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CUBA
NEWS
The
Miami Herald
Is it Castro or Hitler? Photo stirs
speculation
A sketchy photo of President Fidel Castro
in a recent issue of Granma bears a likeness
to Adolf Hitler, according to some readers
on the island.
By Nancy San Martin, nsanmartin@herald.com.
Posted on Tue, Dec. 30, 2003 in The
Miami Herald.
A recent issue of Cuba's communist daily
has set off a storm of conspiracy theories
across the island amid speculation that
something isn't quite right about the front-page
photo of President Fidel Castro.
The black
and white photo, shot from a distance
as Castro addressed American students at
the Palacio de las Convenciones, shows what
many believe to be a striking resemblance
to Adolf Hitler upon close inspection.
Using magnifying glasses to get a detailed
look, Cubans were stunned by what they surmised
was a deliberate manipulation of the photo
published Dec. 4 in the print edition of
Granma.
''It was all over the street, everybody
was talking about it,'' a foreign diplomat
in Havana said in a telephone interview.
''The head does look like Hitler,'' said
the diplomat, who spoke on condition of
anonymity. "The hair looks like it's
parted on the side. It looks like he doesn't
have a beard. It looks like he has a Hitler
mustache.''
Speculation also swirled about possible
arrests at the daily newspaper, which serves
as the official voice of the Cuban government.
Efforts to reach management at Granma were
not successful, but an employee who answered
the phone Monday acknowledged that the newspaper
had been flooded with phone calls. She offered
a simple explanation for the strange-looking
photo.
''What I was told is that the picture was
taken at a distance with a digital camera.
The microphone created a shadow that made
it look like a mustache [on Castro's face],''
said the employee, who identified herself
as Taimet Salas, a communication operator.
"There was an investigation, but there's
no problem. Nobody was arrested or anything
like that.''
Officials at the Cuban Interests Section
in Washington, D.C., did not return a Herald
phone call seeking comment.
As news of the photograph spread, the Dec.
4 edition of Granma quickly became a hot
commodity in Havana, selling for as much
as $150. In the United States, the price
shot up further.
The Internet edition of the Dec. 4 Granma
contains the same photo, but it is in color
and does not appear to be altered.
Similar stories spread several years ago
over a photo that appeared to show a skull
over Castro's face when looked at in a certain
angle. Analysts said the unsubstantiated
speculation is likely the result of a population
fascinated by what could be happening behind
the scenes.
However, some on the island who took a
close look at the Dec. 4 photo are convinced
there's more to the Hitler image.
''Everyone here believes it was done on
purpose,'' said an independent journalist
in Havana. "It's surprising that anything
like that would be published because those
pages are checked well. That was no coincidence
or an accident. The face of Hitler is perfectly
clear.''
Cuba purchase of US cattle delayed
over mad cow concerns
The Associated Press. Posted
on Tue, Dec. 30, 2003
HAVANA - Communist Cuba said Tuesday it
will postpone planned purchases of American
cattle after last week's announcement that
a Holstein cow in Washington state tested
positive for mad cow disease.
Pedro Alvarez, head of the Cuban food import
company Alimport, said earlier planned sales
would go ahead only after authorities here
are confident that the outbreak of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, has been
controlled.
The decision could delay purchase and delivery
of up to 500 American cattle scheduled to
be shipped to the Caribbean island during
the first quarter of 2004 under an exception
to the U.S. trade embargo.
''There is a postponement, but not a cancellation''
of earlier signed contracts,'' Alvarez said
in a telephone interview.
The first shipment of Florida-born cattle
to Cuba in more than 40 years had been expected
in the next few months. It wasn't known
Tuesday if that deal, which was to involve
250 head, was being blocked by the mad cow
concerns.
J.P. Wright & Company Inc. of Naples
said in October that Cuba agreed to buy
$450,000 worth of beef cattle from Florida
ranchers. The agreement followed the first
shipment of dairy cattle from other states
through Florida ports to Cuba this summer.
Parke Wright, chairman and CEO of the Naples
company, was traveling Tuesday and not available
for comment. An outside spokesman for the
company did not know the status of the Florida
deal.
Although Cuba has imported cattle, it has
not imported beef since late 2001 when it
began taking advantage of a U.S. law allowing
direct commercial sales of American farm
products to the island on a cash basis.
About 500 American dairy cattle, imported
to Cuba in recent months, remain in quarantine
on a ranch in the island's western end.
All were checked by Cuban veterinarians
and none were found to carry the disease,
said Alvarez.
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