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NEWS
The
Miami Herald
U.S. report on Cuba delayed by details
A long-awaited report
on U.S. policy toward Cuba was expected
to be handed over to the White House this
weekend, but officials have pushed back
the date.
By Pablo Bachelet, pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com.
Posted on Fri, May. 19, 2006
WASHINGTON - A long-awaited update from
the Commission for Assistance to a Free
Cuba, a keystone of President Bush's policies
on the island, will not be delivered to
the White House as scheduled on Cuban independence
day Saturday, but should be in Bush's hands
by month's end, U.S. officials say.
The commission's initial report in 2004
led to a severe curtailing of travel and
remittances by Cuban Americans to the island,
a detailed plan for the kinds of aid that
Washington could offer Cuba after Fidel
Castro leaves power and increased funding
for pro-democracy programs.
U.S. officials have declined to comment
on what changes the commission might recommend
in its new report, although some Cuba-watchers
in Washington have been speculating that
the panel will recommend even tighter restrictions
on trips by U.S. academic and religious
groups.
The new report was to have been delivered
to the White House on Saturday, but officials
said the date has been pushed back to later
in the month because some of its details
are still being worked out. Bush is expected
to take some time to review the new recommendations
and decide which ones he will implement,
U.S. officials say.
The commission is officially headed by
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but
the day-to-day work to write the new report
has been coordinated by Caleb McCarry, the
department's Cuba transition assistance
coordinator.
Saturday is May 20, Cuban independence
day and a date that Bush has sometimes used
to make major Cuba policy announcements.
He is expected to issue a statement on Cuba
Saturday, but it's unclear whether, as he
has done in the past, he also will host
a ceremony for leading Cuban-Americans at
the White House or visit South Florida's
Cuban community.
The commission's new report was drafted
through an inter-agency process that included
input from the Departments of State, Commerce,
Homeland Security, Labor, Housing and Urban
Development, Justice and Energy, among others.
Bush came to Miami on May 20 2002, and
launched the Initiative for a New Cuba,
which challenged the island to open its
economy and adopt political reforms. In
return, the administration offered to work
with Congress to ease trade and travel restrictions.
After receiving the commission's 2004 report,
Bush cut back Cuban Americans' family visits
to the island from once a year to once every
three years and tightened the list of those
on the island who can receive cash remittances
and packages from the United States. Bush
also called for spending an extra $45 million
over the following two years to ''hasten''
and prepare for a democratic transition
in Cuba.
Block party to celebrate Cuban independence
By Elaine De Valle, edevalle@MiamiHerald.com.
Posted on Fri, May. 19, 2006
One day a year, the 300 block of Alhambra
Circle in downtown Coral Gables is turned
into a giant celebration of Cuban music,
food and culture.
The annual Cuba Libre block party, presented
by The Globe Café & Bar to commemorate
the anniversary of the island nation's independence
from Spanish rule, will have a few new features
today when it kicks off at 4 p.m.
It will include a cigar station with hand-rolled
puros, a casino to raise funds for a nonprofit
that serves area youth and a talented, comedic
emcee in the form of Alexis Valdez, host
of America TeVe's popular Seguro Que Yes
show.
The main event expected to bring up to
15,000 people to the street is the free
concert by salsa superstar Willy Chirino,
who has a song and album named Cuba Libre.
He will be preceded by Avana and Y Ke O
Ke. But the headliner -- who normally charges
up to $75 a ticket for his concerts -- is
the big draw.
''There's nobody better suited to a Cuba
Libre festival than Willy Chirino,'' said
Dany Guiteras, the owner of the Globe Café
and founder of the festival with dad Jack
Guiteras, owner of Lorraine Travel.
The 300 block of Alhambra Circle is closed
from about 1 a.m. on Friday to set up for
the celebration to about 7 a.m. Saturday
for clean up.
Proceeds from this year's Havana Casino
will go to Regis House, which provides drug
prevention and treatment services for elementary-age
children through adults.
Bridge migrants wait for approval to
leave
The 14 Cubans returned
after reaching an abandoned Keys bridge
have their applications approved on the
U.S. side -- now they're just waiting for
Cuba to give them their 'white card.'
By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated
Press. Posted on Tue, May. 16, 2006
HAVANA - Cuban migrants sent home after
reaching an abandoned bridge in the Florida
Keys said Monday they are becoming frustrated
waiting for final Cuban government approval
to leave for good.
Members of the group were traveling from
the central province of Matanzas, where
they live, to Havana, where they will seek
an appointment early today at the U.S. Interests
Section, migrant Ernesto Hernández
said by telephone.
''It has been 48 days -- we have the U.S.
visa, we have passports,'' said Hernández.
He said all they lack now is the ''white
card,'' the exit permit that Cubans must
get from the communist-run government to
leave the island.
The 14 members of the group applied for
the exit permits about six weeks ago at
Cuba's migration office in Matanzas Province.
Hernández said the approval process
generally takes 15 days.
In the meantime, said Hernández,
group members have quit their jobs as instructed
by Cuban authorities in preparation for
their migration to the United States. They
have even turned in their monthly food ration
cards.
''But we remain without a response from
the Cuban side,'' he said.
Hernández said they decided to travel
to Havana to make sure American officials
knew they were still awaiting final Cuban
government approval.
U.S. Coast Guard officials determined that
the old bridge did not qualify as dry land
because parts of it are missing and it no
longer connects to U.S. soil.
The repatriations caused an uproar in South
Florida's large Cuban exile community.
Under the United States' ''wet foot/dry
foot'' policy, most Cubans who reach U.S.
soil are allowed to remain, while those
intercepted at sea are returned home.
A deal allowing most of the Cuban group
to emigrate permanently was reached March
15 between U.S. District Judge Federico
Moreno in Miami and the U.S. government,
which had argued that the U.S. Coast Guard
acted correctly.
Report of his wealth is 'rubbish,' Castro
says
In a special TV appearance,
Fidel Castro derided a Forbes magazine estimate
that pegged his personal wealth at $900
million.
By Vanessa Arrington, Associated
Press. Posted on Tue, May. 16, 2006
HAVANA - Fidel Castro said Monday that
this month's Forbes magazine report calling
him one of the world's wealthiest rulers
was ''rubbish'' as he made a special television
appearance devoted to knocking down the
story.
Castro spoke live on the island's daily
public affairs program Mesa Redonda, or
Round Table, which served as an official
rebuttal of the Forbes report by the Cuban
president and several top officials.
''I've been listening to this wickedness
for nearly half a century -- I don't pay
much attention,'' Castro said. "Neither
lies nor slander are worth anything.''
In its May 5 article, Forbes included Castro
in a group of 10 leaders with ''lofty positions
and vast fortunes.'' The magazine estimated
Castro's personal fortune to be $900 million
-- nearly double that of the $500 million
of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and just
under Prince Albert II of Monaco's estimated
$1 billion.
The article also refers to rumors of Castro's
"large stashes in Swiss bank accounts.''
''Why should I defend myself against this
rubbish?'' Castro said he asked himself
before the appearance.
After a short introduction, the Cuban leader
gave the floor to government officials including
Central Bank President Francisco Soberon
and Culture Minister Abel Prieto, who proceeded
to defend Castro themselves.
''It is absolutely impossible that someone
in the upper levels of government -- and
especially not a leader [like Castro] .
. . who is recognized by the Cuban people
as an example of humility and self-discipline
-- could maintain personal accounts abroad,''
Soberon said.
The bank official called the Forbes article
''grotesque slander,'' and blamed an American
press he said is ''controlled by the Empire,''
and the CIA. He said he couldn't think of
anything more ''vulgar and ridiculous''
than the magazine's claims.
In explaining its calculations, Forbes
said it assumed Castro has economic control
over a web of state-owned companies including
a convention center, a retail conglomerate
and an enterprise selling vaccines and other
pharmaceuticals produced in Cuba.
Soberon, however, said all the money made
from those companies is pumped back into
the island's economy, in sectors including
health, education, science, internal security,
national defense and solidarity projects
with other countries.
In the article, Forbes acknowledges that
the estimates for all the leaders are "more
art than science.''
Activist offers his vision of new freedoms
for Cuba's constitution
Posted on Thu, May. 11,
2006
HAVANA - (AP) -- Activist Oswaldo Payá
presented a proposal Wednesday for a new
constitution with expanded freedoms for
Cubans, calling for the right to criticize
the government and operate private businesses.
The 170-page document, compiled by Payá's
Christian Liberation Movement with input
from Cubans on and off the island, contains
a blueprint for a modified constitution
and new electoral laws and rules of association.
It was considered highly unlikely that
Cuba's communist government would heed the
call for change. There was no immediate
comment from authorities.
Copies of the proposal were released to
international journalists exactly four years
after Payá delivered to Cuba's parliament
the first batch of 25,000 signatures gathered
for his Varela Project. Payá's earlier
democracy drive gained international recognition
and prompted the government to declare socialism
"irrevocable.''
The latest document was produced after
two years of discussions with Cubans on
issues that included education, health,
religion, the economy and freedom of expression.
Thousands participated in the effort, said
Payá, whose group called for a popular
vote on the proposed changes.
Propaganda and confiscation of private
property are among things prohibited in
the proposed constitution.
The right to own a business and criticize
those in power are among the expanded rights.
''No one can be antagonized because of
their opinions or criticisms, even if these
are directed against the government, government
officials or any other person or sector
of the society,'' the document says.
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