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Cuba Erects Sign Linking U.S. and Fascism

HAVANA, 17 (AP) - Cuba responded Friday to U.S. diplomats' refusal to take down Christmas decorations by putting up a huge billboard in front of the U.S. Interest Section emblazoned with a swastika and showing photographs of Iraqi prisoners being abused by American soldiers.

The billboard, put up overnight, had a large swastika in red and the word "fascists" covered with a "Made in the U.S.A." stamp. It sat prominently on the Malecon, Havana's coastal highway, facing the mission's offices.

An American diplomat in Havana speaking on condition of anonymity said Friday that the torture of prisoners at Iraqi Abu Ghraib prison has been reported and discussed openly, and that those responsible are being prosecuted.

"On the other hand, the Cuban government does not allow a single word of dissent in its media, jails those who dare espouse different ideas and has not allowed (anyone) to visit Cuban political prisoners since the late 1980s," the official said.

The U.S. Interest Section, headed by chief James Cason, ignored a demand earlier this week to remove Christmas decorations that included a reference to dissidents jailed by Fidel Castro's government.

The trimmings included a Santa Claus, candy canes and white lights wrapped around palm trees - and a sign reading "75" - a reference to 75 Cuban dissidents jailed last year.

All of the decorations will stay up until after the holidays, the U.S. official reiterated Friday.

Cuban Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon called the sign "rubbish" this week, and said Cason seems "desperate to create problems."

Cuba had warned the U.S. Interest Section to remove the decorations or face unspecified consequences.

No other officials from Castro's administration have commented on the spat.

U.S. Ignores Cuba's Christmas Warning

By Vanessa Arrington, Associated Press Writer. Wed Dec 15.

HAVANA - U.S. diplomats on Wednesday refused to take down their offices' trimmings of Santa Claus, candy canes and white lights wrapped around palm trees, ignoring a demand by Cuba to remove Christmas decorations that include a reference to dissidents jailed by Fidel Castro's government.

The element that irked the Cuban authorities most was a sign among the decorations that reads "75" - a reference to 75 Cuban dissidents jailed last year, according to U.S. Interest Section Chief James Cason.

Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon called the sign "rubbish" on Wednesday, and told reporters that Cason seems "desperate to create problems."

Cuba had warned the U.S. Interest Section in Havana to remove the decorations or face unspecified consequences, but Alarcon did not say what the consequences would be. No other officials from Castro's administration have commented on the spat.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher defended the decorations, and said there are no plans to take them down until after the holidays are over.

The "75" sign "shows our solidarity with Cubans who struggle for democracy and freedom, when we think it's appropriate, at the holiday season, to remember ... these people who are missing because of political repression," Boucher said.

A reporter who drove past the Interest Section on Wednesday saw the sign and the other decorations still displayed along Havana's coastal Malecon highway. There were no onlookers and little traffic because of a tidal surge that threatened the area with flooding.

"Our intent, in the spirit of Christmas, was to call attention to the plight of these 75," Cason told reporters. "We're prepared to pay whatever price for the things we believe in."

Cuban Foreign Ministry officials insisted in meetings Saturday and Tuesday that the decorations be taken down, Cason said.

"They could expel us, they could continue to hinder our activities," Cason said. "We don't know what they're going to do."

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., in Havana for trade talks between American agribusinesses and the Cuban government, declined to comment specifically on the Christmas decorations.

Baucus, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said instead: "I just believe that we have a great future ahead of us, both the United States and Cuba, if we just stay on a positive course, and work to build relationships."

U.S. relations, never good during four decades of communist rule, have deteriorated under President Bush (news - web sites), whose administration has toughened economic sanctions and publicized its plan for a democratic Cuba after Castro.

The United States and Cuba have not had diplomatic relations since shortly after Castro took over. In lieu of embassies, interest sections provide consular services and limited official contact.

The dissidents imprisoned last year were accused of receiving money from U.S. officials to undermine the island's system - a charge the activists and the U.S. government denied.

They were sentenced to up to 28 years in prison, but 14 have been released for medical reasons.

Baucus, in opening remarks at the trade negotiations Wednesday, thanked Cuba for releasing those prisoners.

He later told reporters that both the United States and Cuba should "refrain from actions which tend to incite, which tend to give ammunition and fuel to those who want to complain."

Cason also on Tuesday applauded the release of some of the political prisoners, but said all of the original 75 should be freed. He also said fundamental changes in Cuba - such as freedom of expression - were still necessary.

Cuban dissident denies she sought asylum in Argentina

HAVANA, 17 (AFP) - A prominent Cuban dissident denied that she and her mother had sought asylum in Argentina after their visit to that country's embassy sparked speculation that the women were trying to leave the country.

Hilda Molina, a neurosurgeon, 61, has campaigned for 10 years to try to get permission to travel to Argentina to see her son, Roberto Quinones, two grandchildren she has never met and other members of her family.

Molina, who is renowned as a pioneer in the transplant of fetal stem cells into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease, ran afoul of President Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s Communist regime in 1994 when she raised ethical concerns about the process.

Facing persecution for her beliefs, she renounced her Communist Party membership and joined a dissident doctors' group.

Molina and her mother, Hilda Morejon, had entered the embassy earlier in the day, triggering speculation the women were trying to seek asylum in Argentina.

They both left the embassy in the evening, and Molina later told reporters that she had gone there in an attempt to speak by telephone to her son.

"I never had any intention to ask for political asylum," she said. "We planned to speak from the embassy by telephone with my son, who is in Argentina. But because of technical problems the call could not be made."

She added she will never seek asylum in Argentina or any other country.

In Havana's leafy Miramar neighborhood, a clutch of curious Cubans gathered outside the mission near a group of international reporters following the story. A larger than usual Cuban security unit patrolled the perimeter.

Argentina's La Nacion newspaper reported earlier that Molina and her mother, Hilda Morejon, 84, had entered the Argentine mission in a bid to seek asylum.

Argentina's ambassador to Cuba, Raul Taleb, rushed to Havana from Buenos Aires to handle the case, Jorge Arguello, head of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies' foreign affairs committee, said.

Earlier this month, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner wrote to Castro, asking him to allow Molina to visit Argentina.

Castro wrote back saying that Molina's family should visit her in Cuba. The ambassador to Havana said Wednesday that the response "did not satisfy the government."

In Buenos Aires, Quinones, the dissident's son, told reporters outside his home his mother and grandmother had not requested asylum but acknowledged they were pressing their case to travel to Argentina.

A physician like his mother, Quinones, who has lived in Argentina for a decade and married an Argentine, said his grandmother had suffered a high-blood-pressure-related episode inside the compound.

"For 10 years I have tried for this case not to be treated as something political. That is not what we want," he said.

He said he feared that with so much commotion, his mother and grandmother "would be even more repressed and besieged."

His mother, Quinones said, "has no state secrets, no military secrets, no secrets related to the health of Fidel Castro.

"She dedicated her life to helping ailing Cubans and when she no longer was in agreement she broke with the system, but that is no reason for her to be punished."

Castro Back on His Feet After Fall

By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press Writer. Thu Dec 16.

HAVANA - Cuban President Fidel Castro is back on his feet less than two months after breaking his left kneecap and right arm in a fall.

During a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez this week, Castro vigorously shook hands - with his right arm - and stood unassisted for several minutes at a time.

The 78-year-old has not started walking, however, at least not in public view.

"His ability to recover and be back in public and doing his normal daily routine is testament to his good health," said Dr. Lawrence D. Dorr, a Los Angeles physician who has led several medical missions to Cuba to provide hip and knee replacements.

"His rapid recovery is also a testimonial to the high quality of orthopedic surgeons that are there in Cuba," Dorr added in a telephone interview.

The Cuban leader made headlines around the globe when he stumbled and fell Oct. 20 in the central city of Santa Clara.

"I'm all in one piece," Castro declared on state television after tripping on a concrete step while returning to his seat at the end of an hour-long speech.

The following day, an official notice in Cuban state media said that the president's general health was good and that he hoped to be "back in place" soon.

A few weeks later, Cuban television showed Castro sitting in a wheelchair, his arm in a sling, during a surprise visit by Chavez on Nov. 7. Castro was dressed in sporty clothes, in contrast to the suit or olive military fatigues he generally wears to receive visitors.

The Cuban leader then surprised many people when he suddenly stood up from his wheelchair during a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao on Nov. 23, a month after the fall. He leaned on a metal cane with an arm support while the Chinese and Cuban national anthems played.

On Tuesday, during a military ceremony attended by Chavez, Castro again popped up from his wheelchair, this time standing for several minutes with no support.

Later that day, he again stood up after signing agreements with Chavez to increase trade between their two countries. He initially braced himself on a table, then stood up tall.

After his accident, presidents and high-profile friends around the globe sent Castro get-well wishes. American movie director Oliver Stone sent a letter saying Castro could play the movie role of "Superman's grandfather" for handling the operations and recovery so well.

In the last several years, Castro's knees have seemed more wobbly, his step less steady. But given his age, he appears to be strong and maintains a busy schedule that frequently includes all-night meetings with aides and visitors.

Requests to speak with Castro's doctors were not immediately granted.

Dorr, the American doctor, speculated Castro was already walking a bit in private, but probably stiffly. He said it could take several more months for the leader to be able to walk comfortably.

"After that kind of injury, healing could take as long as six months," said Dorr, who works at the Arthritis Institute of Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Southern California.

He pointed to the example of American football star Jerry Rice, who he said tried to return to play three months after a kneecap operation but suffered a relapse.

"I don't care whether you're 20 or 70 years old, you've got to let the bone heal," Dorr said.

The biggest problem after breaking a kneecap is being able to bend the knee comfortably again, he said.

"The longest recovery for (Castro) will be in activities like climbing stairs," Dorr said.

US eases sanctions against Cuba, Iran, Sudan

WASHINGTON, 16 (AFP) - The United States has quietly eased sanctions against three of its old nemeses -- Cuba, Iran and Sudan -- to facilitate literary, cultural and scientific exchanges that could help foster dissent there.

A new rule, unveiled by the Treasury Department Wednesday, enables Americans to freely engage in most ordinary publishing activities with Cuban, Iranian and Sudanese individuals and groups.

Restrictions on "certain interactions" with the local governments in the area of publishing will be maintained.

Robert Werner, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said people seeking to publish works by Cuban, Iranian and Sudanese authors in the United States, or to publish their own materials in the three states, will henceforth be able to do so "without seeking permission" from his office first.

"This rule provides clarity and promotes important policies aimed at the free exchange of ideas without undermining the national security objectives of these country sanctions," Werner stated.

Although introduced at different times, the US sanctions against Cuba, Iran and Sudan bar most types of trade or other exchanges because the US government believes these countries promote terrorism, suppress basic freedoms, and are run by oppressive governments.

All three nations are listed by the US State Department as state sponsors of terrorism.

While easing the restrictions on publishing, the Treasury Department made clear the bulk of other sanctions will remain in place because they are "critical to US interests."

The action follow two lawsuits against Treasury Secretary John Snow and other top government officials that claim the restrictions were tantamount to blocking free exchange of ideas and therefore unconstitutional.

One of these suits was filed by representatives of the Association of American Publishers, PEN American Center and other groups in September. Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi filed a related complaint in late October.

The plaintiffs said government crackdowns against scientists and cultural figures doing business with Cubans, Iranians and Sudanese have cost them nearly 30 million dollars in fines since 1993.

They cited the case of musician Ry Cooder, who was fined 25,000 dollars in 1999 for collaborating with Cubans to record the Grammy-winning album The Buena Vista Social Club.

When Cooder sought to record in Cuba a second album, lawyers said, the US government first denied permission, then reversed itself but made the trip contingent on Cooder agreeing to forgo all profits.

In 2003, the government barred the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers from publishing articles by Iranian scientists because "the reordering of paragraphs and sentences," or, in other words, editing their work, was prohibited.

Even works by Iranian and Cuban dissidents could not be published in the United States under the former regulations, legal experts said.

Attorneys Edward Davis and Linda Steinman, who represent the publishers in the case, said the new rules remove "significant obstacles" faced by American artists and authors.

"Works of critical importance to the advancement of science and our understanding of international affairs can now be published without threat of civil and criminal sanctions," they pointed out.

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