CUBA
NEWS
Yahoo!
Castro Meets With Cuba's Catholic Leaders
HAVANA, 17 (AP) - Fidel Castro met with
top leaders of Cuba's Roman Catholic church
to mark 70 years of diplomatic ties with
the Vatican, the island's official media
reported Thursday.
Castro met Wednesday night with Cardinal
Jaime Ortega - Cuba's top Catholic churchman
- all of the island's bishops, and the Vatican's
diplomatic representative here, Papal Nuncio
Msgr. Luigi Bonazzi, the Communist Party
daily Granma reported.
During a dinner, Castro recalled the late
Pope John Paul II's historic 1998 visit
to Cuba, praising the pontiff's "wonderful
way of seeing and understanding the problems
of the world today," the newspaper
said in a front page story.
Communist Cuba became officially atheist
in the years after the 1959 revolution that
brought Castro to power. But the government
removed references to atheism in the constitution
more than a decade ago and allowed religious
believers to join the Communist Party.
Diplomatic relations between the Cuban
and the Vatican remained intact over the
decades.
Cuba's Castro sued for 60 million dollars
in US court
MIAMI, 18 (AFP) - Two Cubans are suing
President Fidel Castro in Florida for 60
million dollars, claiming they were tortured
at a psychiatric hospital on the communist-run
island, their lawyers said.
Both plaintiffs claim they were tortured
at the La Mazorra psychiatric hospital in
Havana more than 30 years ago.
Nilo Jerez, who filed a lawsuit at a Miami
court, claimed he was subjected to electroshocks
on his testicles, which left him sterile.
Belkis Ferro, 51, who filed suit in Tampa,
said he was also subjected to electroshocks,
and was given injections that made him lose
consciousness.
Both said the torture sessions were supervised
by Eriberto Mederos, a nurse at the hospital.
Mederos had migrated to the United States
in 1980, and was later found guilty of torture
and of hiding his links with Cuba's Communist
Party, but he died in 2002, shortly after
his trial.
Courts in Florida have over the years ordered
Castro to pay millions of dollars to various
plaintiffs, but the Cuban government does
not recognized the courts' jurisdiction.
Solis the hero as Cuba crowned world
boxing champs
MIANYANG, China, 20 (AFP) - Odlanier Solis
has heaved Cuba to the top of amateur boxing
with a cliffhanger victory over defending
champions Russia at the world championships
here.
Trailing in the count in the first two
rounds Sunday, the reigning world and Olympic
heavyweight champion who is now fighting
as a superheavyweight rallied mightily in
the third to turn the tables on Russian
southpaw Roman Romanchuk in the last match
of the tournament.
In the end the 25 year-old emerged seven
points ahead to notch the deciding fourth
gold medal for Cuba.
Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria and Roberto Cammarelle
of Italy took home the bronze in the +91kg
weight class.
Romanchuk's loss relegated the Russians
to second place overall with three golds.
Kazakhstan were third with two golds.
The Cubans failed to fulfill the vow of
"a medal in every category," made
by Olympic light-flyweight champion Yan
Bartelemy before the start of the tournament.
Bartelemy was one of two Cubans who went
out in the quarterfinals while another fell
in the preliminaries.
It started out badly for them as flyweight
Andry Laffita settled for the silver, outboxed
by Lee Ok-Sung, helping South Korea to their
only gold.
The southpaw failed to get to grips with
the rangy Korean, who had quietly progressed
through the competition while the flashy
Cubans stole the limelight.
Mirat Sarsembayev of Kazakhstan and American
Rau'shee Warren won the bronze.
Bantamweight Olympic champion Guillermo
Rigondeaux got Cuba going in a dour 54kg
final, outpointing 30-year-old Rustamhodza
Rahimov of Germany. The two boxers spent
much of the first three rounds sizing up
and circling each other as the crowd whistled
its disapproval.
American Garry Russell Junior and Frenchman
Ali Hallab took the bronze.
Yordanis Ugas, a sharp, technically accomplished
fighter but with a suspect jaw, won the
lightweight gold for Cuba after an explosive
toe-to-toe clash with Romal Amanov of Azerbaijan.
Russian Khabib Allakhverdiev and Italian
Domenico Valentino received bronze medals.
Erislandi Lara toyed with Belarus welterweight
Magomed Nurudinov to collect Cuba's third
gold.
Olympic champion Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan
and Englishman Neil Perkins placed third.
Olympic featherweight champion Alexei Tischenko
opened Russia's account, taking just one
round to pummel Bulgarian namesake Alexey
Shaydulin into submission.
Simion Viorel of Romania and Cuban Yuriolkis
Gamboa, the Olympic flyweight champion who
bowed out in the 57kg semis through injury,
settled for the bronze.
Southpaw Matvey Korobov won the second
Russian gold also through the shortcut route,
using up 95 seconds to pile up a 20-punch
margin over Ukrainian middleweight Ismayl
Sillakh.
Cuban Emilio Correa and Mohamed Hikal of
Egypt were given the bronze.
But Alexander Alekseev did not even have
to throw a punch in anger in winning Russia's
third, secured through a walkover of Azerbaijan's
Elchin Alizade.
Jasur Matchanov of Uzbekistan and Alexander
Povernov of Germany settled for the bronze.
China's light-flyweight Zhou Shiming finally
became a world champion after failing at
the last hurdle in Bangkok in 2003. He outpointed
Pal Bedak after the Hungarian failed to
find his range against the much taller local
hero.
Sherali Dostiev of Tajikistan and Birzan
Zhakypov of Kazakhstan got the bronze medals.
A speedy Serik Sapiyev won the first gold
for Kazakhstan by outpointing sluggish Uzbek
welterweight Dilshod Mahmudov, who appeared
to have given his best in his semifinal
win against Cuban Inocente Fiss the day
earlier.
Fiss and Emil Maharramov of Azerbaijan
took third place.
Yerdos Dzhanabergenov, the shortest light-heavyweight
in the tournament, made it two golds for
the Kazakhs with a comfortable points decision
over Croatia's Marijo Sivolija.
Artak Malumyan of Armenia and Utkirbek
Haydarov of Uzbekistan garnered third place.
Cuba on target at world amateur boxing
finals
MIANYANG, China, 19 (AFP) - Cuba have
put themselves in pole position to seize
the overall title as five of their boxers
fought their way into the finals of the
world amateur championships.
Defending champions Russia kept up their
hopes as four of their team also entered
the finals, where 11 golds will be contested
by boxers from 13 nations.
Head coach Sarbelio Fuentes has vowed Cuba
would be "primero", the overall
champions.
The fight could go down the wire with the
perfect overall decider to rest on the outcome
of the superheavyweight battle between Odlanier
Solis, Cuba's world and Olympic heavyweight
champion, and Russia's Roman Romanchuk.
The two countries do not meet in the 10
other final matches.
Solis overcame Europe's fourth-ranked fighter
in the above 91kg class, Bulgarian Kubrat
Pulev on Saturday, while Romanchuk bested
top-ranked European superheavyweight Roberto
Cammarelle of Italy in a brutal slugfest
between two left-handers.
Yordanis Ugas, a tall, bony lightweight
with a deceptively languid fighting style,
earlier laid down the standard with a masterful
defeat of Russian foe Khabib Allakhverdiev.
After an dead-even first round, the Cuban
opened up the Russian's defenses with crisp
uppercuts to the chin in the second, allowing
him to land more powerful combinations to
the face of his opponent and giving him
a comfortable lead he would never relinquish.
His opponent will be Romal Amanov of Azerbaijan,
who overcame European number one Domenico
Valentino of Italy by points.
Cuban flyweight Andry Laffita, hurling
powerful left crosses to the face and short
digs to the ribcage, effectively counterpunched
his way to a points win over Mirat Sarsembayev
of Kazakhstan.
His final opponent will be South Korea's
Lee Ok-Sung, a convincing points winner
over American teenager Rau'shee Warren.
US gold medal hopes were finally extinguished
when Garry Russell Junior went out to experienced
German bantamweight Rustamhodza Rahimov,
an Athens bronze medallist, by points.
Reigning Olympic champion Guillermo Rigondeaux,
who missed out on the medals at the last
world championships in 2003, will face Rahimov
in the final this time after the power-punching
Cuban southpaw proved too much for Ali Hallab,
France's lone semifinalist.
Erislandi Lara later dispatched welterweight
Olympic champion Bakhti yar Artayev of Kazakhstan
by points. The Cuban's final foe is Magomed
Nurudinov after the Belarussian beat Neil
Perkins by points, ending England's gold
medal hopes.
China's Zhou Shiming, silver medallist
at the Bangkok world championship two years
ago before winning a bronze at the Athens
Olympics last year, returned to fight the
light-flyweight final.
He will face Hungarian Bedak Pal, ranked
fifth in Europe, who stopped Birzan Zhakypov
of Kazakhstan in the third round of their
semifinal bout.
"I think I can beat Zhou, even though
he has hometown advantage," Bedak told
AFP.
Russian Olympic champion Alexei Tischenko
entered the featherweight final with a surgical
dismantling of Simion Viorel, Romania's
only semifinal entry who lasted less than
two rounds before he fell behind and into
the traphole of the 20-point rule.
Tischenko's opponent will be namesake Alexey
Shaydulin of Bulgaria, who cracked open
Yuriolkis Gamboa's left eyelid to force
the Cuban's retirement through injury while
the latter was leading by points in the
second round.
Gamboa had put on six extra kilos to fight
in the 57kg class after winning the gold
medal for the flyweight division at Athens.
Dilshod Mahmudov of Uzbekistan showed the
rest how to beat a Cuban properly by outslugging
light-welterweight Inocente Fiss. The Uzbek
knelt on the floor and kissed the canvas
in gratitude after the fight.
Mahmudov will fight Serik Sapiyev for the
gold after the Kazakh won the battle of
two former Soviet republics over light-welterweight
Emil Maharramov of Azerbaijan.
Russian middleweight Matvey Korobov took
after Mahmudov's example by giving Cuban
Emilio Correa a boxing lesson he will not
soon forget.
Korobov, ranked number two in Europe, will
fight third-ranked European Ismayl Sillakh
in the 75kg final.
Croatia's lone semifinalist Marijo Sivolija
entered the final of the light-heavyweight
class by defeating Armenia's Artak Malumyan
on points.
His rival for the gold is Yerdos Dzhanabergenov
of Kazakhstan, who outlasted Utkirbek Haydarov
of Uzbekistan.
Russian heavyweight Alexander Alexeev,
silver medallist at the 2003 world championships,
just edged his namesake, Germany's Alexander
Povernov, in a close points win to set up
a final bout with Elchin Alizade of Azerbaijan,
points winner over Jasur Matchanov of Uzbekistan.
| 
