Yahoo! May 30, 2001
Humanitarian Organizations Seek to Aid Cuba With Medical Supplies
Wednesday May 30, 9:30 am Eastern Time. Press Release.
SOURCE: MPNE Productions
LOS ANGELES, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- "To Cuba with Love,'' is a June 9th
celebration of 100 years of Cuban culture sponsored by MPNE Productions. The
setting is the sumptuous 100-acre estate of Herbert and Kay Hafif, nestled among
the rolling hills above Claremont. The purpose of the event, supported by the
Church World Services and the National Council of Churches, is to bring medical
supplies and humanitarian aid to Cuban citizens through this musical event. The
funds gathered will go directly to the Cuban Medical Supplies Project.
The festive tropical event takes place from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. among the
beautiful foliage and trees surrounding the Hafif's stunning outdoor
amphitheatre. Guests paying from $25 to $250 for their tickets will be able to
dance and enjoy Cuban music, culture, art and authentic cuisine. Producer Tom
Campbell has assembled both Cuban and Latin-American orchestras for this musical
evening.
"Cuba is a land rich in music, culture and beauty,'' says Herbert
Hafif, "I want to help bring practical assistance to these intelligent and
enterprising people, who have suffered so much during these past 40 years.''
Leroy R. Perry, Jr., a chiropractor and sports medicine expert, has worked
with many Cuban Olympiads in the past 20 years. Dr. Perry has collected and sent
more than one million in medical equipment to the island in the past year.
"My goal is to reunify the international Cuban family and help improve
the quality of their lives. If we are to have lasting world peace, we must all
work together to achieve these goals.
Adds Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches: "This
event will allow us to support, expand and spread the good news that a small
group of dedicated people can change the world. We provide the medicine and
medical supplies directly to the Cuban clinics.''
Spearheading the project is Elsa Nelson and her real-estate partner, Mark
Shelton. Mrs. Nelson, a native of Cuba, returned to her former homeland in
January, 2001. She was dismayed at the tremendous need, and "I felt it was
necessary to take an active role in helping. It is doing the right thing, at the
right time.''
Her partner, Mark Shelton, wants to emphasize that this is celebration of
Cuban music and culture, and to purchase Cuban arts and crafts. "This is a
non-political event,'' says Shelton. "This is a cultural exchange, and a
chance to celebrate Cuban music and culture in a beautiful setting.''
Individual tickets for the gala can vary in price from $25 to $250:
Golden Circle ($250) tickets include valet parking, reserved seating,
authentic Cuban cuisine, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and a pre-concert
artists reception in the Pool House on the Hafif estate.
Silver Circle tickets ($100) entitle the guest to preferred parking,
reserved seating, authentic Cuban cuisine, alcoholic and non-alcoholic
beverages.
Tickets in both of these categories can be purchased by calling (310)
273-5555, ext. 700 or by going to www.MPNEmusic.com. Visa and Master cards are
welcomed. Golden and Silver tickets are tax deductible to the full extent
allowed by law.
General admission and reserved tickets are also available.
Cuban Defector to Sue Baseball
By Josh Dubow, Ap Sports Writer. May 30.
Rolando Viera wants the big bucks that some of his fellow Cuban defectors
have gotten from major league teams without being forced to go to a third
country.
Viera plans to sue major league baseball if the commissioner makes him
eligible for next week's draft instead of a free agent.
Viera, 27, flew out of Cuba on April 25, with a valid visa and is working
out in Tampa, Fla.
Because Viera is in the United States, he is subject to baseball's draft,
which will be held June 5-6. Cubans who defect to a third country and other
foreign players - except Canadians - are free agents and command much larger
salaries.
"Major league baseball uses the oppression in Cuba and the resulting
embargo to impose adverse working conditions on Cuban baseball players,''
Viera's agent, Joe Kehoskie, said Tuesday. "The whole process was illegal
from day one. We hope to clean up the process for Rolando Viera and Cuban
players in general.''
Even if a Cuban player has not yet acquired his U.S. resident card, baseball
treats him as a U.S. resident if he is living in the United States.
"If he is a resident, he is subject to the draft,'' baseball spokesman
Rich Levin said. "Other Cubans have gone to other countries to set up
residency. That's why we're trying to get a world draft.''
Kehoskie said a request for a temporary restraining order against baseball
placing Viera in the draft would be filed on Thursday in federal court in Tampa.
ESPN.com first reported the story.
"My client at this point has three really bad choices under baseball's
policy,'' Kehoskie said. "He can go in the draft now when he's not 100
percent, and hasn't been scouted at all; he can wait over a year for the next
draft, or defect to a third country and wait an indeterminate amount of time.
Those options are bad options.''
Kehoskie said Viera was on a vigorous throwing and conditioning program
after sitting out last season. He is not yet ready to perform for scouts, and
the agent fears Viera would not be drafted as high as he should be.
In Cuba, Viera pitched for Industriales, compiling an 18-10 record with 3.12
ERA in his last two seasons. In his last full season, 1999-2000, he was 8-6 with
a 3.16 ERA, striking out 54 and walking 28 in 88.1 innings.
He was suspended from Cuban baseball for the 2000-01 season because
officials there suspected he wanted to defect.
One of his teammates was pitcher Adrian "El Duquecito'' Hernandez, who
left Cuba last year and signed with the New York Yankees.
The Yankees' starting rotation includes Orlando "El Duque'' Hernandez,
who also pitched for Industriales and left Cuba in December 1997. No relation to
Adrian Hernandez, he signed a $6.6 million, four-year contract and helped the
team to three straight World Series championships.
The Yankees also signed Cuban third baseman Andy Morales to a four-year,
$4.5 million agreement earlier this year.
Danys Baez signed a $14.5 million, four-year contract with Cleveland in
1999.
All of those players defected to third countries before signing free-agent
deals with major league teams.
"We don't feel that being exiled to a third country is necessarily good
for baseball or good for Cuban players,'' Kehoskie said.
The prosecution and defense are expected to take the rest of the week in
their last chance to convince the 12-member jury. Deliberations won't begin
until next week at the earliest.
Much of the argument is centering on a Cuban MiG attack that downed two
Brothers to the Rescue light planes in 1996, killing four Cuban-Americans from
Miami.
Prosecutors say evidence points to a conspiracy between alleged ringleader
Gerardo Hernandez and the Cuban government to set up the ambush of the fliers
over the Florida Straits. They were looking for refugees in rafts and boats
trying to make it from Cuba to Florida.
Hernandez is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and could face a life
sentence if he is convicted.
Prosecutors say Hernandez and the other four became "the eyes and ears
of the Cuban regime" in south Florida. They said the Cubans, operating
under bogus identities, used short-wave radios and encryption software to
transmit national defense secrets and disrupt the Miami Cuban-American
community.
The defense is expected to insist the Cubans were in this country to
monitor a possible U.S. invasion of Cuba by using public means such as newspaper
and broadcast reports. The three are Hernandez, Ramon Labanino and Antonio
Guerrero.
Labanino allegedly infiltrated U.S. Southern Command headquarters in Miami
and Guerrero worked in a menial job at Boca Chica Naval Air Station in the
Florida Keys. Those three could face life sentences, and the other two, Rene
Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez, face as many as 10 years in prison.
Rene Gonzalez was a Brothers to the Rescue volunteer, and Fermando Gonzalez
is accused of receiving coded messages from Cuba.
The trial started Dec. 7 before U.S. District Judge Joan Leonard. The jury
of 12 includes no Cuban-Americans but there are five Hispanics.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.All rights
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