CUBA NEWS

JUNE 2003 HEADLINES

June 30

FROM CUBA / Taxi fares can now be paid in pesos
Cuban taxicabs that up to now were for the exclusive use of tourists are beginning to accept payment of their fares in pesos, thus becoming available to the Cuban population, admitted reluctantly a driver for the Ver a Cuba (See Cuba) government agency.

FROM CUBA / Prisoner receives beating after refusing to participate in political act
An inmate at the Kilo[meter] 7 maximum security prison received a beating after refusing to participate in a political act in the prison yard, reported relatives.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-U.N. expert says she wrote Castro to request pardon of 50 dissidents
-President Bush visits Little Havana

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Bush pushes "free Cuba" in Florida
-McCartney considering concert in Cuba: report
-A Library in Cuba: What Is It?
-Mother leaves Cuba for US after release of kidnapped children

Cuban victims meet with top European Union & Belgian government officials / Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch and Castro's daughter lead delegation to ask Europeans to impose world-wide economic sanctions for crimes against humanity.

'Hell does exist,' Cuban prisoner says / Tracey Eaton / The Dallas Morning News
Their names sound like something out of the Magic Kingdom: Happy Camp and Friendship, Green Sea and Dark Woods, Taco Taco and Pork Fat Beach. But they're anything but enchanted. They are prisons in revolutionary Cuba, where dissidents say about 300 political prisoners are doing time.

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A Library in Cuba: What Is It? / The New York Times
One of the last places you might expect a debate over free expression is the American Library Association, the world's oldest and largest organization of its kind and a longtime champion of open access to information. But when the subject is as politically charged as Cuba, anything is possible.

Ira David Meeks Dies; Hijacked Plane to Cuba / The Washington Post
Connie Meeks, who married Mr. Meeks in 1990, said he told her that he tried to explain to Cuban authorities that "he felt persecuted as a black man in America and had heard that things would be better in Cuba." But, she said, Cuban authorities suspected him of being a spy and tortured him.

Former colleagues turned on Cuban dissidents / Sun-Sentinel, FL
It wasn't long ago that Manuel David Orrio stood at the head of a long table in the residence of Washington's top man in Havana leading an ethics workshop for Cuba's independent journalists.

Nobody likes Fidel any more / Lysiane Gagnon / The Globe and Mail, Canada
For nearly 50 years, Fidel Castro has enjoyed a special status: Cuba's president for life has been the only dictator whose crimes went unnoticed by most Western governments. He's been the darling of the intellectuals, who systematically ignored the Cuban dissidents' desperate pleas for help. Even as horrific tales of repression came out of the island, Fidel Castro would remain the romantic hero who dared defy the American giant -- a compelling argument, especially in Canada.

Crackdown in Cuba quiets, but does not suppress discontent / Charleston.Net News
The success of the harshest crackdown on dissent in a generation is a relative matter. While Communist Party and government authorities pride themselves on containing dissent, the discontented continue to denounce the leadership, although in more cautious terms.

'Jazz is all about freedom' / Dan LeRoy / Daily Mail, WV
He turned out to be a pianist instead of a drummer, but some of the best career advice Miguel Romero ever got came from a jazz legend behind the skins.

June 27

FROM CUBA / Prison Journal (II)
Manuel Vázquez Portal, sentenced to 18 years in prison. Boniato Prison, Santiago de Cuba, continues his journal from prision.

FROM CUBA / Independent journalist threatened with 20-year sentence
An agent of the political police in the Isle of Youth, off the coast of Havana province, threatened to send an independent journalist to prison for 20 years unless he quit sending news stories abroad, including to CubaNet.

Cuban political prisoner transferred away off from capital / PRIMA News
On 20 June the Cuban authorities transferred the political prisoner Jorge Luis Garcia Perez from the Combinado del Este prison in Havana to another prison in the town of Rodos, Cienfuegos province. This information was passed on to the sister of Perez by relatives of another dissident serving his sentence in the same prison, called Ariza, in Rodos.

Remembering Dissidents / The Miami Herald
Back in April, as 75 Cuban dissidents were sentenced to prison terms totaling 1,454 years, Nicaraguan-born Ana Navarro decided she had to do something for Cuba's political prisoners. She went to Idaho-born Gene Prescott, Biltmore Hotel president, and told him she wanted to organize a ''little'' something for the dissidents.

American Woman Leaves Cuba With Two Kids / Yahoo!
An American woman left Cuba with her son and daughter Friday after Fidel Castro's government intervened in an international custody battle and arrested the children's father.

Cuba bill faces roadblocks / The Casper Star-Tribune
Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi and Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus agree that U.S. citizens should be able to travel to Cuba, but they disagree over how to force action on a bill that would permit it.

Cuba on the Verge: An Island in Transition / Art Museum Network News
The International Center of Photography is pleased to announce a major exhibition focusing on life in Cuba today. Over seventy works by more than a dozen American, Cuban, and Cuban-American photographers, including Virginia Beahan, Carlos Garaicoa, Abelardo Morell, Manuel Piña, and Carrie Mae Weems, will be presented for the first time.

Cuba on the Verge: An Island in Transition / Art Museum Network News
The International Center of Photography is pleased to announce a major exhibition focusing on life in Cuba today. Over seventy works by more than a dozen American, Cuban, and Cuban-American photographers, including Virginia Beahan, Carlos Garaicoa, Abelardo Morell, Manuel Piña, and Carrie Mae Weems, will be presented for the first time.

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Exile family threatens to sue U.S. / The Business Journal, FL
A Cuban exile family this week threatened to force the United States into trade warfare with the European Union over foreign hotel chains that operate luxury resorts on 100 acres of prime oceanfront property Fidel Castro confiscated 43 years ago.

To Crush a Conscience / Myles B. Kantor / NewsMax.com
Last fall, 24-year-old Cuban history teacher Alain Gómez Ramos was asked to sign an initiative that makes "the economic, political and social system consecrated in the Constitution of the Republic untouchable."

Cuban band evokes rage, nostalgia / St. Petersburg Times, FL
Fidel Castro's henchmen, the midnight roundups, the firing squads, political prisoners wasting away in Cuban dungeons - these were the things the Los Van Van concert evoked for Margaret Rabeiro, watching through outraged tears Wednesday night as concertgoers cheerfully filled the community hall across Columbus Avenue.

June 26

FROM CUBA / Cuba and its massive disinformation
Those Cubans who depend on the forms of public information controlled by the regime to understand what is currently happening in the world, will undoubtedly, perceive a diametrically opposed reality. This disinformation is the regrettable game played currently on the island of Cuba.

Cuba holds Dade couple; family pleads for release / The Miami Herald
A family torn apart by Cuba's cryptic accusations of espionage is appealing to the media and the American government for help in freeing their imprisoned relatives on the island.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Lawyer Says Mass. Woman With Kids in Cuba
-U.S. Children in Cuban Protective Custody

Cuba's economic breakdown / Business Journal
France and Spain, who are major customers of the Cuban government, "have been left holding the bag while Castro moves his millions to pay Americans in cash for the purchases he has made recently trying to put his foot in the door for credit, which is what he really wants," Ferretti said.

Cuban cultural freedom fading, Armas said / AGI Online
"The already narrow Cuban cultural opportunity are even more reducing." The Cuban writer Pedro Marques De Armas, who participated to a press conference in Florence, launched an alarm about cultural and political repression in Cuba.

June 25

FROM CUBA / Anti-government sign posted inside military hospital
The sign, which read "Down with Fidel, Murderer," was put up in the No. 4 operating room of the Manuel Fajardo Jiménez military hospital, next to a photograph of Fidel Castro which, presumably the same person or persons, took down and damaged.

FROM CUBA / AReturned rafter feels harassed
Anti-government activist and returned rafter Armando Veitía says the Cuban government has repeatedly threatened to annul the license with which he earns a living.

Cuba: "One hundred days of solitude" / RSF
A hundred days ago today, the Cuban government began an unprecedented round-up of dissidents. They included 26 independent journalists who joined the four journalists already imprisoned in Cuba. Three months later, Reporters Without Borders announces new initiatives to obtain the release of the 30 detained journalists.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-European panel: Cuba's recent actions 'harmful'
-Two Cuban U.S. residents accused of espionage and held in Cuba

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Miami couple jailed in Cuba, accused of spying: relatives
-Che Guevara's daughter defends Cuba
-Cuban Communist Party Replaces Ideologist
-Cuban Book Aims to Discredit Dissidents

Yearning for Freedom / WorldNetDaily.com
"This is not, and never has been, an issue of intellectual freedom, books or libraries," said Ann Sparanese, an ALA board member who also belongs to the Venceremos Brigade, a U.S. group that has supported Castro's revolution for three decades.

June 24

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Court backs sentence of Cuban journalist
-Outlook grim for Cuba sugar harvest

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FIU project examines Cuban reconciliation / Sun-Sentinel
The project, headed by FIU sociology professor Marifeli Pérez-Stable, is under way at a time when particular attention has been paid to the island's human rights record, given the government's crackdown on dissidents and its execution of three men who tried to hijack a boat to the United States.

'Gift' connects Hemingway, humanity and Cuban baseball / The Kansas City Star
Writers like to wax poetic about baseball. More than any other sport, perhaps, the details and dreamtime of baseball transcend the box scores and become handy metaphor for describing human nature and launching literary rapture.

Toeing the Cuban Line / The Washington Post
In "Prisoners Treated Humanely, Cuban Says" your paper provides a top Cuban official with a platform (in the headline, no less) for his outrageous statement that Cuba's prisoners of conscience are being treated humanely. Obviously, your paper has the right to publish anything it considers newsworthy, but wouldn't an article and a headline detailing the conditions under which these prisoners are kept and their current state of health have been more appropriate and more conscientious, considering the well-known unreliability and human rights record of the Cuban government?

Denis Dutton: Goodbye tyrants, hello democracy / Denis Dutton / New Zealand News
I expect some of my romantic, leftist friends will feel a sense of profound loss the day oxen are replaced in Cuban tobacco fields, Starbucks opens in Havana, and they start having traffic congestion on the streets. The Cubans won't share their nostalgia. They want freedom.

Complex exploration of heritage / Detroit Free Press
Cristina Garcia's dreamy, largely captivating novel, "Monkey Hunting," is her loving and complex exploration of heritage. It takes place in China, Cuba and the United States and spans nearly 140 years. It examines the way culture hybridizes and enriches even as it alienates. And, in its romantic evocation of pre-Castro Cuba, the book implies that any kind of distance, be it racial, cultural or political, is a bad thing.

Telephone call rate to Cuba being increased / Observer Reporter / Jamaica
CABLE & Wireless Jamaica yesterday announced that it is increasing the cost of calls to Cuba in what it described as a move to rationalise an anomaly in the tariffs on that service.

Cuba's Jailed Librarians / FrontPage Magazine
At the American Library Association annual meeting in Toronto this weekend there will be a Cuba program. But there won't be any panel debate about intellectual freedom in Fidel's tropical paradise. Efforts to include Cuba's independent librarians -- considered enemies of the Revolution -- on the ALA program have failed. That means that only employees of El Maximo Lider will be featured speakers. That should be downright riveting.

Del Mar man brings playgrounds to Havana children / Union-Tribune, CA
In a neglected corner park surrounded by ornate, but crumbling, houses and buildings American volunteers, toiling under a searing sun, were digging holes and pouring concrete to put into place elaborate climbing bars, slides, swings and jungle gyms all brightly colored in yellows, reds, blues and greens.

Domino tourney celebrates Cuban tradition / keysnews.com
Teams of two squared off for a domino tournament Saturday celebrating a Cuban tradition for passing the time. The tournament was held at El Meson de Pepe's as part of the Cuban-American Heritage Festival. Competitors in the tournament were few due to the humidity, but the restaurant's general manager, Jose Diaz, was able to find five teams of two players to play the traditional Cuban game.

June 23

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-U.S. Accused of Backing Cuban Dissidents
-Cuban Transportation Minister Replaced
-Tearful relatives of Cuban dissidents call for sanctions against Castro

Pro-Castro librarians accused of shushing rivals / National Post
A cold war has broken out at a librarians' conference in downtown Toronto as accusations fly that pro-Castro elements within the American Library Association are trying to silence debate over Cuba's crackdown on independent libraries.

Ever-vigilant Cuba braces for an expected U.S. assault / The Miami Herald
Government using propaganda to stoke nationalist fervor

Castro's behavior baffles analysts / Nancy San Martin / The Miami Herald
Three months after Cuban President Fidel Castro launched his harshest crackdown on dissidents in decades, there's still no agreement on what drove him to take such steps and then lash out at valuable European allies that criticized him.

Appeal from Cuban free unionists sent to Walesa
Irena Kirkland, widow of Lane Kirkland, former president of AFLCIO and an enthusiastic supporter of Solidarity, has sent an appeal of independent Cuban trade unionist to Lech Walesa. Mrs. Kirland's letter follows.

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How Cuban repression benefits Fidel Castro / Ann Louise Bardach / The Toronto Star
"Propaganda is the very soul of our struggle," Fidel Castro instructed a comrade in a letter written in 1954. What then, could Castro, a champion spinmeister, be thinking by tossing 75 Cuban writers and dissidents into prison two months ago, to serve terms ranging up to 28 years?

Lack of pluralism disappoints Cuban church / By Gary Marx / Sun Spot, MD
Five years after Pope John Paul II's visit unleashed hopes of a religious revival and a wider political opening in Cuba, the country's Roman Catholic leadership expresses disappointment at the lack of pluralism but voices unwillingness to challenge the recent crackdown on dissent.

Cuba's economic breakdown / Kevin Gale / MSNBC
Cuba's economy once seemed to be on the rebound after the disastrous curtailment of aid from the Soviet Union, but a deteriorating picture has re-emerged. Fallout from a political crackdown on the island is adding to woes caused by a lukewarm global economy and slowness in travel after Sept. 11. The nation also has suffered from a drop in the prices for nickel, lackluster harvests of sugar cane and the devastating effects of Hurricane Michelle in 2001.

Cuba Travel Services to Launch Tampa Travel Service Provider Office / Business Wire
With the increased demand for travel services to Cuba for Cuban Americans in the Florida region, Cuba Travel Services, Inc. will be opening new offices in Tampa, Florida providing travel services for Cuban Americans and licensed travelers who qualify under the current U.S. Treasury regulations.

Steering medical gear to Cuba / London Free Press
John Dubois loves Cuba. It's been the favourite vacation spot for him and his wife, Marion, for years. But what the Caribbean hotspot offers Dubois as a tropical paradise of sun, surf and sand, hardly matches what he offers in saving lives.

World pop culture transforms Cuban coming-of-age ritual / By Vanessa Bauzá / Orlando Sentinel, FL
Keeping with a recent fad, she wants what are called "artistic" photos: suggestive shots in which girls clad in bikinis and thongs pose with strategically placed feather boas, flowers, fans or sombreros that cover them but leave little to the imagination.

To Crush a Conscience / Myles B. Kantor / NewsMax.com
Families often have political disagreements, but they usually don't end with one of them in prison. Imagine: A father and son in Miami are arguing about President Bush. The father, a Bush supporter, says that intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq enhanced American security and liberated millions of people. "Bush only intervened there because he's a tool of the oil barons!" the son responds.

Sandoval has fun playing in the rain / Steve Greenlee / Boston Globe
Even the most miserable weather could not impede the indomitable spirit of Arturo Sandoval. An unrelenting downpour flooded the finale of the Boston Globe Jazz & Blues Festival yesterday at the Hatch Shell, but Sandoval's septet transported a crowd of maybe 300 people to sunny Cuba for an hour.

Playing ball in Cuba / Vineland Daily Journal, NJ
Vineland boys on Philadelphia Boys Choir head to Havana to perform before royalty and hopefully hit a few home runs.

June 20

FROM CUBA / Cigar-factory workers' salaries four months in arrears
Workers at the Alfredo López Brito cigar factory in Cabaiguán, central Cuba, have not been paid their salaries in convertible [hard] currency for the months of February through May due to lack of money, said dissident Noel Salabarría.

FROM CUBA / Non-commercial fishing forbidden off the Isle of Youth
Residents of the Isle of Youth, off Cuba's southern coast, have been barred from fishing by government authorities.

FROM CUBA / Government stores overcharge consumers, ex-inspector charges
The government store in a small rural community in the Isle of Youth charged consumers 50 cents instead of the stipulated quota price of 35 cents for 230 grams (about a quarter pound) of chicken they sold, charged a former prices inspector.

FROM CUBA / As if talking to him would have helped
Yaquelín Rodríguez was fired from her job at a dollar store after she refused pressure from a Department of State Security operative to help change her father's mind.

Cuba: The Internet under Surveillance / RSF
Internet use is very restricted and under tight surveillance. Access is only possible with government permission and equipment is rationed.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-HELLO, FIDEL? Prank gets foul-mouthed response
-Democracy Movements wants to take its memorial flotilla into Cuban waters

29 Cuban Doctors to Arrive in Limpopo / AllAfrica.com
Provincial health spokesman Phuti Seloba said on Thursday that the doctors' arrival in South Africa is part of the existing co-operation agreement between Cuba and South Africa, which started about six years ago.

Castro's cynical appeal to fear / The Toronto Star
By jailing dissidents, journalists and human rights activists, Castro looks less like a revolutionary hero under fire than a practised dictator who is crushing dissent, while whipping up alarm about a U.S. attack that will never come. He has cynically played on people's fears.

Cuba's jailed librarians get no succor from the ALA / WSJ
Efforts to include Cuba's independent librarians -- considered enemies of the Revolution -- on the ALA program have failed. That means that only employees of El Maximo Lider will be featured speakers. That should be downright riveting.

Pro-Castro librarians accused of shushing rivals / National Post
A cold war has broken out at a librarians' conference in downtown Toronto as accusations fly that pro-Castro elements within the American Library Association are trying to silence debate over Cuba's crackdown on independent libraries.

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Fisher College to hold seminar in Cuba / Columbus Business First
While details of the itinerary will be completed this summer, plans are to expose participants to various aspects of the Cuban economy. The cost is $2,895 per person and the deadline to register is July 17. The college hopes to attract about 17 attendees.

Teen church group leaving for Cuba / The Oakland Press
Nine high school students on a 10-day trip to a Caribbean island - Sound like spring break? What if that island was Fidel Castro's Cuba? Still sound like a vacation? If nothing else, it will be an experience for several metro Detroit and Oakland County teens who are traveling to Cuba today.

Court rules Reno has immunity from Elian protester lawsuit / Herald Tribune
A group of people who alleged their constitutional rights were violated during the raid to seize Elian Gonzalez three years ago cannot sue former Attorney General Janet Reno, a federal appellate court ruled Thursday.

Castro's son says not interested in leadership / Gulf News
Diaz said the U.S.-styled democracy presented by the American media as the best in the world has failed in Argentina and other Latin American nations. "Argentina was a rich country. The so-called liberalisation has turned it into a poor country. That was the case with Peru as well."

Havana's Lust Stand / The Washington Post
The driver issues one of those crazy-American eye-rolls and heads off in his brand-new 1986 Lada. Bouncing and beeping and squawking and barking, the little Russian car sets off through the landscape of ruin that was once one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The Terrorist Next Door / Humberto Fontova / NewsMax.com
The plan called for blowing up the Statue of Liberty, Macy's, Grand Central Station, the Humble Oil refinery in Linden, N.J., and several Manhattan subway stations. The FBI found manuals with diagrams showing the correct placement of incendiaries for "maximum destruction" to oil tanks, trains and subway stations. The manuals also cautioned against "attaching detonators to incendiary bombs while on your person."

Cuba link gets UK blessing / The Royal Gazette, Bermuda
Britain has finally approved Bermuda's plans to have a memorandum of cultural understanding with Cuba, but it is now up to Government to decide whether to proceed, Government House confirmed yesterday.

Judge overturns conviction in U.S.-Cuba trading case / National Post, Canada
A salesman who became the first Canadian found guilty of violating strict U.S. trade laws for doing business with Cuba has had the conviction overturned and a new trial ordered because of misconduct by prosecutors handling the case.

U.S. should drop charges against Niagara native / The Standard, Canada
Now that a U.S. federal judge in Philadelphia has ordered a new trial for St. Catharines native Jim Sabzali, we think it's time American lawmakers took a step back to reconsider the travesty that his ordeal has become.

June 18

FROM CUBA / Government opponent refused previously promised job
After having hired him to work in the Caibarién lobster processing plant, authorities refused to employ Pedro Rafael Jorge once they learned he had links to dissident groups.

FROM CUBA / All workers punished for pilfered supplies
All the workers at the "El Jíbaro" sugar complex, in Sancti Spíritus province, had their incentive pay suspended and were given a general reprimand after the discovery that 11,000 dollars of agricultural chemicals were missing.

FROM CUBA / Urgent Appeal to International Labor Organizations
The International Conference of the International Labor Organization adopted a resolution dated June 11th that condemns the government of the Republic of Cuba. This is an unprecedented event in our nation's history.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Group: Cuba Trade Show Licenses Denied
-Overzealous Closing Causes New Trial Over Cuban Trade
-Fidel Castro to Visit India

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-U.S. pulls plug on Cuba expo
-Mel Martínez rules out U.S. Senate bid

South Fla. DJs Play Prank On Fidel Castro / NBC6.net
The DJs at "El Zol" 95.7 FM gave Fidel Castro a wake-up call to remember on Tuesday after getting through to him on the phone while they were on the air.

EU reiterates "grave concern" over Cuba clampdown / EUBusines
The European Union reiterated on Monday its "grave concern" over a recent crackdown on dissidents in Cuba, and recalled earlier criticism which sparked a fierce outburst from President Fidel Castro.

Castro leads Cuba to the cliff's edge / The Miami Herald
Fidel Castro is facing a new enemy. He calls it, with great contempt, ''the little gang.'' The little gang is Europe. It's 25 countries: Spain, Italy, Britain, France, Germany and so on. They are the 15 members of the European Union with 10 others who are waiting at the door.

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Cuba's Catholic Church leaders refuse to challenge recent crackdown on dissent / Sun-Sentinel, FL
Five years after Pope John Paul II's visit unleashed hopes of a religious revival and a wider political opening in Cuba, the country's Roman Catholic leadership expresses disappointment at the lack of pluralism but voices unwillingness to challenge the recent crackdown on dissent.

Quince parties show an economic elite is returning to Cuba / Sun-Sentinel, FL
Dressed in a pink flowing gown and glittering crown, the girl stood at the entrance to a huge ballroom where friends and family waited to celebrate her 15th birthday. The lights were cut. The girl walked in. And then a single spotlight shone down on her. The crowd fell silent before erupting into applause.

Three men executed in Cuba were black, first to be killed for trying to escape / BET.com
A report on racism in Cuba released this week by Jaime Suchlicki, director of Cuban Studies at the University of Miami, also cited in The Times article, noted that none of the top 10 generals or senior military leaders in Cuba is Black and none of the 15 presidents of the provincial assemblies is Black. According to government reports, Black Cubans hold only 5 percent of the best tourism jobs in the country but comprise 85 percent of the country's prison population.

US Congress considers Havana Club dispute / Financial Times
A worldwide dispute over rum hit Washington on Tuesday as the US Congress considered a bill that would bring a longstanding trademark dispute between Pernod Ricard, the spirits company, and its rival Bacardi to a federal court. At stake is control of the Havana Club brand name, a foothold in the potentially lucrative US market for Cuban rum and worldwide trademark protocols.

Getting the message to Castro's captives / WorldNetDaily.com
Freedom is something that we now take for granted. The nation's public schools do a poor job of educating American children on what it took to secure our freedom. Even worse, our textbooks gloss over the evils of communism and totalitarian dictatorships – such as the one just 90 miles off our shore. It is not surprising

Czechs Take a Stand / World Press Review
The persecution of political opponents of the Cuban dictatorship has elicited an unusually unified protest in the Czech Republic. With the exception of the communists, Fidel Castro's brutality has been denounced by all key institutions, from the president to Parliament and government, to the churches and representatives of the domestic media. In support of the dissidents, there was a demonstration in front of the Cuban Embassy in Prague [on April 16].

Castro and Iraq / World Press Review
Right after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, one political commentator spoke with concern of a resulting "lucky break" for authoritarian regimes. This meant there was now a risk that the struggle against Islamic terrorism would serve as cover to various dictators bent on smashing their internal opposition.

June 17

FROM CUBA / Fearing imminent collapse, tenants vacate building
Around 45 residents of a two-story building in central Havana took their possessions out on the street June 11 and demanded to be relocated, citing fears that the building could collapse after heavy rains in recent weeks.

FROM CUBA / Workers say their retirement savings are missing
Around 30 food-industry workers in Havana processing their retirement papers found the moneys discounted from their pay do not show in the computer as having been credited to their accounts.

FROM CUBA / TV station director dismissed
The director general of Cuban TV's information services and of Cubavisión channel, Mario Robaina, was dismissed from his post, presumably for irregularities in processing a Swiss businessman's application for an exclusive representation agreement.

Memorial to Marti may be built at FIU / The Miami Herald
''Las palmas son novias que esperan (Palm trees are lovers who wait),'' the Cuban patriot José Martí told a Tampa audience in 1891, at a rally in support of Cuba's struggle against Spanish rule. Today, 150 years after his birth -- he was born Jan. 28, 1853 -- it would appear that it is not only the palms, but Martí, who must wait.

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Birthday parties highlight Cuba's (lack of a) 'classless society' / Gary Marx / Chicago Tribune
With some teenagers attending two or three parties a week, a whole industry has developed around the celebration, with Cubans opening dress rental and photography shops. Others fashion the gigantic cakes that are de rigueur.

Analysis: EU sees red with Cuba / NewsMax.com
Septuagenarian musicians such as Ibrahim Ferrer play to packed theatres across the continent, new Cuban bars and eateries continue to spring up in European capitals, and more and more Europeans choose to spend their holidays lapping up Havana's old-world charm and the Caribbean coast's new-world tourist facilities.

Castro foe switches to airwaves / Sun-Sentinel, FL
José Basulto's television station can fit in a suitcase and be broadcast from a small plane. In his South Miami home, Basulto demonstrates his $4,000 worth of equipment, a camcorder, a transmitter and devices to measure and amplify signals. The shoestring operation, which Basulto has employed twice, was an attempt to show that if a couple of amateur radio aficionados could broadcast to Cuba, so could the U.S. government with its $10 million-a-year enterprise, TV Martí.

June 16

FROM CUBA / "The dissident movement must die now," journalists told
Five independent journalists in Morón, Ciego de Ávila province, were summoned June 10 by a captain Zamora of the Department of State Security, who told them "the dissident movement must die now" and warned them to stop practicing journalism, according to one of the journalists.

FROM CUBA / Workers interrogated at electric power plant
Department of State Security officials have been interrogating workers at a Havana power plant after a blackout May 20 left wide sections of the city in darkness.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Eight Cuban migrants taken into custody
-Cuba Takes Control of Spanish Center
-Cuba Continues European Union Bashing

Castro makes powerful foes / Isabel Vincent / National Post
In addition to China, which has become Cuba's leading trade partner, Castro has also forged strong alliances with Vietnam, Iran and Latin American countries that have recently elected leftist regimes. These include Brazil, Venezuela and lately, Argentina.

External links

Library group hit on Cuba stance / The Washington Times
The American Library Association (ALA) is under fire for inviting Cuban government librarians to its upcoming annual convention, while ignoring colleagues from independent libraries in Cuba who were recently sentenced to prison terms of up to 27 years.

Cuba honours Comrade Che / BBC
He played a key role in the revolution which brought Fidel Castro to power in Cuba in 1959 and went on to become a revolutionary icon for communism. Che Guevara's image, with beard and beret, was recognised all over the world.

Tropical Storms of Intrigue in Pre-Revolution Cuba / The Washington Post
In his fifth novel, Thomas Sanchez, whose "Mile Zero" and "Rabbit Boss" won lavish praise, offers an exotic portrait of sex, violence, corruption and conspiracy in Cuba two years before the triumph of Fidel Castro's revolution.

Another swipe at Fidel / SunSpot.net, MD
The Bush administration needs to refocus some of its attention and diplomatic resources south of the border if it wants to enlist Latin America's help in matters related to Cuba.

Castro's execution of 3 raises specter of racism / The Washington Times
The execution of three blacks by a Cuban government firing squad in April for attempting to hijack a boat to Miami is raising questions about racism on the communist island. It was the first time anyone, black or white, had been executed for trying to flee Cuba.

Hammond woman detained after visit to Cuban homeland / Northwest Indiana News
Pipping first went to Cuba in 1998, where he met Susely, who was a ballerina in that country. "I wanted to go some place where the Americans haven't screwed it up," he said. "I even bought a house there, one block from the ocean." But Pipping said neither he nor his wife has ever had a problem before now.

June 13

FROM CUBA / Harsher terms announced for prisoners of conscience
The director of Cuban prisons told several prisoners of conscience that they would be subject to harsher terms from now on. The director, General Rafael Tamayo, made the announcement during a visit on May 18 to the maximum security prison at Agüica, in Matanzas province.

FROM CUBA / Dissident's health worsens in prison
Relatives of prisoner of conscience Miguel Galbán Gutiérrez charge that he is suffering from dehydration after suffering from chronic bouts of diarrhea for two months.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cubans swarm Spanish and Italian embassies to protest EU
-Defecting Cuban Star Arrives in Miami

Castro protests his allies' 'fascism' / The Miami Herald
After comparing the leaders of Spain and Italy to Hitler and Mussolini, Cuban President Fidel Castro led a massive march Thursday in Havana against European Union criticisms of his government's crackdown on dissidents.

Editorial: Castro crushes dissent in Cuba / Toronto Star
Canadians generally have nothing but warm feelings for the people of Cuba and their lovely island. Some 400,000 of us vacation there every year.

Webb on Cuba: 'We are proud we can help those less fortunate than ourselves' / The Royal Gazette
The controversy over Cuba flared up again in the House of Assembly on Friday as Opposition politicians fired off a few more salvos in the House of Assembly.

Crema resigns from 'Italy-Cuba Friendship' inter-parliamentary section / AGI Online, Italy
Rome, Italy, June 12 - With a letter sent to defence minister Antonio Martino, SDI senator Giovanni Crema - president of the inter-parliamentary union - resigned from the presidency of the bilateral section "Italy-Cuba frienship". "I acknowledged that, following the last tragic events, there is no possibility to communicate frankly".

Cuban Doctors' Problem Cured / AllAfrica.com
Locally deployed Cuban doctors who refuse to pay the compulsory 57% of their salaries to their government or send their 15-year-old children back to their motherland, can do so without fear of being fired from South African hospitals.

External links

Fidel Castro mobbed by fans in Argentina / Independent Online, SA
Members of left-wing organisations in Argentina foiled strict security surrounding Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Monday in Buenos Aires, and in the crush, several people ended up on the ground and a journalist was punched in the face. Admirers chanted slogans against Washington.

Castro turns on the old Cold War chill / Tracey Eaton / Dallas Morning News
Just when you thought Cuban affairs were warmer. Just last fall, a smiling Fidel Castro mingled with American farmers and cuddled up to Minnesota calves at a Havana trade show. How times have changed.

Cuban-American community divided over US Havana policy / Henry Hamman / Financial Times
The US response to last month's crackdown on dissent in Cuba that resulted in the imprisonment of 70 opposition activists has highlighted deep divisions inside the powerful Cuban-American community.

We shouldn't be told not to visit Cuba / The Record, NY
There's another, more important point: The U.S. government should not be in the business of telling Americans where and why they can travel. The freedom to travel is not explicitly enshrined in the Constitution, perhaps because the Founders never envisioned a government trying to restrict it.

June 12

FROM CUBA / Caught in between
Eleven-year-old Wilver was alone at home when they arrived: two trucks bearing agents of the special police, officials of the municipal housing authority, a judge, and the president of the local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Castro Protests EU Decision With March
-Cuba Claims EU Serving American Interests

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Once-hopping Havana no longer hot scene for modeling
-Cuban singer seeks start in Miami
-Dodd's request for memo hinders Latin envoy's job

National Alliance Replies to Castro: A regime is collapsing / AGI
"What is going on in Havana is the clear proof of the deep crisis in which the last communist regimes have fallen" said Sergio Cola (National Alliance), vice chairman of the council for the justice procedure authorisation dept. of the Justice Commission.

Cuban regime is trying to alter reality, DL said / AGI
What is happening in Cuba is unbelievable. After arresting, and heavily sentencing 75 independent journalists and oppositors, after sentencing to death three hijackers who didn't killed anyone, now the regime is trying to change reality."

External links

A son's execution, a mother's rage / Tracey Eaton / The Dallas Morning News
The knock on the door came at 6 a.m. "Your son has been executed," a state security agent said. Rosa María García flew into a rage and began hurling insults and rocks. When her husband tried to stop her, she bit him. "I went psycho," she said. And she wasn't the only one who was upset.

In Cuba, fresh proof of Castro's betrayals / A.M. Rosenthal / NY Daily News
Fidel Castro is my obsession. The thought of him leaps into my mind wherever I am and whenever I think of the world's slew of dictators. The thought of him makes me queasy, not simply because of the number of Cubans he has killed, tortured or imprisoned for the more than four decades he has been in power, but for what he has not done.

June 11

FROM CUBA / Independent journalists harassed, threatened
Two independent journalists in the central Cuban city of Morón were summoned by an officer of the Department of State Security (DSE) and told to cease practicing journalism by "order of the Comandante."

FROM CUBA / "Rejoin society," said the political police
There is a very simple way for us to rejoin society, and even for the close to two million Cubans who are scattered throughout the planet to rejoin society. And that is for Fidel Castro to abandon power.

Powell finds Kirchner receptive to defending human rights in Cuba / The Miami Herald
Does rejoining society mean accepting as good everything the government has done and does? Or accepting that the government constantly talk about war instead of leading the country toward a policy of understanding with the neighbors and among all Cubans?

Cuban Musician Granted Asylum in Texas / Yahoo!
A popular Cuban musician defected and was granted asylum in South Texas after taking a taxi from Monterrey, Mexico, to the U.S. border, an immigration official said Wednesday.

Europe Gets Tough / The Miami Herald
The European Union handed Cuba a serious diplomatic defeat last week when its members unanimously approved a set of diplomatic sanctions against Fidel Castro's government. We're encouraged by this new display of outrage by Europe.

Brazil and Cuba: More than Good Friends / Janer Cristaldo / Brazzil
Does anyone remember the 1970s, when you could be labeled an 'imperialist pig' for denouncing Cuba as the financier of the so-called 'revolutionary movements' in Brazil? The connections between Cuba and the Brazilian left were obvious, but one was doomed and immediately blacklisted by the Left for daring to state the obvious.

External links


Fidel foiled / The Washington Times

The United States has won two unlikely allies in its efforts to bolster the democratic freedoms in Cuba: the European Union and stalwart journalists on the island. In wake of Cuba's imprisonment and summary sentencing of 75 dissidents in April, Fidel Castro may have tighter controls over captive Cubans, but opposition toward the dictator is strengthening in some parts of the world and there are pockets of undaunted resistance in Cuba.

Tampa Port Authority gets consent for Cuba travel / Sun-Sentinel
The Tampa Port Authority has received approval from federal regulators for travel to Cuba on a trade mission. The authority, which received approval Tuesday, said it hasn't arranged the details, but a group is expected to travel to the communist island nation before the travel license expires Sept. 6. The group cannot stay for more than a week.

EU recalls cuban atrocities; what about OAS? / J. Grant Swank, Jr. / MichNews/com
Don't say EU isn't noting. It is. And it's taking some moral positions worth the civilized world's applause. In recent days, the EU concluded to diminish alliances with Fidel's politic as a moral pronouncement against jailing, particularly unreal prison consignments, meted out to 75 political opponents as well as independent thinking journalists.

June 10

FROM CUBA / Candidates for employment at new tourist hotel need political endorsements
Candidates for employment at the new "Breezes" tourist hotel need to pass an exam and obtain endorsements from block committees, the Armed Forces and the Communist Party and be between 25 and 40 years of age.

FROM CUBA / 90 percent of the buses on the Isle of Youth are out of service
Public transportation on the Isle of Youth is operating with only 10 percent of its buses because of a shortage of spare parts.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-US seeks democratic Cuba, but not by force: Powell
-Powell Asks OAS to Back Democracy in Cuba

Cubans set to take jobs from SA engineers - Freedom Front / Cape Times, SA
A storm has erupted over a decision by South African health authorities to employ 50 Cuban engineers and technicians to service medical equipment in South Africa.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Powell to OAS: Help Cubans
-Brothers pilot seeking $76 million from Cuba

Jacksonville lumber company begins shipments to Cuba / KansasCity.com
A lumber company will begin shipments to Cuba this month, becoming the first American company to sell wood to the communist nation since 1958, company officials said Monday.

External links

Fidel Castro mobbed by fans in Argentina / Independent Online, SA
Members of left-wing organisations in Argentina foiled strict security surrounding Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Monday in Buenos Aires, and in the crush, several people ended up on the ground and a journalist was punched in the face. Admirers chanted slogans against Washington.

Castro turns on the old Cold War chill / Tracey Eaton / Dallas Morning News
Just when you thought Cuban affairs were warmer. Just last fall, a smiling Fidel Castro mingled with American farmers and cuddled up to Minnesota calves at a Havana trade show. How times have changed.

Cuban-American community divided over US Havana policy / Henry Hamman / Financial Times
The US response to last month's crackdown on dissent in Cuba that resulted in the imprisonment of 70 opposition activists has highlighted deep divisions inside the powerful Cuban-American community.

We shouldn't be told not to visit Cuba / The Record, NY
There's another, more important point: The U.S. government should not be in the business of telling Americans where and why they can travel. The freedom to travel is not explicitly enshrined in the Constitution, perhaps because the Founders never envisioned a government trying to restrict it.

June 9

FROM PRISON / Diary of Manuel Vázquez Portal
From the use of not disposable needles in a prison with AIDS patients, to the allowance of only 4 visits a year, poet and journalist Manuel Vázquez Portal writes about his experiences in Boniato penitentiary, where he serves an 18 years of prison, in an isolated cell in the maximum security area.

FROM CUBA / Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet's wife fears for his life
A letter faxed from Cuba on June 5th by Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet's wife, Elsa Morejón, denounces his critical state and makes an urgent appeal for his life.

Cuba News / Yahoo!
US Secretary of State Colin Powell sought a united stand to push Cuba toward democratic change in a speech to the Organization of American States that has always been divided on how to handle the communist island.

Despite recent crackdowns, Cuban journalists persevere / The Miami Herald
As many as 40 independent Cuban journalists, apparently undeterred by an intensified wave of repression, are challenging the government by filing regular news reports to foreign news outlets -- the same practice that resulted in long jail sentences for 75 dissidents in April.

Nat Hentoff Blasts ALA on Persecution of Librarians in Cuba / Friends of Cuban Libraries
In a stinging rebuke to the American Library Association, one of the nation's foremost defenders of civil liberties, Nat Hentoff, has criticized the ALA for failing to take action to defend volunteer librarians in Cuba who are being subjected to a brutal crackdown.

Castro promises unmasking in coming days / The Globe and Mail
Fidel Castro did not speak at a political rally Saturday protesting U.S. policies toward his country, but told reporters afterward he would have plenty to say in the coming days about recent events.

External links

Young urge change inside Cuba / BBC, UK
Inside Cuba, a greater threat to the government may be lurking - not in organised opposition, but in the hardships of everyday life.

Cuba beyond Castro / The Washington Times
However you measure the remaining life of the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba, it has clearly passed from autumn to a bleak mid-winter. A month ago, three young Cubans died by firing squad for attempting to escape that imprisoned island. Their summary trials were closed even to their own families, who were refused permission to visit them in prison before they died.

Cuba libre / Paul Reniers / The Globe and Mail, Canada
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham's decision to cancel some high-level contacts with the Cuban government and to encourage other countries to do the same is deeply concerning. It marks a turn in our foreign policy toward increasing support for U.S. interventionism.

Canada to push action by OAS against Cuba / The Globe and Mail, Canada
Canada will ask the Organization of American States to consider taking non-economic measures against Cuba in response to a crackdown on peaceful dissent, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said yesterday.

Who's shaping policy on Iraq, Cuba? / Brandenton Herald
When, oh when, will our government wake up to the fact information from exiles cannot be taken at face value, but that it must be carefully researched, then accepted or rejected? I have experienced a lot of déjà vu in that regard. And within that déjà vu is a nagging suspicion that our administration chooses to believe whatever suits its purposes.

Cuba's Spiritual Olive Branch / Newsday.com
When Lucy Fetterolf of Huntington first traveled to Cuba in 1986 in connection with her church, most of her friends and neighbors were befuddled. Some were offended.

Cuban crackdown stalls trade drive / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just three months ago, the bandwagon to end the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba was gaining steam, with a growing list of American companies lobbying for Cuban business and a bipartisan group in Congress promising to reverse the four-decade-old policy.

June 6

Cuba News / Yahoo!
-U.S. Demands Exit Visas for 636 Cubans
-US wants Cuba to remove barriers to orderly emigration
-Cuba Announces Bid for 2012 Olympics
-Cuban Exile Leader Arrested in Miami

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-EU set to review relations with Cuba
-Making waves: Cuban American leads cutter
-Dissident smuggles diary from Cuban jail

Reporters Without Borders deplores confirmation of heavy prison sentences against two arrested journalists
Reporters Without Borders deplored the Cuban supreme court's confirmation of sentences imposed on two of the 26 independent journalists arrested at the end of March and since jailed for lengthy terms. The court upheld on 3 June a sentence of 26 years on Miguel Galván Gutiérrez (photo) and 16 years on José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández.

External links

EU condemns Cuba over human rights / BBC News
Castro accused of 'deplorable' human rights abuses. The European Union has announced it will impose a range of diplomatic sanctions against Cuba over its recent human rights record.

Court to decide if Cuban activist has right to stay in U.S. / Sun-Sentinel
Although Sanchez came to the United States from Cuba in 1967, he never became a permanent resident, a status Cubans may obtain one year after they are paroled into the United States under provisions of the Cuban Adjustment Act.

Families of Cuban dissidents risk speaking out / CNN
Many families of Cuban dissidents are speaking openly to the media in an attempt to draw attention to the plight of the political prisoners.

June 5

FROM CUBA / From my prison cell / Manuel Vázquez Portal
The toilet is basically a hole regurgitating its stench 24 hours a day. Above it, a faucet provides water for washing and drinking. There is no table, or chair, or cabinet for personal objects. There are no sheets, no pillows, no mosquito netting, no blanket. There's no radio or TV, no newspaper or books.

FROM CUBA / Alcoholism on the increase among young
Groups of young people sitting on a street corner around a bottle of rum are becoming a frequent sight in the Isle of Youth. Some say this confirms an increase in alcoholism among the young.

FROM CUBA / Promised incentive pay not delivered
Seafood-exporting firm Clodomira S.A. hasn't paid its workers promised incentive pay since last January.

FROM CUBA / Workers quit due to poor working conditions
Nearly 35 workers have quit their jobs in the Horticultural Plan in San José de las Lajas, a town south of Havana, due to low salaries and poor working conditions, said labor activist William Toledo.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Dissident smuggles diary from Cuban jail
-Defense asks for visit to Cuban airport

FROM CUBA / Save Private Braulio!
He remembers that morning his mother went to meet him at the Havana airport. They had lowered the wounded from the airplane. The ambulances were parked to one side of the runway, close by the Cubana de Aviación airliner.

June 3

U.S. Concerned About Cuban Prisoner / Yahoo!
The United States is deeply concerned about the Cuban government's treatment of a prisoner, Oscar Espinosa Chepe reportedly is suffering from liver disease and other ailments, the State Department said Monday.

Hunger strike of Cuban political prisoners / PRIMA News
Cuban political prisoners held in the central prison in Holguin province have gone on hunger strike to demand access to their families. Among the hunger strikers is Adolfo Fernandez Sainz, a PRIMA correspondent in Cuba sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Cuba: Escalation of repression must be halted / Amnesty International
A new report published today, Cuba: "Essential measures"? Human rights crackdown in the name of security details a massive increase in the number of prisoners of conscience and calls on Cuba to immediately halt executions and resume its three-year de facto moratorium on executions.

Cuba gets a strong slap for jailing 75 dissidents / The Miami Herald
Amnesty International on Monday declared all 75 Cuban government opponents jailed during an islandwide sweep in mid-March ''prisoners of conscience,'' making Cuba the country with the highest number of prisoners with that status in the Western Hemisphere.

External links

Treat Dissident, U.S. Tells Cuba / The New York Times
The Bush administration demanded today that Cuba provide adequate medical attention to Óscar Espinosa Chepe, a dissident journalist with liver disease. Mr. Chepe, 62, was among 75 writers, economists and human rights activists sentenced to prison this spring in a sweeping campaign against government critics.

Cuban delegation seeks joint business ventures / The Nassau Guardian
The arrival of a Cuban delegation in Nassau could mean closer trading ties between The Bahamas and the socialist nation, with a focus on joint business ventures with local entrepreneurs.

Obasanjo invited to Cuba / The Triumph, Nigeria
Mr. Pedro Montejo, a member of the country's Council of State, who was at the head of the country's presidential delegation to Obasanjo's inauguration, told newsmen in Abuja today that Castro had also received an invitation from Obasanjo to visit Nigeria.

Cuban Docs Hold 4th Scientific Workshop / Ghana HomePage
Dr. Eurique Colcis Perez, the leader of the group, said that services carried out by the CMB between 2002 and April 2003 include 12,322 surgeries, 12,999 anaesthesia and 26,948 x-rays. He said the doctors also undertook fieldwork in villages and communities throughout the year. (Cuban public heath: Related) http://www.cubanet.org/libros/links_english.htm

Cuban hip hop groups join the roots in a historic concert at the Apollo Theater / Music Industry News Network
In its continuing effort to promote cultural exchange, The Hip Hop Theater Festival and The International Hip Hop Exchange will unite Cuba's leading Hip Hop groups, Doble Filo and Obsesion with America's leading politically and socially conscious Hip Hop artists: The Roots, Common, Tony Touch, Soul Live w/J-Live, Kanye West, El Meswy and Tomorrowz Weaponz with other special guests.

CUBA: Dark Days Ahead? / Chris Marquis / Hoover Digest
It doesn't take much imagination to see how American policy toward Cuba has failed. The biggest proof, of course, is Castro himself, still there after 10 American presidents.

June 2

FROM CUBA / Private sale of wood and charcoal forbidden
"Every day is a new headache, just trying to figure out what we are going to eat and how we are going to cook it," said one local man who refused to give his name. "As far as I know, the government of the United States has not forbidden the Cubans to cut down 'marabú.'"

FROM CUBA / Workers complain of agonizing progress to hotel repairs
The remodeling of the Miramar hotel, in Guanabo beach, east of Havana, already two years underway and no end in sight, is making employees despair they'll get their jobs back any time soon.

False Pretenses - The Dissident was a Spy / Gary Marx
As the crackdown intensified, I began searching for an independent journalist whom I could profile. A U.S. diplomat and a well-known Cuban dissident both suggested I contact Orrio. I tracked him down. We spoke for three hours.

Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Bidders buy two Cuban planes hijacked to the Keys
-Cuba's cardinal rejects call to support dissidents
-Coast Guard picks up 5 Cuban migrants 30 miles offshore
-Concert to aid Cubans' families

Purge Rights Violators / The Miami Herald
The rogue nations are at it again. Cuba's regime, among the world's most proficient human-rights abusers, is leading the charge to yank the consultive status of Reporters Without Frontiers at the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

Castro's grim phoney war / The Economist
America's reluctance to tighten its embargo is rare good news for Cubans

Castro's 'charm' turns 'offensive' / Craig Gilbert / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Last fall, Cuba's Fidel Castro wined and dined American food producers in Havana, part of a well crafted "charm offensive" aimed at weakening the U.S. trade embargo. This spring, Castro made a public relations splash of a different kind.

Clergymen relive rescue of hundreds from Cuba in '80s / The Miami Herald
He was just a little boy with a big suitcase -- now being knocked down by other children, once his school buddies. WORM! they screamed. The boy's teacher soon joined in as the frenzied crowd began smearing ketchup and syrup over the little boy's head.

External links

Independent journalists in Cuba told to stop writing or go to jail / Vanessa Bauza / Sun-Sentinel, FL
I was given three options: to stop writing, leave the country or go to jail," said Garcia, 37, from his second-floor apartment where he writes his stories in longhand. "The government is unpredictable. They may summon you and nothing happens, or they may arrest you."

Dissidents' wives irk Cuban regime / Gary Marx / HoustonChronicle.com
Dressed in white and wearing black scarves, the two dozen women sit together quietly during Mass. This rankles Cuban officials. Defying threats, they seek to improve conditions for imprisoned spouses.

Sailboat race to Cuba may have violated federal regulations / Sun-Sentinel, FL
Crews competing in the Key West Sailing Club Conch Republic Cup departed May 22 for Havana and several Cuban shore communities after receiving pre-race warnings they would be violating U.S. Department of Commerce licensing regulations.

The Matanzas connection / SunSpot.net, MD
The home team had the lead in Victory of the Bay of Pigs Stadium, a no-frills concrete hulk in Matanzas, a port city 60 miles east of Havana. On a cool April evening, about 350 fans were watching their provincial baseball team battle rivals from the Isle of Youth, once known as the Isle of Pines, the former site of a notorious prison.

Cuban exiles debate value of lifting trade embargo / Brian Monroe / Florida Today
Cuba is never far from the hearts and minds of exiles who freed themselves from its communist regime. And the island nation's recent efforts to silence its dissidents only increases their concern. Cuba also is on the minds of some U.S. lawmakers.

Images of a drowsy island / Gazzete.net
The oil paintings he created there reflect that dreaminess. They are on view at R. Michelson Galleries, 132 Main St., Northampton, through June 15, in a show called "A Glimpse of Havana Today." Bryden wrote about the paintings and his experiences in Cuba in a booklet of the same name that is available at the gallery.

It's Official: It's Contreras / The New York Times
George Steinbrenner will get his wish: José Contreras is in the Yankees' rotation. Joe Torre, the Yankees' manager, made it official after today's 10-9, 17-inning victory over the Tigers. Contreras will start the next time through the rotation, and Jeff Weaver will pitch in long relief.

Contreras's First Start In Majors Is a Winner / The Washington Post
Jose Contreras made an impressive pitch to stay in New York's rotation, allowing two hits in seven innings in his first major league start as the visiting Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-0, last night behind two homers by Jason Giambi.

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