Yahoo! December 15, 2000
Some Cuban Phone Lines Still Working, Despite Castro Threats
WPLG
Click10.com.- Some phone calls to Cuba were still getting through Friday
morning, despite threats by Fidel Castro to cut service.
The move is an apparent retaliation to the United States for cutting off
Cuba's share of the telephone service profits.
Anyone in the United States who calls Cuba now, gets a recorded message
informing callers that calls between the United States and Cuba will not
connect.
But some people, both in Cuba and the United States, have managed to get
through.
Putin, Castro Speak on Relationship
By Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA (AP) - Reaching out to an old ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin
(news - web sites) spoke to Fidel Castro (news - web sites) about reviving
Moscow's Soviet-era friendship with communist Cuba - but suggested it will come
without the handouts of the past.
"We decided we will build a relationship between our countries based
upon the warm feelings and high-level relations that already exist,'' Putin said
Thursday after meeting with the Cuban president, who welcomed a Russian leader
to Cuba for the first time since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
But the only solid economic agreement to emerge from Thursday's talks was
$50 million in commercial credit from Russia to Cuba - and even that was merely
an extension of an earlier credit line.
The amount pales in comparison with the multibillion-dollar subsidies of the
Soviet era, when Cuba's location just 90 miles from Florida made the island
nation a peerless Cold War ally of the Kremlin. The subsidies were equal to 20
percent of Cuba's gross national product.
The generous aid stopped when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev cut subsidies
shortly after his 1989 visit to Cuba and then added to the insult by deciding to
withdraw Soviet troops without consulting Havana. The sharp economic crisis that
ensued has fed anti-Russian feelings in Cuba.
Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, never visited Cuba, reflecting both his
disdain for communism and economically struggling Russia's worldwide retreat.
Trade between Cuba and Russia was $1 billion last year, down from about $3.6
billion in 1991, Putin said.
Putin has made a point of restoring ties with old Soviet allies. His cold
and formal style differed sharply from the bear hugs and kisses of the Soviet
times, but after meeting Castro, Putin extolled the old friendship and pledged
to strengthen it.
At the same time, however, he emphasized the need for a more practical
relationship this time around.
"We must clearly and precisely realize what in our relationship has
promise and what is the heritage of the past,'' Putin said.
Russian and Cuban officials signed agreements in the economic, legal and
medical spheres but failed to reach a solution on uncompleted Soviet-era
projects in Cuba that would cost billions of dollars to finish.
Putin did not push Cuba on paying off its Soviet-era debt to Russia -
estimated by Cubans at $11 billion, while some Russian media have put it above
$20 billion. Neither leader mentioned the debt Thursday.
They were on the same page in a discussion of international affairs,
stressing the need to develop a multipolar world - a reference to what they see
as U.S. attempts at global domination. In a joint statement, Putin and Castro
condemned the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba and assailed American plans to
develop a missile-defense system.
Meeting at the Palace of the Revolution, where a military band struck up
both countries' anthems before they went inside for talks, Putin and Castro also
agreed to further political dialogue and economic cooperation.
Putin later visited an electronic intelligence center in Lourdes that is the
only Russian military facility left in Cuba. Accompanied by Castro, he also
visited a nearby Russian military cemetery and laid flowers to a monument
honoring fallen soldiers.
The Russian president ended the day with a state dinner after meeting with
Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly and Castro's point man on
Cuba-U.S. affairs.
Putin's wife, Lyudmila, met with teachers and students of Russian at the
University of Havana. In a brief interview with Associated Press Television
News, she praised Cuba's beauty and the kindness of its people.
On Friday, Putin was to pay tribute to Cuban independence hero Jose Marti
and visit Cuba's Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology. He was then scheduled
to head to Cuba's Varadero beach resort for a two-day rest before going to
Canada on Sunday.
Exile Lawyer Accuses Cuba's Castro
PANAMA CITY, 15 (AP) - The lawyer for a radical Cuban exile accused of
plotting to kill Fidel Castro said Thursday that his client had been framed by
the Cuban president.
Lawyer Rogelio Cruz said Castro ordered his people to plant explosives in
the car used by Luis Posada Carriles so Panama would arrest the 72-year-old
anti-communist activist and Cuba could then request his extradition.
"Fidel Castro will have to prove that he did not order the explosives
to be placed in the red car used by (Posada) Carriles,'' Cruz said during a
press conference.
Posada Carriles and three other Cuban exiles have been held in prison here
since they were arrested on Nov. 17, only hours after Castro announced the
alleged plot during the Ibero-American Summit in Panama City. Panamanian
authorities said they later found 17.5 pounds of plastic explosives buried near
the Panama City airport.
Cruz did not explain Thursday why the explosives were found buried near the
airport and not in his client's car, where he said they had been planted.
Local media have reported that the explosives were removed from the car but
have not specified by whom. Cruz has said Castro's intention was that they be
found in the car.
For decades, Cuba's state-run media have linked Posada Carriles with
terrorism. He also is wanted in Venezuela, where he was convicted in absentia
for involvement in the 1976 bombing of a Cubana de Aviacion jetliner in which 73
people died. He denies involvement in that incident but has admitted organizing
hotel bombings in Cuba meant to scare off foreign tourists.
Panama has until mid-January to decide whether to extradite Posada Carriles
and the three other exiles.
Putin Talks With Castro in Cuba
By Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 14 (AP) - Reviving a friendship that withered after the collapse of
the Soviet Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Thursday with Cuban
leader Fidel Castro, promising little by way of economic aid but pledging to
strengthen ties.
"We decided we will build a relationship between our countries based
upon the warm feelings and high level relations that already exist,'' Putin said
after their morning meeting. "We agreed to give a new push to solving
problems that have piled up during the last years.''
But the only solid economic agreement from talks between the two leaders was
$50 million in commercial credit from Russia to Cuba - an amount that pales in
comparison with the multibillion-dollar subsidies of the Soviet era.
The generous Soviet-era aid to Cuba ended abruptly in the early 1990s when
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev cut subsidies shortly after his 1989 visit to
Cuba. He added to the insult by deciding to withdraw Soviet troops without
consulting Havana.
Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Putin's predecessor, never even
visited Cuba.
Putin has made a point of restoring ties with old Soviet allies alienated by
his predecessor. There were none of the bear hugs and kisses typical during
Soviet times, but after meeting Castro, Putin extolled the old friendship and
pledged to strengthen it.
"We must clearly and precisely realize what in our relationship has
perspective and what is the heritage of the past,'' Putin said.
Russian and Cuban officials signed agreements in the economic, legal and
medical spheres but failed to reach a solution on uncompleted Soviet-era
projects in Cuba that would cost billions of dollars to finish. There also was
no agreement on how to eliminate part of Cuba's $11 billion Soviet-era debt with
Russia.
But the two leaders found common ground in international politics,
discussing the need to develop the multipolar world - a reference to what they
see as U.S. attempts at global domination. In a joint statement, they condemned
the United States' economic embargo against Cuba.
Meeting at the Palace of the Revolution, where a military band struck up
both countries' anthems before they went inside for talks, Putin and Castro also
agreed to further political dialogue, economic cooperation and trade.
The two countries do about $1 billion in trade a year, down from about $3.6
billion in 1991, Putin said Thursday.
The Soviet Union valued Cuba during the Cold War, and considered it a
strategic outpost. Twenty percent of Cuba's gross national product is estimated
to have come from Soviet subsidies. But today, in a country much changed since
the Soviet collapse, politics are now second to economics.
Later Thursday, Putin was to attend a ceremony honoring Cuba's monument to
the Unknown Soviet Soldier, then meet with Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's
National Assembly and Castro's point man on Cuba-U.S. affairs.
A state dinner, not listed on the original agenda, was scheduled for the
evening, Russian officials said.
The Russian delegation included Gen. Valentin Korabelnikov, head of military
intelligence, who apparently will accompany Putin on his visit to the Russian
electronic intelligence center in Lourdes, the only remaining Russian military
facility in Cuba.
On Friday, the Russian president was to play tribute to Cuban independence
hero Jose Marti and visit Cuba's Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology. He
then heads to Cuba's Varadero beach resort for a two-day rest before going to
Canada on Sunday.
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