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June 1, 2001



Cuba News

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Yahoo! June 1, 2001

Journalists Form Coalition in Cuba

By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer

HAVANA, 31 (AP) - A group of journalists who work outside the state media announced the formation Thursday of the first independent association for journalists in the communist state.

The independent journalists work without approval by the government of Cuba, where the national media is controlled by the state. The independent journalists have been arrested at times for violating Cuban law, especially when they make personal attacks against President Fidel Castro (news - web sites).

Members of the new association told a news conference the group seeks to promote freedom of expression and information, and to help train "alternative journalists'' and raise the quality of their reporting and writing.

The group of 40 of the estimated 100 independent journalists operating in Cuba are led Raul Rivero, the former Moscow correspondent for Cuba's official news agency, Prensa Latina.

Usually sending their stories by fax or telephone, the journalists work for newspapers and internet news services operated in Spanish out of the United States.

Cuba's communist government regularly characterizes those journalists as counterrevolutionaries and often accuses them of receiving money from Castro's political enemies in the Cuban exile community in Miami. They deny the charges.

The association's president is Ricardo Gonzalez, former Moscow correspondent for Cuba's official news agency Prensa Latina. He said the group had asked the government for approval to operate legally.

There was no immediate response from the government. The government often does not react officially to actions of groups it considers to be its opponents, preferring to ignore them and provoke less attention.

The association will offer classes in journalism and English, and will accept donations only from non-governmental organizations, leaders said.

"We will not accept money from any government, including the United States,'' said Gonzalez, the group's president.

Gonzalez was responding to questions about a proposed U.S. law that would provide $100 million in government aid over four years to help dissidents with cash, fax machines, telephones and other items.

Local Priest Possibly Murdered In Cuba

WTAE ThePittsburghChannel.com. Thursday May 31 07:39 PM EDT

A former Pittsburgh-area priest may have been murdered in Cuba, WTAE-TV reports.

The state department has confirmed that there is an intense criminal investigation into the death of Father George Zirwas, who grew up in McDonald, Washington County.

According to his brother, Frank, Zirwas, 47, was murdered a month after he returned to Cuba to help the poor.

Zirwas was a priest in Pittsburgh until he went on personal leave in 1995. He was living in an apartment in downtown Havana.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh said that Zirwas was a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and had been on a personal leave of absence since 1996.

Zirwas died of asphixiation.

Family members have learned that there was a broken window in his apartment.

Zirwas' brother said that Zirwas had medical problems.

His family said that Zirwas had lived in Cuba on and off for the last three years, delivering tooth brushes, clothing and other items to people in Cuba. He would visit the Pittsburgh area now and then to visit his 83-year-old mother, but would always return to Havana.

Zirwas' body was released from Cuba Thursday.

Cuban Player Fights Baseball Draft

By Vickie Chachere, Associated Press Writer

TAMPA, Fla. 31 (AP) - A Cuban pitcher asked a federal court Thursday to block major league baseball from entering him in next week's amateur draft, accusing the sport of discriminating against players from his country.

Rolando Viera, who came to the United States in April on a visa, wants to be declared a free agent instead of being subject to baseball's annual draft. The 27-year-old asked for a restraining order, and U.S. District Judge James Whittemore scheduled a hearing for Friday.

The draft, which begins Tuesday, covers U.S. residents who have completed high school or their junior year in college. To avoid being subject to the draft, most Cuban players have headed to Central America or another Caribbean country when they have left their homeland.

Viera's lawyers say their client is not a legal U.S. resident under federal immigration law and won't be able to apply for residency until next year.

Joe Kehoskie, Viera's agent, also says if his client is placed in the draft he will lose money and the right to select which organization he would join.

"If he is drafted, he will command a much lower salary and be unable to choose his employer, and therefore his home, for the next six to 13 years,'' Kehoskie said in a sworn statement.

Baseball, opposing the Viera's initial request for free agency, said the draft was established to "insure competitive balance among the teams and prevent wealthy teams from cornering the top talent.''

The commissioner's office would not comment on the suit.

Alan Gura, one of Viera's attorneys, said baseball claims its "law is not federal law and they are not bound by it.''

Viera came to the United States after winning a lottery for a visa. In Cuba, he pitched for the Industriales and compiled an 18-10 record with a 3.12 ERA over his last two seasons.

He was suspended from Cuban baseball this season because government officials suspected he wanted to defect.

"I was branded a traitor, and became an official outcast in Cuba's heavily regulated society,'' Viera said in a sworn statement. "I was not even permitted to speak with my family in public. ... Despite winning the lottery, the Cuban government did not allow me to leave the country.''

Viera's lawyers say the pitcher eventually would like to be reunited with his wife in the United States. They said forcing him to defect to a third country to become a free agent could jeopardize that prospect.

Lawyers: Agents Didn't Take Secrets

By Catherine Wilson, Associated Press Writer

MIAMI, 31 (AP) - Defense attorneys for Cuban secret agents said in closing arguments Thursday their clients were never ordered to collect U.S. secrets and were only trying to protect their country from violent extremists.

Attorney Philip Horowitz, whose client infiltrated a group of Cuban exiles, said the agents were "Cuba's early warning system of insurrection from the north.'' Horowitz represents Rene Gonzalez, one of two men accused of acting as unregistered foreign agents.

Another man, Gerardo Hernandez, is accused of murder conspiracy for helping plan an encounter between a Cuban MiG and two U.S. civilian planes that killed four Miami fliers in 1996. Hernandez was also charged with espionage conspiracy, along with two men accused of infiltrating military bases.

None of the agents is charged with espionage because prosecutors agree they never got any U.S. secrets. To win conviction on espionage conspiracy charges prosecutors must prove only that the defendants agreed to break the law, not that they gathered secret information.

Jack Blumenfeld, whose client Antonio Guerrero worked at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station in Key West, said his client was monitoring aircraft but not seeking any secret information.

"Tony was doing what he was supposed to do,'' Blumenfeld said. "The entire time, he was never transmitting secrets of the United States.''

Defense attorneys have said a string of eight bombings in Cuba over a four-month period in 1997 was only part of a 40-year history of raids, bombings and arms smuggling missions that justified the agents' undercover work in South Florida.

Prosecutors said Hernandez received instructions from Havana to keep agents off planes flown by exile groups for a four-day period in 1996 while the Cuban military and intelligence coordinated the missile attack on two Cessnas flying for Brothers to the Rescue.

Hernandez faces a possible life sentence on murder conspiracy and espionage conspiracy charges. Guerrero and Ramon Labanino, who was also assigned to study military bases, could also receive a life sentence if convicted of espionage conspiracy.

Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, who are not related, could receive up to 10 years in prison if convicted of acting as unregistered foreign agents.

Closing arguments for Hernandez and for the government's rebuttal are expected Friday. The jury is expected to get the case Monday.

The men are among 14 members of a group called the Wasp Network that was broken up in 1998. Five others pleaded guilty in exchange for their cooperation and reduced sentences, and four are fugitives believed to be in Cuba.

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Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press.

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