CUBA NEWS

CUBANET

APRIL 2003 HEADLINES

April 30

FROM CUBA / Workers accused of striking
The foreman in charge of a school construction project classified a workers' protest as a strike, upping the stake for those implicated since strikes are strictly forbidden in Cuba.

FROM CUBA / Jailed dissidents to serve sentences far from home
Relatives of the nearly 80 government opponents recently sentenced to prison terms averaging 20 years complain it will be practically impossible for them to visit, since the dissidents are being transferred to prisons far from home.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba: Council Re-Election an Endorsement
-Despite crackdown in Cuba, senators push to lift travel ban
-Cuba re-election to U.N. group angers U.S.
-U.S. Protests Cuba's Human Rights Post
-Maryland Calls Off Trade Mission to Cuba
-U.S. Exits U.N. Meeting to Protest Cuba
-US angrily denounces Cuba reelection to rights panel

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Cuba is reelected to U.N. rights panel; U.S. angered
-Powell condemns Cuba for 'human-rights situation'

Vatican News Agency Fides Faults Castro for Backsliding / Zenit
In this way perhaps we gave the regime the impression that its leader was covered by our silence ... but it was not a covering, it was only charity, it was offering him a chance to walk toward the rediscovery of his dignity. But Fidel is using the fist of his salute against those demanding justice for the people, for the most elementary expression of democracy such as dissent," the article says. "

Italy moving against Cuba / BBC
Cuba's recent clampdown on dissidents is alienating Italy, a country historically close to the Caribbean island. On Tuesday, the Italian lower house approved a motion calling on the government to halt Italy's economic aid to Cuba if dissidents are not freed and executions are not stopped.

May Day in Cuba / Michael Putney / The Miami Herald
In Cuba tomorrow hundreds of thousands of people will gather to observe -- celebrate is too strong a word -- May Day, the annual homage to labor. It's ironic, because the fruits of labor in Cuba are reaped mainly by the government, which contracts with foreign investors to provide workers whom Castro pays in pesos while demanding that his ''joint venture'' partners pay him in dollars. Fidel Castro rejects capitalism, you see, unless he's the capitalist.

External links

Md. Ship Won't Sail to Cuba / The Washington Post
Citing widespread concern about President Fidel Castro's recent crackdown on dissidents, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has ordered a state-owned clipper ship to cancel a five-day trade mission to Cuba.

Cuba Travel Bill Introduced / AgWeb.com, IA
U.S. Senators Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Enzi Max Baucus, D-Mont., Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., Larry Craig, R-Idaho, Mark Dayton, D-Minn. and Tim Johnson, D-S.D., introduced a bill today that would make a simple, but dramatic change to an important aspect of U.S.-Cuban policy. The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, S. 950, would allow Americans to travel to Cuba free of the draconian restrictions in place now.

Group shows solidarity with Cuban internal dissent from the air / Centre Daily Times, PA
Their mission is to show solidarity with internal dissent, so twice in the mid-1990s, Brothers to the Rescue planes buzzed above Havana rooftops and dropped leaflets that encouraged civil disobedience.

Outrage as Cuba keeps UN seat / BBC, UK
Cuba rounded up and jailed 75 dissidents for up to 28 years. Cuba's uncontested re-election to the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights has sparked outrage among rights campaigners and in the United States.

Foggy Bottom Breakdown / The Washington Post
Repressing a nation of millions for more than 40 years can't be simple, but repressing a nation that makes music as liberating and spirited as the sons, mambos and cha-chas of this 17-member jazz orchestra -- that must take hard work and a twisted kind of genius.

Detente a casualty of crackdown / The Washington Times
Mr. Alexander said it was particularly appalling that those congressional trips to Cuba were used as evidence by Mr. Castro's government to convict writers, journalists and other dissidents to lengthy prison terms. "All of those people on Capitol Hill can now say they know someone who is a political prisoner. That makes it personal," Mr. Alexander said. "Castro appears to be on a rampage. You will see no significant change on the island or improvement in relations until Castro's death."

Cuba reform effort renewed / The Washington Times
Top U.S. officials yesterday warned Cuban leader Fidel Castro that Washington would work with renewed "vigor" to bring an end to his communist stranglehold on the island. The United States would use "new creativity and vigor to hasten the inevitable democratic transition on the island," said Roger Noriega, President Bush's pick to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.

Writer stays true to beleaguered Castro / The Guardian, UK
Latin America's revered leftwing intellectuals, one of Cuban leader Fidel Castro's few sources of moral support since the collapse of the Soviet Union, are abandoning him in horror at his recent crackdown on dissidents - but not writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Cuba should be denied a seat on rights panel / José Miguel Vivanco / IHT
Few doubt that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights is faltering in its mission. With Libya as its chair, and China, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe among its voting members, it is hardly surprising that many of the world's most flagrant human rights abusers - even those lacking seats on the commission - tend to escape its condemnation.

Meanwhile: A revolution's idealism entwined with despair / James Pringle / IHT
With the firing squads out again recently for the first time in three years, I went to La Cabaña, which was a closed military area when I previously worked as a correspondent in Havana, and asked a friendly militiawoman where the earlier shootings had taken place. "Ah you mean the revolutionary justice sentences," said the handsome mulatta, taking me outside and pointing to a wall.

The call of Cuba: More Greenvillians visiting Communist island / Greenville News, SC
Despite a travel and trade embargo against Cuba since 1961, Greenvillians have been finding ways to visit through educational, humanitarian and religious channels. And the culture they've found has drawn them back again and again to the communist island.

No gray area on Cuba / The Times-Picayune, LA
Why should the "French, Italians, and Spanish have all the business" in Cuba? Because they don't care what Castro is doing to his people. We, on the other hand, do. There is no gray area there. Putting the issue of human rights on the back burner in order to get in on the economic action is deplorable and an embarrassment to those Cubans who do have morals, character, and integrity.

Chinese immigrant builds new life in Cuba / Denver Post, CO
The writing in "Monkey Hunting" is crystalline, occasionally surreal and nothing short of lovely. There is a rhythm to the narrative that echoes the rich, careful pace of the Cuban days it describes.

Monster country restrictions anger customers / New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
Internet job site Monster.com is taking heat over a policy blocking consumers or employers from seeking work or posting jobs in countries against which the United States has sanctions - Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan or Syria.

Cuban Crackdown Dims Trade Hopes / KXMC, ND
Agricultural officials had high hopes of selling more North Dakota grown products to Cuba. But those hopes have dimmed since Fidel Castro's crackdown on dissidents in the Communist nation. Robert Carlson is president of the North Dakota Farmers Union.

olitical crackdown threatens Maryland officials' Cuba trade trip / Baltimora Business Journal
Maryland officials who left Baltimore on the Pride of Baltimore II last week to promote trade may not be making a scheduled stop in Cuba, a spokesman for Gov. Robert Ehrlich said Tuesday.

The Cuban Sopranos / The Washington Times
My first sight on television of Fidel Castro's "liberation" of Cuba from Batista in 1959, was a firing squad dispatching political prisoners who had been summarily condemned by the new dictator. And through the years, Mr. Castro's gulags were filled by Cubans who dared to wish, however softly, for democracy.

Castro Fails to Derail Democratic Activists, says Rights Group / Voa News
Cuban authorities say their recent crackdown on dissent has destroyed what the communist government of President Fidel Castro describes as an attempt by U.S. diplomats to create political instability on the island.

Bush shapes policy on Cuba after Castro's crackdown / Financial Times
As the Bush administration prepares its response to the crackdown on Cuba's dissident movement and Havana's execution of three ferry hijackers, the political stakes have risen. Florida's 27 electoral votes look increasingly vital to President George W. Bush's second-term victory strategy, and he will need the support of Cuban-American voters to secure them.

U.S. walks out of UN meeting / The Globe and Mail, Canada
"It was an outrage for us, because we view Cuba as the worst violator of human rights in this hemisphere," said Sichan Siv, the U.S. ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council, which elected 24 new members to the top UN human-rights watchdog. "That's why we decided to walk out."

Cuba bids to host Olympics / BBC, UK
Announcing their bid, which will be submitted on 5 May, the Cuban Olympic Committee emphasised the country's strong amateur and athletic tradition. "Havana could stage excellent games," said the committee's president, Jose Ramon Fernandez.

April 28

FROM CUBA / Fisheries idle for lack of fuel
Hundreds of fishermen have been staying home for the past three weeks, and they point out that the situation is similar at other fishing ports, such as La Coloma, Cienfuegos, and Manzanillo.

FROM CUBA / Having a cell phone in Cuba
The youngest of my three children asked me the other day to get him a cell phone.For a Cuban, having a functioning cell phone is like renting a dream.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba "an aberration", US reviewing policy, Powell warns
-Cuba to Bid for 2012 Olympics

CPJ concerned about health of imprisoned journalist / CPJ
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned about the deteriorating health of Oscar Espinosa Chepe, an independent journalist who is currently imprisoned at the national headquarters of the State Security Department (DSE), the Cuban political police. He was arrested on March 20.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
The wave of international protests over Cuba's recent crackdown on dissent continued Saturday with a disclosure by the Vatican that Pope John Paul II had expressed his sorrow over recent actions by the Cuban government and pleaded for leniency for 75 dissidents sentenced to long terms in prison.

Editorial: Stand fast on cuba policy / The Miami Herald
For once, the world is united in condemning the Cuban regime's vile wave of repression -- and that's precisely where the focus should stay. The United States shouldn't make knee-jerk policy changes that Castro would exploit to his benefit. It shouldn't curtail U.S. remittances or travel to Cuba. Nor should the United States cut back on issuing visas to Cuban émigrés who follow legal channels and pose no security threat.

Cuba jails peaceful opposition / Claudia Marquez Linares / San Antonio Express-News
Owning "books contrary to the socioeconomic process," an old computer and a video camera and "acting on behalf of a foreign power," were some of the charges the prosecution put forward during the 18-hour trial of journalists Maseda and Oscar Espinosa Chepe and the dissidents Hector Palacios, Marcelo Lopez and Marcelo Cano.

Cuba needs a regime change / Paul Crespo / The Miami Herald
Fidel Castro's recent wave of murderous repression against peaceful dissidents has again exposed him for what he has always been -- a brutal dictator. It has also debunked the lie that economic engagement and a ''more-moderate'' political line can help reform Cuba's Stalinist system.

April 25

FROM CUBA / Dissidents transferred to prisons far from home / UPECI
Several dissidents of the almost 80 sentenced recently to long prison terms have been told they will be transferred to prisons that in most cases are far from their homes.

Annan: U.N. rights commission is 'weaker' / The Miami Herald
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan Thursday admonished members of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights for sending weak messages -- just one week after the group decided not to condemn Cuba for its recent crackdown on dissidents.

Criticism From Leftists Surprises Cuba / Yahoo!
Shocked at Cuba's recent crackdown on dissent, many leftist intellectuals and authors find themselves criticizing a government they spent years applauding.

Castro cannot quash all dissent / The Miami Herald
''We are not of this world; we are leaving tomorrow,'' said the jailed Cuban poet and journalist Raúl Rivero to his wife during a visit at the Cuban Department of State Security headquarters.

Treat Haitian asylum seekers fairly, not Cubans worse / The Miami Herald
Recent events have underscored the growing human-rights abuses in both Cuba and Haiti. The arrests, beatings and prosecutions of dozens of peaceful dissenters in Cuba followed by summary executions of three accused hijackers remind us how close the brutal dictatorship is.

April 24

FROM CUBA / Jailed dissidents to be transferred to penitentiaries / Grupo Decoro
Several dissidents and independent journalists who up to now have been held at the Department of State Security headquarters, called Villa Marista here, will be transferred to prisons this week, said family members after visits today.

FROM CUBA / Pedicab drivers complain of continuing harassment / Lux Info Press
Police fined four pedicab drivers last Wednesday, in what independent union leaders say is a continuing campaign of harassment.

FROM CUBA / How a dissident is born / Juan Carlos Linares
Searching for the solutions to the daily problems that afflict the majority of the Cuban people entails becoming a dissident. As a dissident, one must learn then to cope with the adjectives: antisocial, worm, unpatriotic, traitor, counterrevolutionary, imperialist agent, or at the least (or worst) as an informer (for whom or what, no one is sure).

Statement From The Cuba Policy Foundation
"All of us are appalled at the recent executions and jailings in Cuba. The regime's sudden, wholesale repression of human rights is incomprehensible as a matter of policy, and unacceptable as a matter of principle."

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-D.C. foes of Cuba embargo quit group
-U.S. Admits Backlog in Cuban Visas
-Longing for Cuba - with laughter

Castro as ruthless as Hussein / Oscar Arias / The Miami Herald
The Cuban regime took another disgraceful and unacceptable step when it sentenced to prison those who only attempted to defend their fundamental rights and to practice independent journalism. It was yet another example of the demented intolerance with which Fidel Castro wields his government.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-US rejects Cuban complaints, renews criticism of crackdown on dissidents
-Sen. Harkin Seeks Cuba Dissidents Release
-Nicaragua Recalls Envoy From Cuba
-The Real Deal On Cuba

North Korea nominated to UN rights commission / The National Post
The United Nations has listed North Korea and Cuba as candidates for election to its Human Rights Commission, even though the commission has just censured them for rights abuses.

Reporters Without Borders protesters beaten up by Cuban embassy officials / RSF
Reporters Without Borders activists were beaten by staff of the Cuban embassy in Paris today when they chained themselves to the embassy railings in the presence of several prominent cultural figures to protest against the imprisonment of 26 journalists in Cuba.

Reporters Without Borders calls on French foreign minister to focus on human rights in France's ties with Cuba / RSF
Reporters Without Borders has urged French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin to step up French contacts with regime dissidents in Cuba and their families and to give them more support.

Hussein in Cuba? Let it be true / Jim Defede / The Miami Herald
Don't just take my word for it. I got this information straight from the April 21 issue of the Egyptian newspaper Soat el Umma, which in Arabic means Voice of the Nation.

External links

Convicted Cuban dissidents to be transferred to prisons / Prima News, Russia
Cuban dissidents and journalists sentenced in April of this year to lengthy prison terms will be transferred this week from pre-trial detention centers to various prisons in remote areas in the country. Only a few of the convicted will be serving terms in provinces where they had been arrested and tried.

U.S. Weighs Tighter Sanctions on Cuba / The Washington Post
The Bush administration is examining ways to tighten its tough policy toward Cuba in the wake of the communist government's recent crackdown on political dissent and the criticism it has brought from many who have long advocated normalizing relations with the island, according to administration officials.

'Dissidents' Were Informers / The Washington Post
Roca recalled that Manuel David Orrio, a gregarious and accomplished dissident journalist, stood up to thank Huddleston for hosting and encouraging peaceful opposition to Castro's authoritarian rule. "He was very well-spoken, talkative and well-educated, and seemed very convinced of what he was saying," said Roca, the son of a Cuban revolutionary hero who split with Castro years ago, in a telephone interview from Havana. "It never occurred to me that he was a spy."

Pride II set to sail to Cuba on trade visit / Sunspot.net, MD
Hoping to tap into a potential billion-dollar trade market, Maryland is sending the Pride of Baltimore II to Cuba to promote the state's agriculture and food businesses. The trip -- which follows recent crackdowns by Fidel Castro against dissidents and increased tension between the United States and Cuba -- could generate millions of dollars in trade for Maryland businesses, officials say.

Lawsuit follows fear, death in Cuba / CNN
Another Isaac sister, Yordanis Montoya, who lives in the United States, has sued Cuba and both President Fidel Castro and his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, for the "summary execution and wrongful death" of her brother and for alleged crimes against humanity. From the safety of democratic soil, she also denounced the dictator. "I want the rest of the world to know that he's nothing more than an assassin, that he thinks he's God, but that's a smokescreen; he's nothing."

The moral imperative of trading with Cuba / AgWeb.com
Outrage is appropriate right now, but so is wise and dispassionate policymaking. When emotions begin to ebb, we'll need to try a new approach with Cuba.

Cuba: La Loggia proposes protesting against dictatorship / AGI Online, Italy
During the broadcast of 'Ballaro', the minister of regional affairs, Enrico La Loggia, proposed the idea of a protest against the Fidel Castro dictatorship, and asked the leader of the Margherita party, Rutelli, for the availability of "the left and a pledge in this direction.

April 23

FROM CUBA / Middle school teachers double as janitors / Lux Info Press
The administrators of the "Enrique Galarraga" middle school, in Monte Street, Old Havana, compel the teachers to perform janitorial duties since the school hasn't had janitors for the last two years.

FROM CUBA / Inmates in the Isle of Youth overworked and underfed / UPECI
Inmates serving time under the "Los colonos" correctional plan complain they are overworked and underfed, say human rights activists here, and have no recourse to even complain.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuban Diplomat Laments White House Moves
-Cuban Crackdown Deepens Strains With U.S.
-Here's Lucie: Arnaz Stars in Machado's Tale of Cuban Exiles, 'Once Removed', in Miami

April 22

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Agent Says Cuba's Opposition Is Disabled
-Lawmakers Temper Bid to Ease Cuba Embargo
-Cuba Will Bid for the 2012 Olympic Games

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Lawsuits filed in U.S. over Cuba crackdown
-Art revolutionaries from Cuba on exhibit

Stand Against Repression / The Miami Herald
Almost two weeks ago, we asked rhetorically: Where were the Latin American governments regarding the three executions and the jailing of 75 dissidents in Cuba? We lamented the thunderous silence from around the hemisphere that seemed to condone the Fidel Castro's actions.

External links

Cuban Ambassador Responds to Critics "Our Doctors Are No Damp Squib" / AllAfrica.com
In an attempt to dismiss assertions from captious critics that the Cuban health experts sent here are in effect a damp squib with little positive impact on the country's health sector, Mariano Lores Betancourt told The Independent in an interview last week that his countrymen's expertise is superior to the average qualification of doctors in Third World countries.

European nations may downgrade Cuba ties after Castro crackdown / Financial Times
Several European Union countries are preparing to cut back their diplomatic programmes in Cuba in protest at the political crackdown by Fidel Castro's regime. Seventy five dissidents were convicted this month on charges of being US-backed mercenaries conspiring to undermine the Cuban government and were handed prison sentences of between six and 28 years.

A Man Who Writes / Raúl Rivero / The New York Times
The letter of the law concerning the protection of national independence and the economy in Cuba allows the authorities in my country to sentence me to prison because of the only sovereign act I have performed since I gained the use of my reason: writing without being dictated to.

Havana to compete with New York, others / ESPN.com
Cuba will bid for the 2012 Olympics, a decision that will place Havana as the long-shot candidate in a strong field that already features New York and Madrid, Spain. The Cuban Olympic Committee will hold a news conference Monday to discuss the bid, the group said Tuesday.
Castro Kills Stone / National Review Online

The most decisive counteraction in the West was done by HBO. The movie and television company had been planning a splashy introduction of an extended documentary on Fidel Castro by - Oliver Stone. It was all packed up, ready to go. In fact it had been screened in February at a movie festival in Berlin.

The imposing Chucho Valdes a master improviser / Edmonton Journal, Canada
When it comes to playing a concert grand piano, sheer physicality can make a difference. So Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes --who stands six-foot-six -- has a bit of an advantage from the start.

Castro's Cocky Gamble / AmericanDaily.com
That Castro would seize such an opportunity to silence his opponents is not surprising. What is truly astounding is the amount of coverage his minatory actions have received. Numerous Cuban observers have remarked that America's media includes a disproportionately high number of Castro myrmidons who regularly overlook his human right violations.

The Cuba on the cutting room floor / Globe and Mail, Canada
Unfortunately, there are also some scenes you'll never see. Mr. Stone's shooting schedule missed the kangaroo-court trials this month that sent 75 of Cuba's leading intellectuals and dissidents to jail for crimes against the state. Mr. Stone also missed a cool firing-squad scene.

Towns in Cuba join sister-city program / The Pantagraph, IL
Though the United States has enforced trade and travel embargoes with the island nation since 1960, the Twin Cities have started a sister-cities relationship with two of its towns. Caibarien and Remedios are in the province of Villa Clara, about 200 miles east of Havana.

Possible Bush sanctions may affect UA's Cuba initiative / Tuscaloosa, AL
"There's no doubt there's going to be a short-term impact," said Larry Clayton, a UA history professor and chair of the university's Cuba Committee. "It doesn't look good. We're trying to be apolitical as possible."

Castro, Human Rights and Latin Anti-Americanism / FrontPageMagazine.com
Recently, following a pattern understood by all but American liberals, Fidel Castro again did something he always does in response to U.S. efforts to improve relations with Cuba. He answered renewed congressional efforts to weaken the embargo by cracking down on the opposition.

Collaborative mural focuses on free speech / Yale Daily News
Inspired by a spring break trip to Cuba, members of the service group Reach Out have erected a "Free Speech Mural" on Cross Campus as a response to recent allegations of hate speech at Yale and the suppression of free speech in Cuba.

'American Experience' Turns to Castro / Zap2it.com
The documentary will be headed by Adriana Bosch who did the program's Jimmy Carter special and received WGA and Peabody nominations for her film on Ronald Reagan. Bosch is specially qualified for this film, having been born in Cuba and brought to the United States in 1970.

April 21

FROM CUBA / Relatives report on visit to political prisoner / Ernesto Roque
he women reported Vázquez is in a cell approximately six by nine feet with three other inmates, that they are not allowed to have pencil or paper, but that they could have reading materials provided they are delivered through the case officer.

FROM CUBA / Sentenced dissidents decide against appeal / UPECI
Human-rights activists Oscar Elías Biscet and Diosdado González decided not to appeal their recently-handed down sentences, 25 and 20 years respectively, saying the court is an instrument of the Cuban Department of State Security.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Seized Cuban planes propel diplomacy debate
-U.S. ready in case of major exodus from Cuba
-Cuban intellectuals ask for end to criticism
-Brothers to the Rescue says it will broadcast another message of solidarity to Castro's opponents in Cuba

Cuba And The United Nations: A Five-Act Tragedy / The Miami Herald
In the movie Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick's dark comedy about nuclear war, the character played by the late Peter Sellers snaps indignantly at two colleagues engaged in fisticuffs: "You can't fight in here! This is the war room!''

Toward Cuba's reconciliation / The Miami Herald
Envisioning a tyranny-free Cuba may seem odd today as the Cuban regime terrorizes its own people with summary executions and a savage crackdown on dissidents. Yet this is precisely the time for laying the groundwork for a future Cuba where such horrors will not be repeated.

Castro Dissidents Jailed in Reprisals / Common Dreams
Cuba responded to growing concerns over its sudden, brutal swoop on opposition groups with a curt statement that it would not allow UN envoys to investigate human rights abuses and is studying how to withdraw from a European aid pact.

Castro's Casting Couch / The Washington Monthly
There's clearly a mix of personal and political motivations at play. Castro and American celebrities seem to be playing a powerful, fascinating game of seduction. The question is, who's the Don Juan and who's the dupe?

A life in color / The Miami Herald
He is a reluctant master. With a self-deprecating smile, Cundo Bermúdez brushes aside attempts by University of Miami students to call him maestro as they film a documentary about his decades of painting impressions of Cuba, turning the island into a place aswirl with baroque opulence and brilliant light.

External links

Europeans set to cut back Cuba programmes / Financial Times
No action has yet been taken but a number of western European governments are considering cutting back cultural, business and other unilateral friendship programmes in response to the crackdown, which is seen by many as a rebuke to Europe's policy of engagement with Mr Castro's government. "Logically, we thought, the island should be opening up. They need cash. They need trade," the European diplomat said. "Well, we've been reminded that this system might have a method but there is no logic."

Sounds of silence from Castro's American friends / The Australian
Since Castro resumed locking up or killing his opponents, Stone has remained silent. A spokesman for Spielberg said that he was too busy to comment. Ventura, Redford and Costner have also stayed mum. Only Carter has taken Castro to task for repaying attempts at friendship with show trials and executions.

Getting 'real' with Cuba / Boston Herald editorial
Not, of course, that Cuba's Fidel Castro has ever really changed his stripes. But when the aging dictator wants something from the rest of the civilized world, he is good at soft-peddling his autocratic side. Sometimes, however, passing out the cigars and rum to pliant members of Congress really doesn't cut it. This is one of those times

Lula, The Democrat: Still In Awe Of Castro? / InfoBrazil.com
The idea of criticizing Cuba is anathema to many Brazilians including, it appears, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. So Brazil really surprised no one last week when it announced it would abstain, in the United Nations vote to condemn Cuba for its most recent, flagrant disregard for human rights.

Cuba reaches out to Vermont / Rutland Herald, VT
The Cuban government has extended an open invitation to Vermont officials and business leaders to discuss the possibility of importing a variety of the state's farm commodities and food products.

Crackdown on dissent a Cuban question mark / St. Petersburg Times
Many theories abound. More straightforward versions focus on Castro's ideological rejection of any democratic opposition to his rule, as well as possible fissures in Cuba's powerful one-party state apparatus. Others see more Machiavellian motives, such as Castro's record of picking fights with the United States to distract attention from domestic problems, such as energy shortages and food rationing.

Castro, Human Rights and Latin Anti-Americanism / FrontPageMagazine.com
Castro answered renewed congressional efforts to weaken the embargo by cracking down on the opposition. In the past, when then-President Jimmy Carter tried to improve ties, we wound up with the Mariel exodus and the emptying of Cuba's jails through migration to the U.S.; when Bill Clinton tried to improve relations, it ended up with American citizens being blown out of the skies by Castro's fighter planes and yet another mass send-off to Florida. This time, when a combination of greedy Republicans from farm states and leftist Democrats tried to weaken the embargo in the name of free trade, Castro answered by jailing 79 dissidents for sentences totaling over 2,000 years.

Iran-Cuba to cooperate in scientific affairs / IRNA
Iranian Ambassador to Cuba Ahmad Edrissian met with Cuban High Education Minister Fernando Vecino-Alegret in Havana on Monday. The two officials discussed matters of mutual interest and the Cuban official's upcoming visit to Tehran.

Contreras Ready to Start Over, as Starter, in Minors / The New York Times
Contreras lives in a free society and is earning $32 million over four years from the Yankees, but he misses his family terribly and has adjusted poorly to the bullpen. The Yankees are trying to remedy the second problem by sending Contreras to Class AAA Columbus, where he will start.

Castro crackdown slows push for ending embargo / Boston Herald
Bay State congressmen have vowed to continue pushing for an end to the 4-decade-old embargo on Cuba despite a recent crackdown on dissidents by Fidel Castro.

Malaysia need to know the real Cuba: Envoy / New Straits Times Online, Malaysia
Countries like Malaysia need to know the reality about Cuba instead of receiving intermediate and stereotyped news "manipulated by the Western media", Cuban Ambassador to Malaysia Pedro Monzon Barata said today.

Surviving Casto - and Harvard, too / The Boston Globe
When he arrived in Miami on Feb. 15, 1995, he couldn't speak English. He was known as ''a Cuban ref'' - refugee - among his high school classmates, and through high school, his English bore a thick Spanish accent. By graduation time, though, he became his school's valedictorian and the first student there to head to Harvard.

Cuban houseguest speaks language of friendship / The Cincinnati Post
Clifford Smith didn't give it much thought when his wife Shirley told him she was thinking of inviting a Cuban to move into their small Norwood home.

U.N. body's defeat is tyrants' gain / Rocky Mountain News
The U.N. Human Rights Commission - the name has become something of a misnomer - has failed to condemn Cuba for its wholesale crackdown on the regime's political opposition.

Chair of African Women Association in Cuba / AllAfrica.com
Angola has been elected to a one-year term chairpersonship of the Executive Bureau of the Association of African Women based in Cuba. The Association will be chaired by Angola's embassy press attache in Cuba, Journalist Luisa Damiao, who was unanimously elected.

Where are you now, Fidelistas? / Boston Globe Online
In The Washington Monthly, Cave speculates that the reasons for this strange romance are both personal and political: They range from resentment of US foreign policy and the perception of Castro as a fearless David standing up to an American Goliath to the dictator's personal charisma and his skill at massaging the egos of his celebrity guests. All that may be so. But one would think that the recent crackdown in Cuba would serve as a shattering wake-up call even for the most oblivious.

April 18

FROM CUBA / Dissident Magazine Ceases Publication / Alén Reinaldo Cosano Alén
"Luz Cubana," an underground magazine published by dissidents here, ceased publication after twoof its founders were sentenced to prison for anti-government activities.

FROM CUBA / Assembly to Support Crackdown Held for Workers / Ariel Delgado Covarrubias
Communist Party militants at the Aurora Company, which cleans the streets and maintains parks and green areas, held a recent meeting to justify a government crackdown on dissidents.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Cuba: Executions meant to deter migration
-Rights panel wants Cuba monitored
-Judge orders Cuba to pay family
-Bush shuts door Clinton left ajar to U.S. visitors

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba Sees Victory in U.N. Panel's Vote
-Cuba ordered to pay 67 million for 1961 execution of US man
-Cuba crackdown stalls Congress moves to liberalize trade
-Cuba wards off explicit criticism of clampdown at UN rights forum
-Playboy Settles Cuban Embargo Complaint

Blame America not the culprit, example 3: "Rising Dissent, U.S. / MRC
Pressure Led to Cuba Repression," announced the headline over a Reuters story, as if Castro had nothing to do with it.

Case against Cuba / The Guardian
The only conclusion that we can draw from this brute repression is that the Cuban government does not trust its people to distinguish truth from falsehood, fact from disinformation. A government of the left must have the support of the people: it must guarantee human rights and champion the widest possible democracy, including the right to dissent, as well as promote social justice.

U.S. Goal is "Rapid, Peaceful" Transition to Democracy in Cuba / Washington File
The White House has added its voice to those of the international figures and organizations denouncing the Castro regime for its arrest and sentencing of Cuban dissidents it accuses of collaborating with the United States.

External links

Facing U.S. Threat of Penalties, Cuba Issues a Defiant Statement / The New York Times
Administration officials said this week that they might stop family remittances, which amount to as much as $1 billion a year, and end direct charter flights.

Editorial: Cuban Litmus Test / The New York Times
Even though Fidel Castro has been brutally cracking down on peaceful dissent in recent weeks, the timid United Nations Human Rights Commission let Cuba off easily yesterday. The 53-member body, led by none other than Libya, approved an anemic resolution asking Havana to accept the visit of a U.N. human rights observer.

Editorial: Justifying Abuse / The Washington Post
But this is not the only outrage perpetuated at this year's meeting of the Commission on Human Rights, surely one of the most hypocritical on record. At this session, the commission also voted against putting Zimbabwe on its list of countries requiring special observation, against making any special mention of the human rights violations in Chechnya and against an amendment that condemned Cuba for jailing dissidents. No resolutions were proposed this year on the treatment of dissidents in China.

Cuba says U.N. vote backs crackdown on dissidents / Ocala Star Banner
"The unquestionable majority vote is a clear signal from the Human Rights Commission that Cuba has the right to apply its own laws," Perez Roque told a news conference. "We express our profound satisfaction."

Cuba rejects call for UN envoy / BBC, UK
Mr Perez Roque says that is evidence that his government should be entitled to apply its own laws in the way it sees fit.

Chavez Opponents Protest 'Cubanization' of Venezuela / VOA News
Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez held a demonstration Friday outside the Cuban embassy in Caracas to protest against what they called the "Cubanization" of Venezuela.

Fidel Castro's friends in Ottawa / National Post, Canada
Canadian government issued a statement decrying the "severity" of the recent crackdown. But Jean Chrétien made clear he still wants good relations. "I know there is a problem of human rights in that country ... sometimes it's better, sometimes it's bad ... and we're protesting. But it's better to be engaged because that's putting pressure."

Solidarity with Cuba? / Buenos Aires Herald
President Eduardo Duhalde could hardly have picked a worse year to end a 13-year run of Argentine votes in Geneva condemning Cuba's human rights record with the Fidel Castro régime behaving worse than at any time in the last 14 years

Slap on the wrist for Cuba / The Daily Camera
Refusing to face reality, much less grow a spine, the United Nations Human Rights Commission voted Thursday in Geneva to give Fidel Castro nothing more than a gentle slap on the wrist for his brutal surge of new human rights violations in Cuba.

New Cuban rights abuse: no excuse to slow US outreach / Christian Science Monitor
Castro no doubt understood that his actions would stir negative reactions in the US and bolster the position of pro-embargo hard-liners. Such calculations are important to the US debate over the embargo on Cuba because Castro knows the embargo helps keep him in power.

Cuban intellectuals ask colleagues abroad to stop criticizing island / Herald Tribune, Florida
Signed by 27 of Cuba's best known cultural figures, the letter describes the "surprise and pain" felt when liberal intellectuals around the world criticize Cuba for its crackdown on dissidents, and the separate firing-squad executions of three convicted ferry hijackers.

Taking Cuban Song Beyond Its Borders / The New York Times
The average person who has seen Wim Wenders's film "Buena Vista Social Club," about the band of Cuban musicians convened by the producer Ry Cooder, will probably remember the 76-year-old Ibrahim Ferrer.

The tyranny of Castro's regime / The Washigton Times
With the one-year anniversary of former President Jimmy Carter's trip to Cuba fast approaching, we realize that history has repeated itself and Cuba's brutal dictator Fidel Castro has played Mr. Carter once again as a fool.

Case against Cuba won, but family's quest goes on / Houston Chronicle
But the struggle for the widow and four children of Howard Anderson now turns to the United States and whether the Treasury Department will release money seized decades ago from the island nation to cover the judgment.

Havana Announces 2012 Bid – Again / GamesBids.com
Once again Havana has announced that it wants to bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. But it's not the first time the announcement has been made.

Castro Not Set in Stone / Newsday.com
"We should look to him as one of the Earth's wisest people, one of the people we should consult," Stone said at the Berlin Film Festival

Sandoval Pays Tribute to Trumpet Idols / NPR
As a young boy in his native Cuba, Arturo Sandoval dreamed of learning how to play the trumpet. But when he approached a local trumpet player for lessons, he was told he had no talent and never would have. Instead of giving up, he went home and practiced. Hard.

Open trade with Cuba, state's delegation urges / Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas lawmakers still support normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba despite a crackdown by Cuban authorities that has led to the imprisonment of as many as 100 people.

CNN debate yields more heat than light / St. Petersburg Times, Florida
Did he lie in previous interviews about suppressing stories? Were viewers lied to in stories that were shaded to preserve access? And can viewers trust the reports of CNN -- or any news outlet -- from inside a brutal dictatorship that closely monitors journalists? (Cuba is another example.)

Sail-Cuba.com seeing slow sales / Herald Tribune, Florida
This season's version of sailing to Cuba -- and doing it all legally, even the spending money part -- apparently is in no danger of being oversubscribed. A calculated guess is that the May 3 Tampa Bay-to-Marina Hemingway sailing event, which has room for 75 boats, may start with fewer than 10 boats.

CNN postings send some to early graves / Cnet News.com
Meeting this premature fate were the likes of U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, former president Ronald Reagan, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Pope John Paul II and South African political icon Nelson Mandela. Their obituaries were mockups prepared in advance of the actual events.

April 17

FROM CUBA / Interior Ministry puts on show of force precedes trial / UPECI
The Interior Ministry has shipped an undisclosed number of special troops to the Isle of Youth just before the trial of eight men who tried to hijack a plane April 10.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-UN rights body adopts resolution on Cuba, omits mention of clampdown
-Bush could punish Cuba for its crackdown on dissidents: report
-UN rights body turns sights on Cuba
-HUMAN RIGHTS: Cuba on Tenterhooks in U.N. Commission

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-U.S. vote may end up aiding Cuba at U.N.
-Bush administration ponders sanctions
-U.S. calls Cuba measures 'brutal'
-Take 2: HBO wants Stone to reinterview Castro in documentary
-'Jewban' couple gather family for Passover

Censure cuba's reign of fear / The Miami Herald
The Cuban regime deserves serious censure for its tyrannical contempt of human rights. The U.N. Human Rights Commission should deliver exactly that today in a resolution condemning the regime's crackdown and demanding that dissidents be released.

U.S. Official Criticizes Cuba's Repression of Dissidents / Washington File
The Cuban government's recent crackdown on dissidents is indicative of its failure, and the United States must continue to support Cuban citizens in their efforts toward democracy and a better life, says Lorne Craner, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.

U.S. Official Criticizes Cuba's Repression of Dissidents / Washington File
The Cuban government's recent crackdown on dissidents is indicative of its failure, and the United States must continue to support Cuban citizens in their efforts toward democracy and a better life, says Lorne Craner, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.

External links

U. S. May Punish Cuba for Imprisoning Critics / NY Times
Among the more drastic are the possibility of cutting off cash payments to relatives in Cuba a mainstay for millions of Cubans or halting direct flights to the island, the officials said.

Cuba: Casini asks administration for information on repression / AGI Online, Italy
The President of the House, Pier Ferdinando Casini, at the start of the debate at Montecitorio over an Italian humanitarian mission in Iraq as requested by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Franco Frattini, asked him for information over the wave of repression underway in Cuba. Cassini announced that the issue will be debated after Easter.

Belgo-Cuban relations cool / Expatica.com
Belgium's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Annemarie Neyts, said Tuesday that unless Cuba's dissident prisoners were released, all communication between the two countries would be frozen.

U.S. wants Cuba off U.N. rights commission / San Francisco Gate
The While House urged the U.N. Human Rights Commission to evict Cuba from the 53-nation panel, contending that Fidel Castro's government has no interest in promoting the commission's mandate to protect freedom.

Aiding freedom's enemies / The Washington Times
CNN broadcast almost nothing about Mr. Castro's awful human-rights record, a deliberate and shameful omission. Just seven of 212 stories (or 3 percent) focused on the regime's treatment of dissidents; only four stories (2 percent) concerned themselves with the lack of democracy; and only two stories (less than 1 percent) spotlighted the intimidation of journalists. So much for the "truth."

GOP Pols Seek Wider Condemnation of Castro's Crackdown / CNSNews.com
Two Republican U.S. House members Wednesday demanded that the Bush administration be more aggressive in condemning human rights abuses in Cuba and that it provide information on prisoners to any delegation traveling to the communist nation.

Cuba Attacks U.N. Proposal on Jailed Dissidents / NY Times
H uman rights advocates said this year's resolution which was sponsored by Uruguay, Peru and Costa Rica was weak, especially considering that the panel began its sessions just as world leaders and rights groups were condemning the Cuban government for its recent actions.

L.A. officials tour Cuba / SGVTribune.com
Two of the five jet-setting members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors are in Cuba this week. A third went last month, and a fourth visited the island in December. County insiders say some of the supervisors are interested in potential trade opportunities between Cuba and Los Angeles County, which has the largest U.S. port complex.

HBO Throws a Blockade Around Oliver Stone's 'Commandante' / The Washington Post
Even before last week's executions, Stone's documentary was controversial. During the Sundance Film Festival, the director said he found Castro to be "warm and bright," adding, "he's a very driven man, a very moral man. He's very concerned about his country. He's selfless in that way."

UN Calls on Cuba to Accept Human Rights Investigator / VOA News
"Since this commission began, nearly 80 representatives of Cuban civil society have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to lengthy prison terms," said Mr. Moley. "In summary, sham proceedings. While we sat in this hall last Friday, the Cuban government tried and executed three hijackers with little more than a week between arrest and execution."

Castro continues to give Cuba a bad name / Nashville City Paper
If anyone wondered if Fidel Castro has mellowed in his old age, the execution of three would-be ferryboat hijackers by firing squad last week should answer the question.

Puerto Rico criticizes Cuba for crackdown on dissidents / Herald Tribune
Puerto Rico's secretary of state criticized Cuba's government Wednesday for a recent crackdown on dissidents, calling it a step backward for the region.

Fidel, book critic / MSN.com
It's been widely observed lately that Fidel-adoring artists and intellectuals in the United States never seem to mind whenever Cuba's charismatic dictator tosses his own country's artists and intellectuals into the slammer, as he did last month.

Treasury releases list of companies trading with opposition / The Albuuqerque Tribune
This month, companies including Amazon.com, AAA Travel, Chevron/Texaco, Citibank, Wells Fargo and the New York Yankees settled claims by the government that they had some prohibited dealings with sanctioned countries.

Stop Sending Cubans Back to Castro's Gulag / National Review Online
The barbarity of Fidel Castro's regime became plain to the world last week and so did the immorality of a Clinton-era policy toward Cubans attempting to escape Castro's tropical gulag.

The Betrayed Liberation: Remembering the Bay of Pigs / Myles B. Kantor / NewsMax.com
April 17 marks the 42nd anniversary of the Bay of Pigs, where approximately 1,500 Cuban exiles attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro's totalitarian regime. To discuss this event is Victor Triay, a history professor at Middlesex Community College in Connecticut and author of "Bay of Pigs: An Oral History of Brigade 2506."

Pianist 'Chucho' Valdes brings Cuban feel to U.S. / San Bernardino County Sun
Jesus "Chucho" Valdes enters the Casa del Musica club in Miramar, a section of outer Havana where Cuba's nouveau riche intermingle with foreign dignitaries. It's late December and the Havana international jazz festival has just ended, where the acclaimed pianist has been a star attraction.

Cuban political repression seen as worst in decades / The Washington Times
The Cuban government has "carried out its most significant act of political repression in decades," arresting more than 100 people since mid-March as the world was focused on the war in Iraq, a State Department official told a House panel yesterday.

Operation Cuban Freedom – NOT! (Part 1) / Humberto Fontova / NewsMax.com
So Castro's air force was NOT obliterated. What WAS obliterated were the Brigade's ammo ships and control center. They were alone. What the hell was going on!??

CLAUDIA MARQUEZ LINARES: Scene from the Cuban crackdown / The Modesto Bee
What are they afraid of? I ask myself this while in my conscience - and in the consciences of the many journalists and leaders of organizations that were also victim of confiscations and arbitrary arrest - the hope remains for a free and democratic Cuba, where to read Vargas Llosa and Milan Kundera will not be "material proof of an offense."

World Council of Churches regrets miscarriage of justice in trial of Cuban dissidents / wcc-coe.org
In a letter addressed to the Cuban President, Fidel Castro, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Konrad Raiser, expresses regret at the miscarriage of justice in the recent trial in which Cuban political dissidents were found guilty and received heavy sentences. He further urges that their sentences be reviewed and that they be released.

Cuban Exiles Question US Policy Towards Cuban Dictatorship / VOA News
With Saddam Hussein's removal from power in Iraq, many Cuban exiles say the United States should turn its attention to another dictator closer to U.S. shores: Cuban President Fidel Castro.

April 16

FROM CUBA / Dissidents' kin meet, cheer, at Havana church / Ernesto Roque
Palm Sunday Mass at St. Rita's in Havana closed to strong applause as the parish priest read a letter from Cuban bishops that referred to dissidents who were recently sentenced to long prison terms and to others who were executed by the government.

FROM CUBA / Jailed dissident learns of his sentence from wife / Grupo Decoro
Héctor Maseda, the jailed independent journalist who was recently tried on charges of crimes against the security of the State, only learned he had been sentenced to 20 years in prison when his wife told him during a brief visit.

FROM CUBA / Relatives of jailed dissident complain about no news of his health / Eduardo Alba
Relatives of Roberto de Miranda, the president of the independent teachers association who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last week, say they were not allowed to see him on visiting day, April 8, and can't get information about his health.

Cuban Bishops Condemn Summary Execution of 3 Hijackers / ZENIT
Learning that "after a most summary judicial prosecution three assailants were executed who seized a passenger transport vessel, we, the bishops of Cuba, in complete concurrence with the magisterium of Pope John Paul II, express once again our rejection of the death penalty," the brief message stated.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-U.N. Body Debates Cuba Rights Crackdown
-Execution of Cuban hijackers "arbitrary": OAS human rights Commission
-CANF Congratulates HBO on Pulling Castro Documentary from Schedule
-Powell Decries Cuba's Human Rights Record
-Mexico Condemns Executions in Cuba
-Cuban dissidents fear bad human rights rating won't help their cause

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Cuba vote postponed amid hot debate
-Tougher U.N. proposal on rights may help Cuba
-Homestead girl, 5, hospitalized in Cuba, possibly with SARS

Mexico's Fox to Support UN Human Rights Resolution Against Cuba / VOA News
Published reports in Mexico indicate that the government of President Vicente Fox is planning to vote in favor of a resolution criticizing Cuba at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva this week.

Cuba: Executions mark an unjustifiable erosion in human rights / Amnesty International
In yet another blow to respect for human rights, Cuban authorities have ended a three-year de facto moratorium on executions by sending three men to their deaths before an official firing squad, said Amnesty International today.

External links

Breaking News: HBO Yanks Heavily Promoted Oliver Stone Documentary of Castro / BreaKingNewsNet.com
HBO said Stone's documentary, which was filmed in February 2002, is not appropriate given today's circumstances. The network hopes Stone returns to Cuba to interview Castro about recent events and updates the documentary.

Collateral Damage in Cuba / Marcelo Lopez Bañobre / The Washigton Post
Cubans -- at least the ones I know -- have been mostly for the war because it promised to get rid of a vicious leader: Saddam Hussein. I think Cubans hate dictatorships so fervently that they would pay just about any price to see a hated dictator go. Yet when the war began I observed a strange phenomenon: civil society and human rights movements in Cuba became the first collateral damage of the Iraqi war. Instead of helping our cause, the war hurt us.

A Purge With a Purpose / Ann Louise Bardach / The New York Times
Indeed, whenever it looked as if Cuba was on the path to rejoining the world, Mr. Castro has done something to derail its progress. Recall that he relentlessly battled Mikhail Gorbachev over perestroika and glasnost. Mr. Castro warned that these changes would be the Soviet Union's downfall evidently missing the point. In a new, flattering documentary about Cuba's leader by Oliver Stone, "Comandante," Mr. Castro dismisses Mr. Gorbachev as a man "who destroyed his country."

Tour of Cuban music a rum time for all / Toronto Star
You got snap, crackle and bop and lots of Afro-Cuban sparkle as a bonus.

Mexico condemns executions in Cuba / San Francisco Gate
The Mexican government issued a statement Monday condemning Cuba's execution of three men convicted in a brief trial of hijacking a ferry to flee to the United States. But Mexico remained mum about how it plans to vote on a rights resolution regarding Cuba at the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

Crackdown stuns Cuba watchers / Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rarely in its turbulent 44 years has Fidel Castro's regime reacted so harshly against so many. Cuba's sweeping crackdown on dissidents, capped by the swift execution Friday of ferry hijackers, exposes the insecurities of a government that feels even more threatened, defensive and vulnerable than usual.

Move to ease Cuba trade stalls / San Francisco Gate
Cuba's recent jailing of dozens of dissidents and the execution of three ferry hijackers have stalled what had been an increasingly popular drive in the U.S. Congress to ease trade and travel restrictions on the island.

Wave of repression sweeps Cuba / The Start, Canada
Hard times just got a hell of a lot harder for Oscar Espinosa Chepe. Sixty-two years old and in failing health, the independent Cuban economist learned this past week how he will be spending the next 20 years.

Repressive regimes crack down on opposition when the world is not watching / Scotsman.com
In Cuba, Fidel Castro has launched one of the biggest moves to crush dissent for years, and Amnesty International said almost 80 people may now be prisoners of conscience in the country after mass arrests which began on March 18, two days before the war started.

Castro's purge infuriates US / The Independent, UK
Tensions have dramatically escalated between Cuba and the US after a brutal crackdown by the regime of Fidel Castro against opposition leaders that resulted in prison sentences of 20 years or more for about 75 dissidents last week. All were convicted after court hearings of no more than one day.

A rum do in Hemingway's old Havana / Times Online, UK
Cuba has changed since the author's heyday but he'd still find bars to die for, says Nicholas Rufford of The Sunday Times

Spring trip shapes minds / The Boston Globe
Deep into the night, they discussed the toilet's healthy, American-style flush, as they changed into sandals and shorts for an evening in Havana. Then they set off toward the crowds of Cuban revelers, searching for people-to-people contact.

Yankees Pay $75,000 To Settle Cuba Dispute / Newsday.com
The New York Yankees paid the government $75,000 to settle a dispute that it conducted business in Cuba in violation of a long-standing U.S. embargo, according to documents released Friday.

April 14

FROM CUBA / Government officials refuse to participate in carpool scheme / UPEC
Havana residents are complaining that high government officials are steadfastly refusing to participate in the carpooling scheme recently imposed by the government to alleviate the transportation crisis.

FROM CUBA / Government opponent arrested when he tried to witness trial / APLO
José Ángel Simón, a 29-year-old dissident in Santiago de Cuba, was arrested April 3 when he tried to enter the provincial court to witness one the recent trials of human rights activists.

FROM CUBA / Complaints about bread quality in the Isle of Youth / UPECI
Residents of the Isle of Youth have to put up with poor quality bread, in spite of numerous complaints to the authorities who claim the solution to the problem is out of their hands.

FROM CUBA / Grim days / Juan Carlos Linares Balmaseda
Scenes of massive arrests, seizes, summary trials, heavy sentences and informants, spread throughout the population the message Cuba government wants to send: Terror.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-After Iraq, Cuba not next on U.S. list, Rumsfeld says
-Cuba's brutality an eye-opener for a new generation
-'True faces' in Cuba's dissident crackdown
-Hundreds sign letter seeking release of dissidents
-Cuban repression linked to hard times
-Executions threaten moderate exile viewpoints

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba Executes Men Charged in Hijacking
-Cuba sends unequivocal message with execution of hijackers, crackdown

Cuba's Crackdown the Result of Internal Developments, Not U.S. Policy / Jaime Suchlicki
The recent violent crackdown on dissidents in Cuba has more to do with Castro's desire to leave a clean slate for the succession to power of his brother Raul, than with U.S. policies and actions in the island. Neither the activities of James Cason, Head of the U. S. Interests Section in Havana, nor U.S. polices, are the reasons for Castro's actions.

April 11

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Powell bashes Cuban 'roundup'
-Cuba executes 3 hijackers
-Sister: They were treated like dogs

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Three leaders of Cuba ferry hijacking executed
-Powell Urges Cuba to Release Dissidents
-ASNE Protests Crackdown in Cuban
-Cuba Sentences Last of 75 Dissidents
-Mexico's Fox Urged on U.N. Vote on Cuba
-Cuba defends sentences against dissidents, calling them US 'mercenaries'
-Cuban Flag Sent by Political Prisoners Makes its Way to the 59th session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights

What's Castro up to? / The Miami Herald
Recent events suggest that Fidel Castro is brewing a new confrontation with the United States. The U.S. needs to be prepared for another exodus from Cuba, pulled by the promise of freedom here and pushed by a dictator whose best interest may well be served by letting go dissidents who had become too vocal.

April 10

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Cuba: Dissidents were eroding socialist system
-New purpose for embargo foes
-A Pulitzer For Nilo Cruz

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Chretien admits having "a problem" with Cuba, but will maintain pressure
-Cuba Defends Crackdown on Dissidents

Meanwhile, in Cuba, the tyranny goes on / Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe
One of the first people I met during a week's stay in Havana last year was the economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a once-ardent communist who had turned against Fidel Castro's dictatorial system. For daring to criticize Cuba's disastrous policies, Chepe and his wife Miriam had been severely punished.

Listen carefully to Latin America's response to Cuba's repression: silence / Andres Oppenheimer / The Miami Herald
What irony! The democratic leaders of Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile were themselves peaceful opponents until recently, forced to knock on the doors of foreign governments, international human rights organizations -- and journalists -- to demand solidarity against their countries' authoritarian governments.

Cuba's dissidents deserve support in hour of need / Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now, while Uncle Sam's eyes are focused on Iraq, would seem to be a good time for Castro to sneak a crackdown past an international backlash. But the backlash has come anyway, from the European Union, the Roman Catholic Church, international human rights organizations and from Capitol Hill, just as efforts to lift trade sanctions were beginning to make some headway

April 9


FROM CUBA / Independent journalist sentenced to 26 years; furniture confiscated / UPECI
Independent journalist Víctor Rolando Arroyo was sentenced by the Provincial Popular Tribunal in Pinar del Río to 26 years in prison and to have some of his furniture confiscated, said his mother, Martha Carmona.

Outrage over repression in Cuba spurs campaign for U.N. censure / The Miami Herald
Appalled by the latest round of summary trials and sentencing of dissidents in Cuba, a group of countries from Latin America and Europe plans to toughen a draft resolution that would result in censure by the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

Condemn Cuba's Tyranny / The Miami Herald
The U.N. Human Rights Commission should sanction Cuba's government for its strong-arm crackdown of dissidents and demand their immediate release. Further, Latin American governments should see to it that Cuba, whose term expires this year, isn't reelected to the commission.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-White House lashes Cuba over dissident crackdown
-Cuba Criticized for Jailing Dissidents
-Activists: 74 Cuban Dissidents Convicted
-Cuban courts follow up on crackdown, hand dissidents long jail terms

Confident of winning, Castro confronts U.S. / Carlos Alberto Montaner / The Miami Herald
We're probably at the brink of another confrontation between Fidel Castro and the United States. Judging from all the symptoms, Castro is moving his pieces to generate a new conflict.

Heavy prison sentences -- a giant step backwards for human rights / Amnesty International
Cuba: Heavy prison sentences -- a giant step backwards for human rightsIn a move which signals a giant step backwards for human rights, at least 33 Cuban dissidents arrested in a government crackdown in March have been sentenced to terms ranging from 14 to 27 years, Amnesty International said today.

External links

Stifling Dissent in Havana / The New York Times
As soon as the fighting started in Iraq, Fidel Castro saw his opening. With the world's attention focused elsewhere, more than 80 Cuban pro-democracy dissidents and independent journalists were rounded up and tried on trumped-up charges of subversion in one of Cuba's most severe crackdowns in memory. It is a desperate act of a discredited leader.

Unlikely allies condemn crackdown / Sun-Sentinel, FL
The Cuban government's crackdown on independent journalists and other dissidents has created a strange, if temporary, alliance -- uniting those who favor isolation of the island and those who prefer closer ties in a chorus of indignant condemnation.

Cuba jailings draw anger / BBC, UK
Cuba's sentencing of more than 30 dissidents to lengthy prison terms has prompted international outrage. A White House spokesman said the recent crackdown was proof that President Fidel Castro's government remained a "totalitarian blight" on the region.

Cuba jails writers, dissidents / The Dallas Morning News
Cuban authorities on Monday slapped dissidents, journalists and other defendants with harsh prison terms for alleged subversive acts against the socialist regime. Family members waiting outside an Old Havana courtroom were angry, indignant and defiant.

Tapping Cuban Roots for American Drama / The New York Times
The New Theater in Coral Gables, Fla., commissioned "Anna" and presented it last fall. Unlike the other finalists, which appeared on Broadway (where "Take Me Out" is still running), the winning play had not been seen by any of the five Pulitzer drama jurors, nor by members of the Pulitzer board who made the award. "Anna" won on the strength of its script alone.

Castro's repression / The Washington Times
For about 80 defenders of democracy in Cuba, life has been reduced to the dank darkness of a gulag. These nonviolent dissidents have been caught up in the worst crackdown on the island in a decade, and on Thursday, many went on trial for "crimes" of thought and expression.

Lawsuit filed in Miami on behalf of jailed Cuban dissident / Sun-Sentinel, FL
An independent Cuban journalist imprisoned in Cuba is suing Fidel Castro and other Cuban leaders in U.S. District Court, accusing them of torture and unfairly convicting him in one of many closed-door trials of dissidents on the communist island.

Get tough with Cuba / The Globe and Mail, Canada
It is time that Canada identified the Castro regime for what it is -- a totalitarian dictatorship quite different from Cuba's image as a benign winter playground for willfully blinkered Canadians. Better to bring the Castro government to heel through immediate trade sanctions and a total ban on tourism, rather than having to rely on feigned "extreme concern" over this regime's regular infringements on citizens' liberties.

Castro's latest purge / Cox Newspapers
Counting on the war in Iraq as distraction and using the corollary international fad of anti-Americanism as cover, Fidel Castro is up to his old tricks. He is heaving dissidents into prison by the shovelsful.

U.S. may send Saddam loyalists to Cuba / The National Post, Canada
Saddam Hussein loyalists who take potshots at U.S. troops while wearing civilian clothes could end up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if U.S. forces refuse to recognize them as prisoners of war.

Spanish hotel companies to invest in Cuba (Apuesta por Cuba) / Hoover's Online
Leading Spanish hotel groups are determined to extend their market presence in Cuba. Eight Spanish hotel chains currently operate outlets on the Caribbean island, accounting for 30 per cent of the country's 40,000 official tourist hotel beds. Spanish companies are set to increase direct investments in Cuba during the next few years as part of the construction of eight new hotels.

US may harden line on Havana / Financial Times, UK
James Cason, principal officer at the US interests section in Havana, told the Financial Times that a high-level Washington policy review would take place this month, as soon as senior policymakers found time to turn their attention from the war in Iraq.

April 8

FROM CUBA / Journalists' wives praise their performance on the stand / UPECI
"Vázquez held his head high and spoke with precision," said Yolanda Huerga. "I was very sad, but as I heard him speak, my spirits lifted... I would have run to him and hugged him," she said.

FROM CUBA / Propane tanks missing from provincial supplier / Cuba Verdad
Two inspectors working for the provincial supplier of liquefied gas in Havana province charge a large quantity of 10 kilogram tanks are being stolen from the company.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Cuba attacks dissent with prison
-Cuba Condemned for Jailing Dissidents
-Cuban playwright wins Pulitzer Prize
-Cruz's poetry in motion in passionate 'Anna'

Crimes Against Freedom / The Miami Herald
In Havana yesterday, independent journalist Raúl Rivero was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Ricardo González Alfonso, his editor at De Cuba magazine, also was sentenced to 20 years. They are among some 80 Cubans accused of crimes against the state, including Martha Beatriz Roque, (20 years) and Héctor Palacios, (25 years).

'We Will Not Give Up' / The Miami Herald
The imprisoned dissidents are all part of a movement that continues and grows in Cuba regardless of what happens to the leaders. From the beginning, some pro-democracy Cubans left the island. Others remained to continue the work.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Opponents of US embargo on Cuba lament new crack-down on dissidents
-Canada "extremely concerned" over heavy jail terms for Cuban dissidents

External links

Hollywood's Darling, Liberals' Blind Spot / Richard Cohen / The Washington Post
So I would like to hear some moral outrage about Castro. I would like to see the vilification of Cuban Americans cease. They have as much right to lobby the government as do, say, Jewish Americans on behalf of Israel or Greek Americans on behalf of Greece. I'd like to see anyone interrupt one of Fidel's marathon soliloquies to ask about human rights violations.

Cuban Dissidents Get Prison Terms as Long as 27 Years / David Gonzalez / the New York Times
The harsh sentences capped five days of trials in which state security agents who had infiltrated dissident groups testified against their supposed colleagues on charges of subversion and collaborating with American diplomats. Almost 80 people were arrested in an islandwide sweep that started last month and that has been condemned by numerous human rights advocates, the European Union and foreign leaders.

Locked up in Cuba with Castro's key / The Globe and Mail, Canada
Dissent still has no place in Fidel Castro's Cuba. That was the clear message yesterday when seven dissidents were sentenced to 15 to 25 years in prison in sham trials. Free thought and its inseparable companion, free speech, exist at the whim of the leader.

Castro's repression / The Washington Times
For about 80 defenders of democracy in Cuba, life has been reduced to the dank darkness of a gulag. These nonviolent dissidents have been caught up in the worst crackdown on the island in a decade, and on Thursday, many went on trial for "crimes" of thought and expression.

Cuban repression alive and well / Radio Netherlands
A Havana court's harsh crackdown on a large group of Cuban dissidents has been condemned by international rights groups and set back slowly improving US-Cuban relations. The 79 dissidents were sentenced to between 10 and 27 years imprisonment for opposing the government of Fidel Castro.

April 7

FROM CUBA / Finding defense attorneys hard for dissidents / Ana Leonor Díaz
Finding a defense attorney has turned into a near impossibility for the 78 jailed dissidents and independent journalists who are facing sentences of between 12 years and life in prison in summary trials taking place in several Cuban cities.

Cuba: Unfair Trials of Nonviolent Dissidents / HRW
The trials of nonviolent Cuban dissidents that began this morning should be halted immediately, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch also called on the Cuban government to drop all charges against the defendants.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuban dissidents get heavy jail terms
-Rights Groups Score Cuban, Other Repression During Iraq War
-Cuba Will Keep Baghdad Embassy Open
-Reporters Testify at Cuba Dissident Trial
-Cuba Shows Hijacked Ferry Rescue Video
-Cuba Ferry Captors Nabbed, Hostages Freed

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Castro says U.S. envoy encouraging dissidents
-Sponsors shelve exile talks in Havana

April 4

FROM CUBA / Summary trials leave little time for defense / UPECI
Summary trials of about 70 government opponents and independent journalists starting barely two weeks after their arrests are causing an upheaval in lawyers' offices here, say sources who asked to remain anonymous.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba Tries First of 80 Dissidents
-Trials of Cuban dissidents begin; journalists, diplomats not admitted
-Cuba Resumes Trials of 80 Dissidents
-Cuba Warns of Force to End Hijacking

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Trials of Cuban dissidents begin
-Accused man in hijacking denied bond
-Spate of hijackings prompts rare U.S. warning to Cubans

Cuban tourism office in Paris occupied to protest against jailing of 24 journalists / Reporters Without Borders
Some 15 activists from Reporters Without Borders accompanied by figures from the world of culture occupied the Cuban tourism bureau in Paris at around 10 a.m. to protest against a wave of arrests of journalists in Cuba. They symbolically turned the office into a prison, hanging a banner saying "Cuba = prison" over the facade.

Statement by Cuban dissidents / PRIMA News
With a new spiral of repression being faced by Cubans these days from the totalitarian regime, we decided to issue another statement to draw public attention to the facts of abuse and lawlessness in the country.

Editorial: Crisis brews in Cuba / The Miami Herald
Unfortunately, three such incidents in less than two weeks seem somehow related to internal Cuban turmoil -- and may portend trouble ahead. Cuba appears ripe for another crisis. And crisis is exactly what dictator Fidel Castro loves -- because he has a knack for turning his problems into U.S. problems.

Editorial: Judicial warfare Cuba style / The Miami Herald
The regime ruthlessly is punishing Cubans who promoted free press, democracy and human rights -- what exists and is protected by law throughout the free world. Instead of using bombs and guns, the Cuban regime perverts judicial processes to annihilate its internal enemies.

External links

Crackdown on Cuban Dissidents / World Movement for Democracy
Please write a letter in Spanish or your own first language to President Castro and/or to the Cuban Embassy in your country addressing your concerns for the detainees. Contact information can be found in the Amnesty International statement below.

Dozens of Cuban dissidents face trial for subversion / NY Times
Ignoring international condemnation, Cuban authorities began trying dozens of dissidents today on charges of subversion that could bring life sentences for some of the government's most outspoken opponents. The trials come amid deepening political and economic strains. Experts noted that the battered economy and rising discontent over limited opportunities are driving desperate attempts to leave the island.

Cuba's Crackdown / The Washington Post Editorial
The timing of the arrests is not coincidental. The Cuban regime chose to crack down at this particular moment because the world in general and the United States in particular are distracted by Iraq. At any other time, such a radical shift in policy would be front-page news, particularly because the list of those arrested includes many names widely known in the West. The war also gives Cuban diplomats a means of grandstanding their way through Geneva and an excuse to refuse to cooperate with the human rights commission's envoy to their country.

Trials for Cuban dissidents begin as opposition grows / Chicago Sun-Times
The first wave of dissidents rounded up in a nationwide crackdown went on trial Thursday as Fidel Castro's government moved to wipe out growing opposition. Prosecutors sought life sentences for 12 of the 80 defendants.

Joint statement by yet free Cuban dissidents / PRIMA News, Russia
Following a wave of political trials that started in Cuba on April 3, leaders of the Cuban dissident movement have issued a new joint declaration. That is the second statement of that kind made by dissidents in the past few weeks. The first one was disseminated in the wake of massive arrests in the mid-March of this year.

Speedy trials start in Cuba / PRIMA News, Russia
Cuban judiciary wrapped up its first hearings in the cases of dissidents arrested in March of this year on a charge of anti-state activity. As expected, the state prosecutor asked to sentence the defendants to from 12 years to life term in prison. Adolfo Fernandez Sainz, a correspondent of the Moscow-based PRIMA news agency in Havana, was tried jointly with six other dissidents, including Martha Beatriz Roque, leader of the Assembly to Promote the Civil Society in Cuba.

Cuban authorities hurry to deal with the opposition before capture of Baghdad / PRIMA News, Russia
The trial of Martha Beatriz Roque, leader of the Assembly to Promote the Civil Society in Cuba, is expected to take place either on April 3 or 4, her relatives were told by a state security investigator who is in charge of the dissident's case. Trials of other arrested dissidents will also be held on those days in provincial towns in the country.

Incident surprises family, friends / Sun-Sentinel
Like so many others who have fled Cuba, Adelmis Wilson Gonzalez apparently gave his friends and family no clue that he planned a brazen escape. Those who knew Wilson Gonzalez, who surrendered to federal officials in Key West on Tuesday after hijacking a plane from this sleepy island, were stunned.

Exile Cuban group plans to organize protests against dissident jailings / Sun-Sentinel, FL
A leading Cuban exile group Tuesday denounced a crackdown by the Cuban government on dissidents in the communist nation, and said it would help organize a campaign of public protest to press for the release of all political prisoners on the island.

Grounds for a separation / The Washington Times
Though we rarely were able to reach consensus about grotesque violations in countries such as China or Cuba, my fellow subcommission members had no trouble condemning the United States for its alleged transgressions, especially our supposed racism.

Hijackers 'unite' US, Cuba / News24.com, SA
The United States and Cuban governments have become strange bedfellows in a tacit co-operation to stem the hijacking of boats and planes to American territory at a time when bilateral relations are at their worst in years

April 3

FROM CUBA / Prosecutors to seek life term for independent journalist / Ernesto Roque
Prosecutors will seek a sentence of life in prison for recently-arrested independent journalist Víctor Rolando Arroyo in a trial set for Thursday, April 3, said Arroyo's wife Elsa González Padrón.

FROM CUBA / Italian man and his Cuban wife accused of "buying and selling" could lose home / Grupo Decoro
An Italian man and his Cuban wife are facing trial and may lose their home after being accused of "buying and selling" their house, a crime under the Cuban penal code.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba Begins Trials of Dissidents
-U.S. Condemns Dissidents' Trials in Cuba
-Top American diplomat in Havana warns Cubans not to hijack any more planes or boats
-Cuba to Take Lead Role in Hijack Crisis
-Ferry hostage drama continues in Cuba after 20-hour open seas ordeal
-Hijacked ferry back in Cuba after 20-hour ordeal on open seas
-Cuban Exile Group Denounces Crackdown

Dozens of Cuban Dissidents "Will Be Brought to Trial" / Amnesty International
Following a wave of targeted arrests of dissidents that began on 18 March 2003 in Cuba, Amnesty International is concerned that there may be 77 new prisoners of conscience on the island, detained for the non-violent exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and association, the organization said in a report "Cuba:Massive crackdown on dissent" released today.

April 2

FROM CUBA / Relatives march on behalf of arrested dissidents / Ernesto Roque
The marchers, mostly mothers and wives of those arrested, attended Mass at St. Rita's on 5th Avenue, and then marched up and down the avenue, all dressed in white.

FROM CUBA / Man killed in domestic dispute / William E. Herrera Díaz
Marlon Cabrera, 31, was killed Saturday by his nephews' stepfather after a domestic dispute at the latter's home in Arroyo Naranjo, Havana.

Where Truth Is a Crime / The Miami Herald
With Cuba set to conduct summary trials as early as tomorrow, the time to act is now -- before people unjustly are sentenced to 15 years or more of imprisonment and mistreatment.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuban government seeking life sentences for at least 10 of 78 dissidents arrested in crackdown
-Cuba Says Hijacked Boat Carries 50 People
-Passenger ferry hijacked in Cuba, US sends negotiators
-U.S. Denies Leniency in Cuban Hijackings
-Another Hijacked Cuba Plane Lands in Fla.
-Police: Man who hijacked plane from Cuba to Key West surrenders
-US lambasts Cuban airport security after new hijacking

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Miami lawyer picked to head Radio, TV Martí
-Hijacked plane from Cuba 2nd in 2 weeks
-Prosecutor: 'We're not lenient' on hijackers

When fearful, Castro fills up his prisons / Carlos Alberto Montaner / The Miami Herald
It happened again. In recent days, Cuba's political police cracked down on the opposition democrats and detained nearly 100 people ''on personal orders from Castro,'' a clumsy excuse offered by Lt. Col. Pichardo, an officer who alternates his profession as psychologist with the dirty task of jailer.

April 1

FROM CUBA / Political prisoner Biscet transferred; home searched / UPECI
Political prisoner Oscar Elías Biscet was transferred from his prison cell Saturday night to State Security headquarters and his home was searched Sunday morning.

FROM CUBA / Independent journalist may be first to be tried under Gag Law / Ernesto Roque- Cuba
Law 88, enacted in 1999, may be first applied to a recently-arrested independent journalist. A Department of State Security lieutenant colonel told Vázquez' wife on Friday that he would be tried under said law.

FROM CUBA / Multiple irregularities detected in vehicle inspections / Juan Carlos Linares
"In Cuba, it's impossible to freely buy a new car, and almost impossible, due to high prices, to buy an old one. To boot, the government has forbidden the sale of cars that came into the country after 1961," said the owner of a 1948 model.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Official: Cuba can prosecute dissidents
-Hijacked Cuban plane lands at Key West, hijacker carries child off plane
-Man with hand grenades holds 46 people on a plane hostage in Cuba

Hijacked Cuban plane lands in Key West / The Miami Herald
A Cuban plane hijacked by a man claiming to have two grenades and demanding to go to the United States landed in Key West Tuesday. At about 11:30 a.m., the Soviet-made twin-engine AN-24 touched down at Key West International Airport, shadowed by a Black Hawk military helicopter.

At the heart of the Varela Project: people / The Miami Herald
I traveled to Cuba last week for the first time in my life. I was going to make a documentary about Oswaldo Payá and the Varela Project. I wanted to discover what the nonviolent reform movement really represented to those living in modern Cuba.

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