CUBA NEWS
March 5, 2004

CUBA NEWS
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Texas Port Looks to Future Cuba Travel

By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press Writer. Wed Mar 3.

HAVANA - The No. 1 departure point for American ocean travel to Cuba could be Texas when U.S. travel restrictions against the communist island end, the port authority's chairman said Wednesday.

"I suspect that when everything opens up, a lot of cruise lines will want to come here," said James Edmonds, chairman of the Houston port commission. "It will be a great race."

"We see that in this part of the world - Mexico, Central America - Cuba is our future," Edmonds told a news conference.

Edmonds spoke after he and Cuban officials signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at increasing use of the Houston port to ship American farm goods being sold to the Caribbean nation under an exception to the 4-decade-old trade embargo.

Most American trade and travel with Cuba is prohibited under U.S. laws and regulations aimed at forcing a change in Fidel Castro's government.

Members of U.S. Congress have made repeated, but unsuccessful, attempts to ease or lift the restrictions in recent years. The Bush administration has tightened restrictions.

Before the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power, there was regular passenger and car ferry service between Havana and Key West, Fla., as well as busy shipping traffic between the countries.

Cruise ships do visit Cuba now, but none are U.S.-based or operated by American firms.

Commission resolution to indict Castro passes

Upset commissioners are demanding that Castro face punishment for the Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down in 1996.

By Deserae Delcampo, ddelcampo@herald.com. Posted on Thu, Mar. 04, 2004

In an emotionally charged Sweetwater commission meeting Monday, city officials strayed into foreign affairs, unanimously passing a resolution urging the immediate indictment and prosecution of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

The indictment resolution was sponsored by Vice Mayor Ariel Abelairas and Commissioner Manuel Duasso and aimed at holding Castro responsible for the deaths of four Brothers to the Rescue pilots.

After eight years, the deaths of Carlos Castro, Mario De La Pena, Armando Alejandre and Pablo Morales are painful memories. One of the victims, De La Pena, grew up in Sweetwater.

On Feb. 24 1996, jet fighters from Cuba shot down the two unarmed Cessnas as they were flying along the Florida Straits.

Brothers to the Rescue helped in search and rescue missions for thousands of rafters fleeing Castro's government.

Sweetwater's resolution not only asks for the arrests of Castro, but also Juan Pablo Roque -- who was an occasional pilot for Brothers to the Rescue and a Cuban double agent -- and four of the pilots who shot the Cessnas down.

''We have sent previous letters to former President Bill Clinton,'' said Abelairas. "It's the eight-year anniversary and so far nothing has been done.''

The resolution will be sent to President Bush and officials hope this administration will take some action against the Cuban government.

''We have to bring the victims of Fidel Castro to the light,'' said Mayor Manny Maroño.

The atmosphere was somber and the commission chamber was quiet as city officials spoke about the connection they have with Cuba.

In an expression of grief, Commissioner Manuel Duasso tearfully told Maroño and Sweetwater officials how he respects and loves America, but his heart will always remain in Cuba.

It is unsure what the commission expects to happen once the resolution is sent to Washington, D.C., but Abelairas and others say they want their demands for justice to be heard.

School's alumni keep tradition alive

For Belen graduates, a lit torch will symbolize a rite of passage that started in Havana and has taken root in Miami.

By Kevin Dean, Herald Writer. Posted on Thu, Mar. 04, 2004

More than 40 years ago, Mariano Loret De Mola used to meet his high-school classmates in the narrow streets of Havana to sneak away and aid the underground anti-Castro movement.

Then, recent graduates of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Cuba's premiere private all-boys school, Loret De Mola and his tight-knit group of friends often relied on Havana's expansive network of other Belen alums in their efforts against Castro.

On Saturday, the Belen Jesuit Preparatory School alumnus will reunite with his classmates, this time in the streets of Miami.

Loret De Mola, 64, is one of about 200 Belen graduates taking part in the school's 150th Anniversary Torch Relay, a celebration focusing on the achievements and community contributions of Belen alumni.

'There's an old Latin saying, 'You carry the torch,' '' said Loret De Mola, who graduated in 1958 from the original Belen in Havana.

"You will give [encouragement] to someone and it will just keep getting passed on and on. That's what the Belen tradition is all about.''

Belen alumni from 1945 will deliver a lit torch by boat to members of the current track-and-field team waiting in Bayside Park at about 7:10 a.m. Saturday.

From there, the team will carry the torch downtown to Gesu Church, Belen's original location when it was established in the United States in 1961.

Alumni from the 1940s to the present will then take the torch to the school's Little Havana location on Southwest Eighth Street, and then travel to Southwest 122nd Avenue, where they will be greeted by all the relay participants, as well as an estimated crowd of 2,000 Belen students, friends, and family members.

Everyone will then run the remaining five blocks to the school's present location at 500 SW 127th Ave, for a celebration.

The event is being dedicated to Belen graduates like Loret De Mola.

In 1959, one year after Loret De Mola graduated, Castro turned Belen into a training school for army officers.

Frustrated with the loss of his alma mater and Cuba's worsening political conditions, Mola fled to Miami in 1962.

He became Belen's assistant principal and athletic director in 1969 and in only four years, Loret De Mola inspired countless students, including current Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

''All of the students under his tutelage considered him a second father,'' said Diaz, who will conduct a brief ceremony Saturday at Belen's old Little Havana location.

''He was a great role model and a great inspiration to all of us,'' Diaz said.


 


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