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Trial Opens in Mexican Embassy Case
By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated
Press Writer. January 13, 2005.
HAVANA - With relatives looking on, 23
men arrested nearly three years ago in the
violent occupation of the Mexican Embassy
went on trial Wednesday for the assault,
which sparked a diplomatic crisis.
A government prosecutor sought prison
terms of up to 12 years for the men, who
allegedly stole a bus and crashed it through
the embassy gates in February 2002 amid
a wave of rumors the mission was issuing
visas to all Cubans who showed up.
Members of the group demanded visas and
refused to leave before they were arrested
within two days by specially trained Cuban
police in a lightning fast pre-dawn eviction.
After a full day of testimony Wednesday,
a second day of proceedings was scheduled
for Thursday, the defendants' relatives
said.
Two relatives per defendant were allowed
into the trial at the Popular Municipal
Tribunal in Havana in the 10 de Octubre
neighborhood. Proceedings were closed to
international media.
"I think that everything will go well,"
Nancy Perez, wife of defendant Enrique Mendez
Sosa, said outside the courthouse before
the trial started.
Her husband was among a dozen men facing
12-year prison terms.
The prosecution sought 10-year sentences
for six other defendants and five years
for the rest, according to the non-governmental
Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National
Reconciliation.
Fidel Castro's communist government accused
the U.S. government's Radio Marti of provoking
the occupation by repeatedly broadcasting
a sound bite by then-Mexican Foreign Minister
Jorge Castaneda saying the embassy's doors
"are open" to Cuban citizens.
Officials for Radio Marti, operated in
Miami by anti-Castro Cuban exiles, denied
provoking the rumors, which drew hundreds
of people to the mission seeking visas.
Many of those who crowded outside the mission
said they hoped to get visas to Mexico,
then later emigrate to the United States
in hopes of finding well-paying jobs and
being reunited with relatives there.
Castaneda later said his comments, made
during a visit to Florida that week, were
taken out of context.
A written statement by the human rights
commission said hundreds of people were
rounded up at the time and all were subsequently
released except for the 23 who went on trial
Wednesday.
Christian Magazine Ends Eight-Year Run
Providing Independent Viewpoints in Cuba
Havana, Jan. 12 (AP) - The alternative
Christian magazine Espacios, one of a few
independent publications in Cuba's mostly
state-run media market, is closing after
eight years because it has run out of funding
and local church support.
Espacios, which costs about US$1,400 (€1,065)
every three months to print 4,000 copies,
had survived eight years on donations from
religious institutions in countries including
Germany and Mexico. Most contributors work
for free, with a few full-time staffers
receiving modest salaries.
"We don't have the money to keep
going," Joaquin Bello, director and
founder of Espacios, told The Associated
Press. "We've gone looking for funding
in many places, but nothing has come up."
The magazine touched on topics that are
often rarely expressed in Cuban society,
where the communist government controls
official newspapers, magazines and TV and
radio stations. Espacios' recent topics
have included Cuba's electricity crisis
and criticism of the common practice of
abortion in Cuba.
One writer's critique of Havana's transportation
system drew parallels between the city's
crowded buses and the slave ships that brought
ancestors from Africa. Another writer called
for the liberation of Cuban political prisoners,
while an editorial cartoonist commented
wryly on the lack of material goods on the
island.
Bello has been careful about the funding
the magazine accepts. In a 2003 crackdown,
75 political opponents received long prison
sentences after being accused of receiving
money from U.S. officials to undermine Fidel
Castro's government - a charge the activists
and Washington deny.
"We can't accept money from just anyone,"
he said. "We have to make sure it's
coming from very neutral people. If not,
I get myself into trouble, and bring problems
to the church as well."
It became clear last week that the magazine
would cease to exist in its current form
after Bello met with Cardinal Jaime Ortega,
lead bishop in Havana and the island's top
Catholic churchman.
The cardinal said the church wanted a publication
"much more aimed at the laity,"
focusing mostly on events in the religious
community, Bello said.
The Catholic Church also has its own monthly
magazine, Palabra Nueva, or the New Word.
It was unclear if Espacios would be merged
into Palabra Nueva, disappear entirely,
or keep publishing separately with a different
focus.
Orlando Marquez, spokesman for the Bishops
Conference of Cuba, said the magazine's
future will be decided by its new director
- Jose Ramon Perez, head of Havana's Diocesan
Commission of Laypeople.
Bello, an administrator at the Bishops
Conference, said he thought it unlikely
Espacios would be resurrected.
"This pains us deeply," said
Fabio Hurtado, editor of Espacios, saying
it was wrong to allow the 60-page magazine
to disappear. "The magazine always
tried to create a channel for authentic
dialogue, which is so needed by all Cubans."
Now out of work, Hurtado says he will likely
return to his old job of selling flowers
in Old Havana and try to continue writing
for other independent media.
Bello, the magazine's founder, said he
will keep working at the Bishops Conference
but is sentimental about the end of Espacios.
"We truly tried to provide alternative
information, and to rescue our history and
Christian values," Bello said. "Unfortunately,
there are not many others doing that."
Communist Cuba's relations with the Catholic
Church have improved in recent years following
four decades of tensions after the 1959
Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro
to power. Pope John Paul II made a historic
visit to Cuba in 1998, making strong calls
for more freedoms, including that of expression.
Migrants Swim Ashore In Key Biscayne
WPLG Click10.com, January
12, 2005.
Two Cuban men came ashore on Key Biscayne
early this morning.
Immigration officials headed to the scene
around 7 a.m., where the men and Miami-Dade
County police were waiting.
The men reportedly paid to be taken to
the United States on a speedboat. The men
said the boat took them close to shore and
dropped them off to swim the rest of the
way.
The men also said they have family in the
U.S. Immigration officials are now interviewing
them.
Japanese tourists returning to Cuba
TOKYO, 12 - The number of Japanese tourists
traveling to Cuba, which dropped sharply
in the aftermath of the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks on the United States, has started
to recover due partly to the popularity
of Cuban music, the country's ambassador
to Japan said Tuesday.
Cuba had some 6,000 Japanese tourists in
2004, up more than 10 percent over the previous
year, and the number is expected to rise
further to surpass 7,000 in 2005, Ambassador
Orlando Hernandez said. (Kyodo News)
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