September 29

FROM CUBA
On a razor's edge
Leonel Cintra Muñoz is 68 years old. He's a Cuban retiree who gets up every day at 5 o'clock in the morning to leave his home to go to a new job. He's engaged as a taxi driver, driving an old Chevrolet he owns.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Cuban polyclinic at a standstill due to lack of electricity
Continuing night blackouts have practically paralyzed the Robert M. Zulueta polyclinic in Old Havana. Residents say the go to the facility and don't get any care every time the power goes out.
HAVANA

The Miami Herald
• Jailed Cuban dissident begins hunger strike
• Suit's topic: ban on Cuban books
• Cuba's economy keeps plugging along
• Shut-out Nader speaks out

Yahoo! News
• Investigators rule out sabotage in Cuban power-plant breakdown
• Martinez Blames Staff For Campaign 'Insult'
• 'Motorcycle' could be hitching a ride to the Oscars

External links

Democratic advocacy group wooing Miami's Cuban vote
A nationwide Democratic Party advocacy group on Tuesday announced the launch of several television ads aimed at Cuban-Americans, considered a pivotal voting bloc in Florida. The ads, part of a $1 million effort, begin airing in Miami this week on the Telemundo and Univision Spanish-language networks.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Bacardi indictment draws top Republican into donation row
Bacardi has been indicted by a Texas grand jury on charges of making an illegal $20,000 (£13,600) payment to a Republican political group whose founder lobbied against rival Cuban rum brand Havana Club.
The Independent, UK.

September 27

The Miami Herald
• Economy plods along amid pressures
• Che's marketing revolution
• Lawyer in Elián case to prep Kerry for presidential debate
• Elián remark provokes fury
• HIV-infected child pornographer gets 100 years

Yahoo! News
• Mexico releases report on crisis in relations with Cuba
• United Nations 'handcuffed' By Bush: Cuba
• Cuba seeks support from Americans and U.N. to end U.S. embargo

External links

Fidel 1, Ivan 0
Say this about a totalitarian regime - it surely can mobilize its population in times of crisis. "Against Fidel, Ivan couldn't do it," read the headline of a state-controlled newspaper in Havana after Hurricane Ivan passed through Cuba without causing a single casualty. It's a bit pathetic, really, that the aging comandante is trying to score propaganda points by taking on a storm, but that's where he is.
Los Angeles Times, CA.

Capitalism keeps Che alive
Ten years ago in Havana, while researching a biography of Che Guevara, I asked his widow, Aleida March de Guevara, how she felt about communist Cuba's rampant merchandising of her late husband. I pointed out how, in the tourist shops around the island, there were T-shirts, coconut shells and key rings with Che's iconic image on them, all sold for US dollars. Was not this a betrayal of everything that Che, the ultimate Marxist revolutionary had stood for?
The Standard, Hong Kong.

Cubans suffer, Castro shrugs
Once again, for narrow political reasons, the Bush administration and Republican congressional leaders are thwarting attempts to infuse some sanity into U.S. policy toward Cuba. In back-to-back votes last week, Congress called for rolling back some trade barriers and for easing new travel restrictions to Cuba.
St. Petersburg Times, FL.

Cuban fails Paralympic test
Sergio Arturo Perez tested positive for the banned steroid prednisolone after winning in the men's judo category. He will not face any other sanction because prednisolone is not considered performance-enhancing for judo.
BBC, UK.

The wrong remedy on Cuba
More and more members of Congress are realizing that restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba have created hardship for the island's oppressed people but failed to topple its dictator, Fidel Castro.
Orlando Sentinel, FL.

Cubans 'resolve' to make ends meet
Hiding rocks in frozen chickens may seem like a silly pastime. But for some folks, it's serious business - a way to tip government weight scales and purloin poultry for dinner. Welcome to Cuba, where ripping off the socialist government is a gentle, sophisticated art.
The Dallas Morning News.

All-Stars keeping Cuban music fresh
In 1997, the Buena Vista Social Club CD reintroduced the world to the music of Cuba. Instigated by American roots musician Ry Cooder, the disc -- and the Wim Wenders documentary that followed -- grew into a phenomenon that has reinvigorated the musicians of that small country.
Vancouver Sun, Canada.

September 24

FROM CUBA
76-year-old fined for selling fruit in front of his home
Rey Ramiro Montes de Oca, who said he sells the fruit to make a little income for himself and his wife, had, at the time police came, a few guavas, two avocados and two pumpkins.
SANTA CLARA

FROM CUBA
Blackouts will continue in central Cuba
Rolling blackouts will continue through the central Cuban provinces, according to an announcement in the government press
CIENFUEGOS

The Miami Herald
• 26 Cubans taken into custody on Key Biscayne
• U.S. House eases some Cuba limits
• Files show how Celia overcame 1960s blacklist
• Giuliani aids Martinez cause
• New Film on Ernesto 'Che' Guevara Out

Yahoo! News
• Cuba seeks deals to get around trade, travel restrictions
• US House votes against ending Cuba embargo, but for trips to island
• Cuba has 600 doctors and health experts in Haiti
• Cuba Sure of Future Friendship With U.S.
• 'Che' Legacy Still Strong In Cuba

External links

Man sentenced to 13 years in fatal smuggling voyage
A Cuban-American man convicted of smuggling Cubans into the United States has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for a mission that claimed the life of a 48-year-old woman after a life prison term was erased on appeal.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

U.S. House votes to ease embargo
In a show of growing impatience with the U.S. embargo of Cuba, the U.S. House approved amendments on Wednesday that would ease the sale of food and medicine to the island and remove obstacles to student-exchange programs.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

The Wall of Water
Restrictions on US tourists, sanctions against European trading partners: The regime of aging revolutionary Fidel Castro faces pressure under an intensified US embargo.
The New York Times.

September 22

FROM CUBA
Customers complain about inefficient financial service
Customers who use the Transcard service of government-owned Cimex Corporation complain about the inefficiency in the service.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Cuban TV anchor reportedly sanctioned for mention of exile musician
TV anchorwoman Deysi Gómez was reportedly sanctioned recently because she mentioned exiled pianist Bebo Valdés on the air in her program Lente Mundial.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Cubans at Guantanamo base go on hunger strike to protest delays
• House defies Bush on new Cuba travel ban
• Exile: President Bush has failed to bring democracy to Cuba

External links

Top-secret affair
"Since both Jeanne and I were in highly classified work, we played the old security game of hiding what we were working on until we both learned ... that we were doing essentially the same thing, she for the Near East and I for Latin America," writes Belsito in his book CIA: Cuba and the Caribbean (CIA Officer's Memoirs).
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

September 20

FROM CUBA
Police in Cuba launch raid against street peddlers
Authorities in Santa Clara tackled street peddlers again on Monday, confiscating their wares and issuing fines of between 750 and 1,500 pesos.
SANTA CLARA

FROM CUBA
Shortage of doctors in AIDS sanatorium in Cuba
The shortage, they say, has been more acute in the past few weeks after a number of doctors were sent off to Venezuela to participate in the agreement between the Cuban and Venezuelan governments.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Spain's ex-leader blasts Castro
• High winds, old age threaten buildings throughout Havana

Yahoo! News
• Cuba is 'giant prison', says Czech ex-president Havel
• Ex-Spain PM Urges Release of Cubans
• Stone Documentary Gets Lukewarm Reception
• Alarcon blames U.S. for instigating illegal Cuban emigration

External links

Administration backing off on Cuba's germ warfare ability
The Bush administration, using stringent standards adopted after the failure to find banned weapons in Iraq, has conducted a new assessment of Cuba's biological weapons capabilities and concluded that it is no longer clear that Cuba has an active, offensive bio-weapons program, according to administration officials.
San Francisco Chronicle, CA.

Maradona, once a soccer icon, in the throes of drug, health despair
Family members and Maradona's personal doctor are at odds over whether Maradona should return to Cuba, where he spent nearly four years living at Havana's La Pradera health farm, working more on his golf game than on getting cleaned up.
Chicago Tribune.

September 17

FROM CUBA
Several hurt in building collapse in Havana
An unknown number of people were hurt when a building collapsed in Havana Tuesday. By noon, fire department and medical personnel, as well as work crews, were digging through the rubble of the building.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Clear reception for Radio Martí
As an unintended result of preparations for hurricane Ivan, residents of Villa Clara province, in central Cuba, were able to tune in U. S. based Radio Martí, when Cuban government civil defense crews took down antennas that normally interfere with the signal.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Cuba imposes strict response

Yahoo! News
• Revolutionary Che Guevara Gets Makeover

September 16

FROM CUBA
Cuban government threatens to take over church under construction; faithful occupy building to forestall any action
The Cuban government has ordered construction work on a church in Moa, Holguín province, to be stopped and threatened to take it over, on the grounds that "it stands out among the poverty of its surroundings", as varying numbers of the faithful have occupied the building around the clock to forestall any such action.
HOLGUÍNA

FROM CUBA
Break-in at Havana supermarket
A person or persons unknown broke into a supermarket during the night Friday in the Embil neighborhood of Rancho Boyeros municipality, south of Havana, and took three sacks of rice, one sack of split peas, a bicycle, and a small propane gas tank.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Bill easing travel ban to Cuba withdrawn
• Cuba escapes worst of Ivan's onslaught

Yahoo! News
• Cuban Media Plays Up Castro in Hurricane
• New U.S. Travel Rules Cut Cuba Tourism
• Ivan Batters Cuba, Could Have Been Worse
• Bush Cuba Rules In Eye Of Storm

External links

Cuba says it's still nice place to visit
Cuba's tourism minister said Wednesday that the island is again welcoming visitors in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, while anti-Castro lawmakers in Washington urged American tourists to boycott the country.
The Dallas Morning News.

Cubans work to mop up after storm
Cubans were recovering Tuesday, a day after Hurricane Ivan swept by the island's extreme eastern tip and knocked down seaside homes, palm trees, power lines and television transmission towers.
The Dallas Morning News.

U.S. relations with Cuba, Iraq, Sudan contradictory
Unfortunately, our own country, our own government, breeds contradictions within itself all too often, particularly in the realm of foreign policy. This is evident in comparing United States relations with Iraq, Cuba and the Sudan.
Daily Nebraskan.

Flawless Estefan struggles to engage lifeless crowd
There are so many words to describe the Gloria Estefan show at the Pepsi Arena Tuesday night -- colorful, emotional, energetic, sexy, powerful, flawless. Despite all that, the audience managed to bring the whole evening down.
The Saratogian, NY.

September 15

FROM CUBA
More Cuban physicians to be sent to Venezuela
The municipal director of the Health department for Santa Clara, Dr. Regla Angulo, announced Friday that Villa Clara province must come up with an additional 100 physicians to send to Venezuela. The capital city of Santa Clara, itself, must come up with 20.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Western Cuba endures Ivan's fury
• Reports from Cuba concerning Hurricane Ivan
• ''Very, very bad'' Ivan recedes from Cuba after night-long pounding
• Cubans express relief as Ivan's worst skips most

Yahoo! News
• Britain pledges hurricane aid to Cuba
• Deadly Hurricane Ivan barrels toward US coast after slamming Cuba
• Hurricane Ivan Drenches Western Cuba
• Maradona given green light to leave for Cuba
• FBI ends inquiry on possible 7th Cuban rafter

External links

Once-glamorous remnant of pre-revolutionary Cuba slowly fades into history
The front window of the once elegant Fin de Siglo department store is shattered, with a hole the size of a soccer ball. But what has become of the cavernous interior is what upsets long-time Havana residents who lament the stark deterioration of the renowned store - and by extension the entire Cuban economy.
Grand Forks Herald, ND.

Seeking Che: Argentine legislators want rebel's remains home from Cuba
If a small but growing group of Argentine legislators has its way, the remains of Che Guevara will come back home one day - back, that is, to a home that many people do not know he had.
Macon Telegraph, GA.

September 13

FROM CUBA
45,000 without water in Havana
A burned-out pump left 45,000 residents of Batabanó, a small city south of Havana, without running water five days ago and with no respite in sight.
SANTA CLARA

FROM CUBA
Frustration in Cuba over TV Martí's failure to broadcast
The station broadcasts from the U. S. through a C-130 transport flying over the Florida Keys, and due to the proximity of Hurricane Frances, it did not go on the air September 4.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Ivan's worst may miss Cuba; S. Florida appears spared
• Immigrants fill churches, with homelands in mind
• Cubans use tunnels to hide from Ivan's worst
• Eleven dead in Jamaica; Ivan stronger; Caymans, Cuba next
• Cuba, Keys brace for worst

Yahoo! News
• U.S. Diplomat Builds Prison Cell in Yard
• Cuba's Castro meets with Vermont ag secretary
• Cuba travel renewed for SIU researchers

External links

Powerful hurricane threatens to hurt economically vital tourism in Cuba
Hotel workers on Friday scrambled to prepare their resorts for Hurricane Ivan while tourists hurried to the airport, cutting their vacations short for fear the deadly storm could have its sights set on the island's prime beaches.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

With Ivan approaching, Cubans begin evacuations
As monstrous Hurricane Ivan roared mercilessly toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Cubans prepared to face what could be their most devastating storm in 80 years.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Hurricane Ivan renews debate over U.S. aid to Cuba
The advance of Hurricane Ivan toward Cuba reopened debate over a months-old policy limiting the aid that Cuban-Americans can send and the trips they can make to the communist-led island.
Macon Telegraph.

Practicing hurricane diplomacy
At a time when U.S.-Cuba relations are marked by heightened tensions and mutual antagonism, close continuous cooperation between Miami and Havana meteorologists is helping to track storms and save lives on both sides of the Florida Straits.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

After Charley's damage Cubans brace for Ivan's follow-up
Hurricane Charley took most of Zoraida Delgado's beachside wooden home. Exactly one month later, Ivan could finish the job in a rare and powerful one-two punch not seen in Cuba in almost 60 years.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Coastal villages emptied
Coastal fishing villages along Cuba's westernmost tobacco-growing province became ghost towns Sunday night as more than 1.3 million Cubans across the island evacuated their homes in anticipation of a pounding by "Ivan the Terrible."
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Hernández Continues to Pitch Like the Ace of Pinstripes
Orlando Hernández had just struck out a cleanup hitter who has 125 runs batted in, ending the third inning with the bases loaded. Too early to celebrate? Not for Hernández, who is savoring every moment of his reincarnation.
The New York Times.

Price for Cuban's too high
According to baseball sources, if Cuban refugee Kendry Morales sticks to his demands for a major-league contract worth between $10 million and $15 million, the Yankees are out of play.
The New York Post.

September 9

FROM CUBA
Blackouts keep radio station off the air
Thousands of listeners of "Central Cuba's Queen of the Airwaves" are missing their favourite radio programmes due to the frequent blackouts in the area where the station's transmitters are located in the city of Santa Clara.
SANTA CLARA

FROM CUBA
Near-riot among Cuban moviegoers
Hundreds of people waiting in line to see the Cuban film "Perfecto amor equivocado" got into a scuffle with each other initially and finally with police September 3 at the Camilo Cienfuegos theatre in Santa Clara.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Killer storm's targets include Florida

External links

The romance, the drama, of old Ybor
For many in the audience, Anna in the Tropics, set amid Ybor City and its cigar factories, will revisit familiar grounds. Actors and directors who put on The Crucible don't have to contend with audiences full of 17th century Puritans critiquing the play's historical authenticity.
St. Petersburg Times, FL.

President of Cuba as a Dutch uncle?
The doctors plan to ask Castro to take advantage of "the friendly relationship he has with Maradona to become a strict father" to him when he returns to Havana for treatment, Ambassador Raul Taleb told reporters.
San Diego Union Tribune, CA.

September 3

FROM CUBA
Residents charge negligence in water shortage in Cuba
Areas of Guanabo, a beach community about 20 miles east of Havana, have been without running water for two months, and residents charge that negligence of aqueduct employees is the cause.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Residents in Cuba grumble as police arrest a fish peddler
Police arrested a young man who was selling tilapia fillets out of his bicycle in Placetas Sunday morning and local residents loudly protested the lost possibility of buying the fish.
PLACETAS

The Miami Herald
• 2nd Torrijos vows closer ties to Cuba
• Six Cuban migrants arrive in motorboat
• Push aims at luring Cuban voters

Yahoo! News
• Power blackouts in Cuba to last through end of year
• Honduras admits can't find missing airline bombing suspect

Cuban balseros helped change the political flavor of Florida
Ten years ago, 1,500 Cubans who had cast themselves adrift in homemade rafts, bound for Florida and freedom, found themselves waylaid at a dusty military camp back on the island, sunburned and thirsty, captured pawns in a political standoff.
The Miami Herald.

External links

US fines more European companies over Cuba
The US has imposed fines on several European companies in the last few months, including Alitalia, the Italian airline, for breaking its Cuban embargo laws, raising fears of a new trade confrontation between Washington and Brussels.
Financial Times.

What happens in Cuba stays in Vegas -- for a while
Normally, Las Vegas is not a tour stop for artists coming from Cuba to perform in the United States. But there's nothing normal about the visit of Havana Night Club, a 50-member ensemble that has become the first Cuban act in almost a year to overcome tough U.S. restrictions to play in this country.
Santa Fe New Mexican.

Cuban exile in Miami joins Democratic group
In an unexpected move that signals the political diversification of the Cuban-American community, the executive director of a prominent Cuban-American exile group here has left his post to join a Democratic advocacy organization.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Contreras not on the fast track yet
Jose Contreras is no kid, but this season has been, in the words of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, "a learning process" for the right-hander. Contreras, 32, frustrated the New York Yankees with his stubbornness in pitch selection after becoming a national hero in Cuba with his forkball or split-finger fastball.
Chicago Tribune (subscription), IL.

A gift from Cuba
No matter where you might roam, it wouldn't be hard to find a painting by Angel E. Collado. His art adorns Cuban consulates and embassies in 126 countries, not to mention palaces from Brazil to Japan and everywhere in between. He enjoys telling the story of how one Chinese diplomat years ago bought four of his works -- and promptly gave two to Mao Zedong.
Belleville News-Democrat, IL.

September 1

FROM CUBA
Open sewer threatens community
An open sewer about three blocks long has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and disease in Batabanó, south of Havana.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Anti-government graffiti in Santa Clara
Taking advantage of a blackout August 27, someone wrote "Down with Fidel. We don't want any more blackouts." on the wall of a children's nursery.
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Probe of assistance to exile is widened
• GOP platform praises crackdown on Cuba

External links

Exotic debt traders turn to Cuba
Fidel Castro's expectations of capitalism are not high. But even he must be galled to know that speculators are running long positions in Havana's sovereign debt, waiting for him to die. Cuban sovereign paper is known as "hyper exotic" - in default and owed by a country with a politically isolated regime.
Financial Times.

Martinez retells life story
There's no denying Mel Martinez has a great life story. He fled from Cuba as a 15-year-old, alone, his parents remaining on the communist island hoping one day to join him. He eventually was placed with a foster family in Orlando, studied hard to learn English and worked odd jobs that helped him buy his father a used car when his parents arrived in the United States four years later.
The News-Press.

Charley batters Cuba on way to Florida
Hurricane Charley roared across Cuba early today, battering the capital with high winds and heavy rains before heading off toward the western coast of Florida.
Sun-Sentinel, FL.

Le Roy Team Returns From Cuba
Five women from Living Waters Church in Le Roy recently traveled to Cuba on a mission trip.
LeRoy Pennysaver, NY.