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Cuban dissidents urge real power transfer
to Raul Castro
HAVANA, Dec 7, 2006 (AFP) - A leading dissident
group Thursday called for an urgent and
definitive transfer of power to Raul Castro
to better deal with the transition period
in Cuban politics opened by Fidel Castro's
absence.
With concerns about the country's leadership
heightened in the more than four months
since Castro, 80, disappeared from public
for an intestinal operation and turned power
temporarily over to his brother Defense
Minister Raul, Arco Progresista issued a
written call to dialogue.
Arco "demands that the definitive
transfer of power take place, with urgency,"
during the December 22 session of parliament,
and that the body take up a 13-point reform
program the dissidents drew up for the transition,
the statement said.
With Castro's notable absence from the
week-long celebrations of his birthday and
the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution
last week, speculation has grown that the
venerable leader may have given up power
for good, raising the possibility of major
changes in the country's politics.
Cuban dissidents have begun to stir amid
speculation that Castro may be dying, though
some believe he will still return from power
after recuperating from the late-July operation.
While Castro has not been seen in public
since then, he appeared in television footage
greeting visitors in the weeks after the
operation. But now it has been months since
he appeared.
Whether he recuperates or passes on, dissidents
insist the time has come for change.
"Our country is undergoing an era
change while it remains trapped at a historical
crossroads: either Cuba opens up to itself
-- the best way to open up to the world
-- or it fizzles out as a nation amidst
a spent revolution," said the Arco
statement handed out to reporters.
The group urged prompt economic and political
reforms, a dialogue among Cubans "that
respects our differences," and that
"unconstitutional restrictions to Cubans'
freedom of movement (and) the silence imposed
on most citizens' right to freedom of expression
be lifted.
There has been no official reaction to
Arco's statement, and recent comments by
Raul Castro, 75, and other top Communist
Party members have not doubted Castro's
eventual full recovery nor that government
policy would remain unchanged.
Dissidents Wednesday celebrated the release
after three years in jail of Hector Palacios,
a prominent member of their community, who
dampened spirits somewhat by announcing
to reporters that his release was due to
health reasons and that he had not observed
much change lately in Cuba.
"I would even say the contrary, from
the news I've heard repression is on the
rise. I don't see any changes," said
the member of the illegal Todos Unidos (All
United) opposition group.
Also on Wednesday, another dissident group,
National Patriotic Front, wrote to UN chief
Kofi Annan asking that he monitor a march
in Havana on Human Rights Day on Sunday
to see how police and authorities react.
Meanwhile, the latest news on Castro came,
as often in the past, from his friend and
recently re-elected Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez.
"The information I have from Cuba
is that Fidel's recovery continues, but
that it is a slow recovery," Chavez
told reporters in Brasilia.
Chavez, who was re-elected by a landslide
on Sunday, said he received a congratulatory
message from Castro after the vote.
His signature, said Chavez, showed a "very
strong hand."
Red Cross to seek access to Cuban prisons
GENEVA, Dec 7, 2006 (AFP) - The International
Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday
it would seek access to prisons in Cuba,
one of the few countries to deny it permission
to visit political detainees.
ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger told
reporters he planned to make a new request
to the government in Havana.
The ICRC has not been able to visit Cuban
prisons since July 1959, seven months after
President Fidel Castro came to power.
After armed Cuban exiles launched the Bay
of Pigs invasion of April 1961 in a US-backed
bid to overthrow the Castro government,
more than 1,000 of them were captured and
incarcerated.
When the ICRC asked to visit them to ensure
they were receiving fair treatment under
international humanitarian law, Havana said
no.
In March 1962, when the Bay of Pigs prisoners
were about to go on trial, the ICRC wrote
to Castro saying it presumed Havana would
respect Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions
on the treatment of prisoners of war. It
repeated its request to be allowed to visit
the jailed fighters.
Again the request was rebuffed. "The
doors were closed to the ICRC, which did
not obtain permission to send delegates
to Cuba for many years to come," the
ICRC says on its website.
By contrast, ICRC delegates have regularly
visited detainees at the US military detention
centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and have
strongly criticised the absence of a legal
framework "that appropriately addresses
either the detainees' status or the future
of their detention".
"The ICRC believes that uncertainty
about the prisoners' fate has added to the
mental and emotional strain experienced
by many detainees and their families,"
it says on its website.
US says no talks with Cuba until regime
moves toward democracy
WASHINGTON, 2 dec (AFP) - The United States
said that the Cuban regime must take steps
toward democracy before Washington would
consider any "deepening" of bilateral
relations, responding to Raul Castro's invitation
to come to the negotiating table.
"The dialogue that needs to take place
is one between the Cuban regime and the
Cuban people about the democratic future
of the island," Janelle Hironimus,
a State Department spokeswoman, told AFP.
"As we have consistently stated, any
deepening of our engagement with Cuba depends
on that dialogue and the Cuban regime's
willingness to take concrete steps toward
a political opening and a transition to
democracy," she said.
Raul Castro, Cuba's defense minister and
interim leader since his ailing brother
Fidel underwent surgery in July, said in
a speech to troops earlier Saturday: "Let
me take this opportunity to express our
willingness to settle the long US-Cuba disagreement
at the negotiating table."
"Of course, that is, as long as they
accept that we are a country that does not
tolerate any reduction of its independence,
and based on the principles of equality,
reciprocity, non-interference and mutual
respect," he told Communist Party and
military leaders at Cuba's first military
parade in a decade.
"Until that happens, after almost
half a century, we are prepared to wait
patiently for the moment when common sense
takes root in the halls of power in Washington,"
he said.
The parade marked the 50th anniversary
of the armed forces and capped belated 80th
birthday celebrations for Fidel Castro,
Cuba's leader since 1959.
The speech by Raul Castro, coming in the
vacuum of Fidel Castro's public disappearance
since his intestinal surgery in July, seemed
to confirm a desire to ease the traditionally
strained tensions with Washington.
The policy of willingness to talk with
the United States if respected as an equal
is standing Cuban policy.
But Raul Castro's timing and mention of
the negotiating table -- as Cuba is consolidating
its changing of the communist guard -- suggests
some growing autonomy on his part.
A few weeks after taking the reins of government
from his brother on July 31, Raul Castro
hinted at some openness to dialogue with
the United States in an interview with the
Communist Party newspaper Granma, suggesting
ties might be normalized on equal terms.
But the US had shot back that it was not
talking to "Fidel light."
Since Fidel Castro's illness removed him
from the scene, the United States has made
numerous appeals for Cuba to open up to
democracy.
Cuba, Latin America's only one-party communist
regime, and the United States do not have
full diplomatic relations. Each maintains
an Interests Section, a diplomatic office,
in the other's capital.
The United States has maintained a trade
embargo against Cuba since 1962.
Ailing Cuban dissident sees no political
link in his release
WASHINGTON, 6 (AFP) - An ailing prominent
Cuban dissident freed after three years
in jail, told reporters his release was
unconditional, and unrelated to politics
surrounding Fidel Castro's health.
"Absolutely not, nothing's happened
in Cuba," Hector Palacios, 63, said
at his home when asked if Castro's transfer
of power to his brother Raul Castro on July
31 had brought any changes for him or the
dissident movement.
"I would even say the contrary, from
the news I've heard repression is on the
rise. I don't see any changes," said
the member of the illegal Todos Unidos (All
United) opposition group.
He said his release Wednesday from jail
was due to health reasons. "My health
is poor, but my mind and spirit feel good,"
said Palacios, who was arrested in March
2003 along with 74 other people in what
was considered the harshest crackdown on
dissidents.
After more than 40 years in power, Fidel
Castro just before his 80th birthday on
August 13 underwent intestinal surgery from
which he has been recovering since. Raul
Castro, Cuba's defense minister, is now
at Cuba's helm.
Number of journalists jailed for Internet
work on rise: study
By Rukmini Callimachi, Associated
Press Writer.
Study: Journalists Jailed
Around the World for Internet Work on the
Rise
NEW YORK, 8 dec (AP) -- When Iranian journalist
Mojtaba Saminejad was sentenced to two years
in prison for insulting the country's Supreme
Leader, it was not for an article that appeared
in a newspaper. His offending story was
posted on his personal Web blog.
Nearly one-third of journalists now serving
time in prisons around the world published
their work on the Internet, the second-largest
category behind print journalists, the Committee
to Protect Journalists said in an analysis
released Thursday.
The bulk of Internet journalists in jail
-- 49 in total -- shows that "authoritarian
states are becoming more determined to control
the Internet," said Joel Simon, the
New York-based group's executive director.
"It wasn't so long ago that people
were talking about the Internet as a new
medium that could never be controlled,"
he said. "The reality is that governments
are now recognizing they need to control
the Internet to control information."
Other noteworthy imprisoned Internet journalists
include U.S. video blogger Joshua Wolf,
who refused to give a grand jury his footage
of a 2005 protest against a G-8 economic
summit, and China's Shi Tao, who is serving
a 10-year sentence for posting online instructions
by the government on how to cover the anniversary
of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
For the second year in a row, CPJ's annual
survey found the total number of journalists
in jail worldwide has increased. There were
134 reporters, editors and photographers
incarcerated as of Dec. 1, nine more than
a year ago.
In addition to the Internet writers, the
total includes 67 print journalists, eight
TV reporters, eight radio reporters and
two documentary filmmakers.
Among the 24 nations that have imprisoned
reporters, China topped the list for the
eighth consecutive year with 31 journalists
behind bars -- 19 of them Internet journalists.
Cuba was second with 24 reporters in prison.
Nearly all of them had filed their reports
to overseas-based Web sites.
The U.S. government and military has detained
three journalists, including Associated
Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who was
taken into custody in Iraq nine months ago
and has yet to be charged with a crime.
CPJ recorded the first jailing of an Internet
reporter in its 1997 census. Since then,
the number has steadily grown and now includes
reporters, editors and photographers whose
work appeared primarily on the Internet,
in e-mails or in other electronic forms.
The increase is a testament to the increasing
attention of government censors to the Internet,
media experts say.
"I refer to the freedom of the press
as the canary in the coal mine," said
Joshua Friedman, director of international
programs at Columbia University's Graduate
School of Journalism. "It's a barometer
of the insecurity of the people running
these governments. One of the things that
makes them insecure these days is the power
of the Internet."
The rise in jailings of Internet journalists
is also an indication that reporters in
authoritarian countries are increasingly
using the Web to circumvent state controls.
Shi, the jailed Chinese journalist, could
have published his notes on state propaganda
in the Chinese magazine in Hunan province
where he worked as an editorial director.
He chose instead to send an e-mail from
his Yahoo account to the U.S.-based editor
of a Chinese language Web forum.
Cuban journalist Manuel Vasquez-Portal
said he posted his articles on a Miami-based
Web site for a similar reason.
"Without a doubt, the Internet provided
me an avenue. It was the only way to get
the truth out of Cuba," he said through
an interpreter.
Vasquez-Portal, who was jailed for 15 months
in 2003, said he had to call his stories
in to the operator of the Web site, though,
because Cubans are not allowed access to
the Internet.
Fidel Castro congratulates Venezuela's
Chavez on re-election
HAVANA, 5 dec (AFP) - Cuban leader Fidel
Castro congratulated his ally Hugo Chavez
on being re-elected president of Venezuela,
but official silence about Castro's absence
at celebrations in his honor cast fresh
doubts on his health.
"Hugo, I will be brief so my emotions
do not betray me," he said in a note
published above his signature in the official
dailies Granma and Juventud Rebelde.
Castro, 80, has not appeared in public
since late July, when he underwent intestinal
surgery and temporarily handed power to
his younger brother, Raul, 75, Cuba's defense
minister.
"The oppressed peoples of the world
will always be grateful for the strategy
and courage you have shown in this tough
battle of ideas," Castro said.
"Your political achievement and that
of the Venezuelan people have captured the
world. We Cubans are happy," he said.
Cubans had awaited some sort of message
from Castro to Chavez on his success in
Sunday's voting.
Castro was last seen in public on July
26, before his operation. More recent videotape
shows him weak and mostly bed-ridden.
Although Castro pushed back his birthday
celebration from August to December, he
still was unable to attend, adding to speculation
among Cubans and in US diplomatic circles
that he has a terminal illness, such as
cancer.
Washington should extend olive branch
to Cuba: analysts
Antonio Rodriguez.
WASHINGTON, 4 dec (AFP) - The United States
should bury the hatchet with Cuba and accept
conciliatory overtures of its acting leader
Raul Castro, who has called for an end to
more than 40 years of hostile relations
with Washington, some Latin American analysts
said.
Raul Castro, the brother of Cuba's ailing
revolutionary dictator Fidel Castro, offered
Washington an olive branch last week, hoping
to end decades of hostility.Fidel Castro,
offered Washington an olive branch last
week, hoping to end decades of hostility.
Addressing Communist Party and military
leaders last week, Raul Castro said Cuba
was ready for negotiations with the United
States on the basis of "equality, reciprocity,
non-interference and mutual respect."
Some analysts said the overture is the
first step to what can be warmer bilateral
relations.
"What Raul was saying in his message
to Washington was that a Cuba without Castro
is blank slate for everyone, and that it
would be better if the two countries were
to normalize relations," said Marifeli
Perez-Stable, vice president of the Interamerican
Dialogue, a think tank which specializes
in Latin American issues.
Perez-Stable said the likely imminent end
of the Fidel Castro era could propel a thaw
in US-Cuban relations.
Raul Castro, 75, made an earlier conciliatory
gesture to the United States shortly after
taking power last July calling for better
bilateral ties in an interview in the official
daily Granma newspaper.
Washington's immediate response has been
to brush aside the peace offer.
"The dialogue that needs to take place
is one between the Cuban regime and the
Cuban people about the democratic future
of the island," said Janelle Hironimus,
a State Department spokeswoman.
"As we have consistently stated, any
deepening of our engagement with Cuba depends
on that dialogue and the Cuban regime's
willingness to take concrete steps toward
a political opening and a transition to
democracy," she said.
Another State Department official Tom Shannon,
dusted off a 2002 offer made by the administration
to lift the trade embargo slapped on Cuba
in 1962, but only on the condition that
Havana offer its people greater personal
freedom.
Cuba has been wracked with uncertainty
since Castro's operation in late July, reportedly
for intestinal problems.
Four months later the ailing leader is
still convalescing, with doubts growing
that he will ever fully recover and with
growing uncertainty about the future of
relations with Cuba's powerful northern
neighbor.
In particular, Fidel Castro's absence over
the weekend at his own massive 80th birthday
fete heightened speculation he may be more
seriously ill than previously believed.
A military parade in Revolution Square
capped Castro's birthday celebrations and
also commemorated the 1956 anniversary of
the landing of the ship Granma, carrying
81 fighters including the Castro brothers
and Argentine Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, which
helped spark the Cuban revolution.
Fidel Castro has not been seen in public
since July 26, the day before he underwent
intestinal surgery.
Havana and Washington have had acrimonious
relations from almost the day Fidel Castro
took power, and relations have been frostier
than ever under the George W. Bush administration.
Latin American expert Janette Habel of
the French Institute for Advanced Latin
American Studies, pointed out that even
without relations with Washington, Cuba's
fortunes have been looking up recently,
with leftist governments now in charge in
Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and Venezuela.
Rather than viewing Raul Castro's overture
as a meek act of conciliation, Habel said
his message strikes her as defiant.
"It's a challenge that he issued,"
Habel said, adding that the new Cuban leader
is saying to Washington: "There, now
how are you going to respond," she
said.
"Now it's up to America, with respect
to Latin America, to respond."
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