miami's anti-Castro Cuban exile community. Román said the convention's main sponsors so far are the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which has a Havana bureau, and its parent company, The Tribune Co.

The Miami Herald and its parent company, Knight Ridder, are also sponsoring some events, he said.

Román said he knew that even some members of NAHJ might be upset, but that didn't discourage the organization.

In the past, the convention has hosted such high-profile figures as Mexican President Vicente Fox and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

He said the invitation to Alarcón made it clear he would only be required to appear via satellite, because if he were invited to appear in person, ''he probably wouldn't come,'' Román said.

''I'm sure there would be people in our membership that would object, but that's the case with many speakers,'' Román said. "But we are journalists and our goal is to educate our members on a whole tier of things, and we don't shy away from hot topics.''

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