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Cuba's oldest man dies at age 126
HAVANA, 12 (AFP) - The oldest man in Cuba,
Benito Martinez Abogan, died at the ripe
age of 126 without fulfilling his dream
of returning to his homeland in Haiti, which
he had left 81 years ago.
The Cuban-Haitian died at a hospital in
central Cuba, where he was taken last week
after suffering from pneumonia and a heart
ailment, according to the director of his
retirement home.
Better known by his nickname "Avion,"
or "Plane" in Spanish, Martinez
still had energy, good vision and hearing,
and a sense of humor until he got sick,
said Camilo Cienfuegos retirement home director
Maribel del Castillo.
"He made us all very happy,"
del Castillo said.
Martinez was born in Cavaillon, in southwest
Haiti, on June 19, 1880, and arrived in
Cuba in 1925. He worked in sugar cane and
coffee plantations, and also road construction.
The centenarian also briefly worked at
one of the farms owned by the father of
Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
He lived in the countryside, ate lots of
vegetables and didn't smoke, said Noel Lopez,
a retirement home worker. He never stopped
drinking coffee and sometimes knocked backed
some rum.
His feet were gnarled from walking without
shoes for more than 100 years, Lopez said.
In one of last his interviews, Martinez
said one of his secrets of his longevity
was to "get along with everyone."
Biltmore Hosts Gov., Cuban Democracy
Summit
Gov. Jeb Bush is in South Florida attending
a summit on Cuba's transition to democracy.
The summit, being held at the Biltmore
Hotel, features various panels, including
members of Cuban exile organizations and
foreign ministers who have aided in the
transition to democracy in formerly communist
countries.
Among those joining the governor are U.S.
Sen. Mel Martinez, U.S. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart
and Mario Diaz-Balart, U.S. Rep. Illeana
Ros-Lehtinen, and Cuban exile leaders. The
standing-room only affair's purpose is to
develop ways to help free the Cuban people,
assist in the Communist country's transition
to a democratic government and avoid the
transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his
brother, Raul Castro.
"It's obviously unacceptable to suggest
that we go from one dictator to another,"
Martinez said. "You know, I call it
one aging dictator who has happened to have
fallen off the table because he's too old
to another one who's almost that old, both
of whom share nothing with liberty (and)
neither of whom has any history of understanding
the needs of their people."
Lincoln Diaz-Balart said the U.S. has no
plans to deal with the Castro clan, but
would work with Cuba once the transition
to a democratic government happens.
"Once there is a Cuban government
that represents the Cuban people, I'm confident
the United States will sit down and return
the base in Guantanamo, but first it's got
to be a government that represents the Cuban
people," he said.
Japan names ambassadors to Finland,
Ethiopia, Hungary, Cuba
(Kyodo) 13 oct - The government decided
at a Cabinet meeting Friday to appoint new
ambassadors to Finland and Estonia, Ethiopia
and Djibouti, Hungary, and Cuba, which would
take effect Monday.
Hitoshi Honda, 60, will be appointed ambassador
to Finland and Estonia. He has previously
served as ambassador to Ukraine and Moldova.
Kinichi Komano, 59, to be ambassador to
Ethiopia and Djibouti, is currently assigned
as a diplomat at the Japanese Embassy in
the United States.
Shinichi Nabekura, 60, to be ambassador
to Hungary, used to be an official at the
former Posts and Telecommunications Ministry
and worked at the Cabinet Secretariat until
recently.
Akira Takamatsu, 56, to be ambassador to
Cuba, has served as Japanese consul general
in Vladivostok, Russia.
China, Cuba to cooperate in meteorology
Beijing, Oct 11 (IANS) China and Cuba have
signed a five-year agreement here to cooperate
in the field of meteorology, Cuban news
agency Prensa Latina reported Wednesday.
Acting Cuban Minister of Science, Technology
and Environment (CITMA) Fernando Gonzalez
Bermudez and Deputy Director of the Chinese
Meteorological Administration Zheng Guoguang
inked the document.
The accord establishes and regulates bilateral
collaboration on weather changes, meteorological
satellites and their applications to other
spheres, impact of natural disasters and
monitoring wind resources.
It was agreed to collaborate in environment
issues like damage due to droughts, flooding
and forest fires.
Bermudez also held talks with Deputy Science
and Technology Minister Zhang Yong, Social
Science Academy Vice President Chen Jiagui
and China's Science Academy Vice President
Li Ping Hai, among others.
Cuba's Fidel not dying: Raul Castro
HAVANA, 8 (AFP) - Cuban strongman Fidel
Castro is far from dying, interim leader
Raul Castro said after reports that his
brother suffered from terminal cancer.
"He is not dying as some media in
Miami are saying, but is getting better
all the time," said Castro, interim
leader since his brother, Cuba's president,
underwent intestinal surgery on July 31.
"He has a telephone by his side and
uses it more each day, which says that he
is working," Raul Castro said after
a youth group meeting. "He is resting,
but works each day a little more."
On Saturday, Time magazine reported that
Fidel, 80, was believed to have terminal
cancer and was unlikely to return to power,
and cited US government officials.
Despite remarks by Cuban Foreign Minister
Felipe Perez Roque on Wednesday that Castro
"continues to recover (and) we will
have him back leading the Revolution,"
Time reported that many US officials are
now convinced that Castro has terminal cancer
and will never retake the reins of the Americas'
only communist-ruled country.
"Certainly we have heard this, that
this guy has terminal cancer," a US
official told the New York-based magazine
on condition of anonymity.
Fidel Castro handed over the presidency
temporarily for the first time in almost
five decades to Raul, 75, while he recuperates
from surgery.
Raul, who is Cuba's defense chief, blamed
the news media in Miami, the epicenter of
anti-Castro Cuban-Americans, which reported
on the Time story.
Fidel Castro believed to have terminal
cancer
WASHINGTON, 7 (AFP) - Ailing Cuban leader
Fidel Castro is believed to have terminal
cancer and is unlikely to return to power,
a magazine reported, citing US government
officials.
Despite remarks by Cuban Foreign Minister
Felipe Perez Roque on Wednesday that Castro
"continues to recover (and) we will
have him back leading the Revolution,"
Time magazine reported on its website that
many US officials are now convinced that
Castro has terminal cancer and will never
retake the reins of the Americas' only communist-ruled
country.
"Certainly we have heard this, that
this guy has terminal cancer," a US
official told the magazine on condition
of anonymity.
Castro, 80, handed over the presidency
for the first time in almost five decades
to his brother Raul Castro, 75, who has
long been Cuba's defense chief, after undergoing
intestinal surgery in July. He has largely
remained out of the public spotlight since
then.
Time.com noted in the report that the intelligence
reports on Castro's health could be wrong,
but reporter Tim Burger, one of the article's
authors, told CNN television: "Obviously
there is intelligence to that effect"
that Castro will not recover and return
to work.
"There have been lots of rumors over
the decades about Castro's health. This
time, there's specificity and they attribute
credibility to the reports," Burger
said.
Cubans remember airliner bombing victims
By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated
Press Writer Fri Oct 6.
HAVANA - Ondina Perez grew teary Friday
as she recalled the day 30 years ago when
a Cuban airliner exploded in flight over
the island of Barbados, killing her pilot
brother and the other 72 people aboard.
Three decades later, Perez and other family
members of those killed want the man sought
for masterminding the explosion, Luis Posada
Carriles, to face trial.
"It is sad to see all these children,
grandchildren, parents, without their loved
ones today," said Perez, who was among
the victims' relatives who made a pilgrimage
to Havana's Colon Cemetery, some hoisting
large posters with black-and-white photographs
of their dead loved ones.
Posada, a former CIA operative and opponent
of Fidel Castro who denies involvement in
the bombing, is being held in the United
States on unrelated immigration charges.
U.S. officials on Thursday blocked a federal
magistrate's ruling that Posada be set free
pending his deportation from the United
States.
Those leading the pilgrimage into the cemetery
carried a black banner bearing the words:
"We Demand Justice." Family members
left flowers at the graves of victims.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday
also paid tribute to the bombing victims,
who he said were "martyrs of the Cuban
revolution" killed by "state terrorism"
perpetuated by the United States. He demanded
the U.S. government "comply with its
own laws, comply with international accords"
and extradite Posada.
"Before the world we denounce the
United States government for continuing
to protect the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles,"
Chavez said.
The Cuban government held its own event
Friday evening to remember the bombing victims
and demand that Posada be tried. Castro,
convalescing after intestinal surgery in
late July, also sent a floral arrangement
to the cemetery.
Posada is to remain for now at a U.S. immigration
detention center in El Paso, Texas.
The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday
that the decision to keep Posada in custody
was based in part on his potential flight
risk and danger to the community.
Posada was arrested in Florida in May 2005
on an immigration violation and ordered
deported last year, but a U.S. immigration
judge ruled that Posada could not be sent
to either Cuba or Venezuela - which both
seek him in connection with the bombing
- because of the fear that he would be tortured.
Since then, Canada, Guatemala, Mexico,
Costa Rica and El Salvador all have rejected
official requests by the U.S. to accept
Posada, who is a naturalized Venezuelan
citizen.
Thursday's decision comes less than a month
after U.S. Magistrate Judge Norbert Garney
ruled that Posada should be set free while
the American government seeks a country
that will accept him.
Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo
Alarcon reiterated his government's claims
that U.S. officials had known of Posada's
involvement in the bombing at the time,
and had protected him ever since.
"These are 30 years of complicity
and obstruction of justice," he said.
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