CUBA
NEWS The
Miami Herald
Castro stalls any change in Cuba
The top U.S. diplomat for
Latin America says that the uncertainty
created by Fidel Castro's condition prevents
any economic or political shifts by the
Cuban government.
By Alfredo Corchado, The
Dallas Morning News. Posted on Thu, Jan.
04, 2007.
WASHINGTON - Even with Fidel Castro seriously
ill and power transferred to his brother,
the ailing leader's presence is widely felt
and is keeping the country from taking any
new economic or political direction, says
the U.S. government's top diplomat for Latin
America.
''We see that this regime has made this
successful transfer of power and is trying
to consolidate itself, but it can't define
itself or separate itself from Fidel,''
Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state
for the Western Hemisphere, said in an interview.
"My guess is that we're not going to
see that until Fidel Castro is dead and
buried.''
''Fidel Castro is in this odd moment where
he is neither alive nor dead politically.
He is alive physically, but he's not in
charge day to day, and he's obviously not
present day to day, but it appears that
he still has the ability to sit up in bed
and give orders occasionally,'' Shannon
said.
Castro's medical condition has been a state
secret since he underwent surgery for intestinal
bleeding in late July and temporarily ceded
power to younger brother Raúl Castro.
He has not been seen publicly since July
26, fueling intense speculation about his
future.
Shannon said that Raúl Castro has
shown no sign that he will be any different
from Fidel, despite Raúl Castro's
call on Dec. 2 for the U.S. government to
meet with the Cuban government to work through
their differences.
Shannon said four goals must be met before
the U.S. government considers a change in
policy: All political prisoners must be
freed, human rights guaranteed, trade unions
allowed to form and concrete moves made
toward free elections.
''We're not going to engage with Cuba just
to engage,'' Shannon said. "Any engagement
we have with Cuba has to be part of some
kind of change process that leads toward
this transition to democracy, and therefore
we depend on what the Cuban people think
and will want us to do.''
Shannon acknowledged that the U.S. government
has no clear idea what ails Castro. Last
month the U.S. director of national intelligence,
John Negroponte, told The Washington Post
that Castro had ''months, not years'' to
live.
''We know he's really sick, that he's not
really getting any better,'' Shannon said.
"But it's not clear to us what his
problem is and what his timeline is, if
I can speak of it crudely. Negroponte said
that the information available to us portrays
his demise in a question of months as opposed
to years, but the reality is that we don't
know because the Cubans don't share that
information.''
The Spanish surgeon who has been treating
Castro, Dr. José Luis García
Sabrido, indicated last week that his patient
was ''absolutely'' not dying from cancer,
but was recovering from complications after
surgery to treat a "benign illness.''
Cuba's Santería priests predict
'funereal' future
By Rui Ferreira, El Nuevo
Herald. Posted on Wed, Jan. 03, 2007
'SANTERO' AUTHORITY: Babalawo Lázaro
Cuesta reveals 2007 predictions at his home
in Havana, Cuba.In separate and virtually
competing new-year predictions, two groups
of Cuban Santería priests are predicting
a ''funereal'' future but also an ''ideal''
moment for an economic recovery.
The island's babalawos have long been split
into several groups, with one group relatively
loyal to the government. But their annual
predictions nevertheless are anxiously awaited
by the many Cubans who practice the mixture
of African and Catholic religions.
This year, the predictions were awaited
with special interest because of Fidel Castro's
still-unknown ailment, which has kept him
out of the public eye since July 26 and
sparked speculation that he's seriously
ill.
On Monday, the Yoruba priests who make
up the relatively independent Commission
for the Year's Letter announced that 2007
would be marked by wars and ''military interventions''
although the island will see an economic
improvement based on the discovery of oil
and mineral deposits.
While they refused to speak specifically
about Castro's health, babalawo Lázaro
Cuesta, who read the year's prediction,
made comments that seemed to be directed
at the Cuban leader's ailment.
''The panorama that presents itself to
us is a little funereal,'' he said. "When
one doesn't leave his place at its proper
time, one runs the risk that unpredictable
things happen.''
Castro surrendered power for the first
time in 47 years after undergoing intestinal
surgery in late July. A Spanish surgeon
who visited him two weeks ago said Castro
was recovering from ''complications'' following
"very grave surgery.''
The 80-year-old Castro turned over most
of his power temporarily to his younger
brother Raúl, who is believed by
many Cuba-watchers to be more willing than
his brother to open the island's economy
to more market forces.
''I was powerfully impressed that they
[the babalawos] were so categoric on this,''
said María I. Faguaga Iglesias, a
Havana anthropologist who took part in the
process of developing the commission's predictions.
Although the Cuban babalawos usually avoid
making statements with political implications,
this year they raised eyebrows when they
called for more care and attention to the
island's youth "because today's youth
will be called to rule from a house to a
country in the not-too-distant future.''
The babalawos' comments coincided with
recent statements by Raúl Castro
that the generation that fought in and led
the Castro revolution is reaching the end
of its time "and we must give way to
new generations.''
Meanwhile, the Cuban Council of Senior
Ifá Priests, considered to be more
loyal to the government, said its predictions
"speak of legal problems and their
repercussions, which could bring as a concequence
an increase in corruption and crime.''
A third group of babalawos in Miami, which
will make its own predictions public today,
said the true forecast falls somewhere between
the two Havana groups. ''If we take a piece
of each letter to make up one real letter,
if out of all this mess we take a little
bit of each, this year, simply put, the
letter is predicting something bad,'' said
Miami babalawo José Montoya.
Fewer Cuban, Haitian migrants stopped
at sea in '06
Coast Guard figures show
a decline in the number of illegal Cubans
and Haitians stopped at sea -- but do not
portend an end to arrivals on U.S. shores.
By Alfonso Chardy, achardy@MiamiHerald.com.
Posted on Wed, Jan. 03, 2007
While Cuban interdictions are down, the
number of Cuban arrivals in South Florida
on smuggling and other organized trips is
up -- with 546 more landings in fiscal year
2006 than 2005, according to Border Patrol
figures.
The Coast Guard, which tracks interdictions
monthly and by calendar year, notes that
769 Haitian migrants were intercepted in
2006 compared to 1,828 in 2005 -- the first
significant decline in Haitian interdictions
since 1999 when 480 were stopped. Coast
Guard figures can be found at www.d7publicaffairs.com.
There were 2,260 Cubans interdicted in
2006, compared to 2,952 in 2005 -- the first
decline in annual Cuban interceptions since
2001 when 777 were stopped.
The figures may simply reflect cyclical
declines, but they could also represent
a more complex set of factors such as weather,
a new government in Haiti and use of alternate
routes by Cubans to reach the United States
including more efficient smuggling trips.
Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson, a Coast
Guard spokeswoman, attributed the decline
in Haitian and Cuban interdictions to weather
''particularly during the winter months.''
But Ralph Latortue, the Haitian consul in
Miami and Marleine Bastien, a prominent
Haitian community activist, said fewer Haitians
left their homeland last year because of
the advent of a new government in Port-au-Prince.
'RENEWED HOPE'
The presidential election last year of
René Preval, a former president and
one-time ally of ousted president Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, ''brought renewed hope among the
people of Haiti who love their country and
prefer to live in Haiti and raise their
children there,'' said Bastien, executive
director of Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami or Haitian
Women of Miami. However, she added, some
people are beginning to lose hope because
of renewed violence and instability in Haiti.
Ira Kurzban, a Miami immigration attorney
who has represented the Haitian government
for years, said the decline also reflects
tightened Coast Guard patrolling off Haitian
shores "which has forced people to
remain in Haiti.''
The drop in Cuban interdictions, however,
does not reflect the change of leadership
in Cuba where an ailing Fidel Castro temporarily
turned over power to brother Raúl
in July.
In fiscal year 2006, there were 3,076 Cuban
arrivals in South Florida on smuggling and
other organized trips. Additional undocumented
Cuban migrants have arrived via land borders
with Mexico and Canada.
Unauthorized Haitian arrivals are significantly
down -- just like interceptions at sea.
In fiscal year 2006, for example, only 23
undocumented Haitians were detected and
detained on arrival compared to 119 in fiscal
year 2005. Many other Haitians may have
arrived undetected.
HAITIANS' FATE
Haitians who reach U.S. shores are subject
to detention and deportation. Cubans who
make it to shore, however, report themselves
immediately to U.S. authorities because
they are generally allowed to stay under
the wet-foot/dry-foot policy. Those interdicted
at sea are generally sent back.
Bastien said a decline in Haitian interdictions
also occurred in 1990 whenAristide, a Roman
Catholic priest, was elected president.
That year 1,124 Haitians were stopped at
sea compared to almost 4,000 in 1989. Aristide's
overthrow in 1991 unleashed a mass exodus
with more than 10,000 Haitian migrants stopped
at sea that year and 31,438 the next year.
Fewer Haitians attempted to leave in 1995,
a year after Aristide returned to power
following the landing of U.S. forces in
Haiti.
Migrant flows began to increase again in
2004, when Aristide was forced to resign
during a violent uprising.
Havana condemns Hussein execution
Posted on Tue, Jan. 02,
2007email
HAVANA - (AP) -- Communist Cuba on Monday
condemned the execution of deposed Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein and called for the
end to the war it said had caused the suffering
of millions of innocent Iraqis. Hussein's
execution by hanging over the weekend was
''an illegal act in a country that has been
driven toward an internal conflict in which
millions of citizens have been exiled or
lost their lives,'' the Foreign Ministry
said in a statement carried by the official
National Information Agency.
The statement acknowledged that Cuba ''has
not yet abolished the death penalty because
of the brutal war imposed on it by the United
States,'' referring to the U.S. government's
policy to undermine the communist country,
including trade and travel sanctions.
Nevertheless, the island nation ''has a
moral duty to express its point of view
about the assassination committed by the
occupying power,'' the statement said.
The U.S. military had held Hussein since
capturing him in December 2003 but turned
him over to the Iraqi government for his
hanging.
Castro says he is battling to recover
By Anita Snow, Associated
Press. Posted on Sun, Dec. 31, 2006
HAVANA - Ailing leader Fidel Castro saluted
Cubans on the eve of the revolution's 48th
anniversary, thanking them for their support
during his illness and telling them he had
not lost his battle to recover.
''I am grateful to you for your affection
and support,'' said the message read by
a newscaster on state television and radio
Saturday. "Regarding my recovery, I
have always warned that it could be a prolonged
process, but it is far from being a lost
battle. I collaborate as a disciplined patient,
attended by the consecrated team of our
doctors.
Castro, 80, traditionally sends a similar
message to Cuban citizens every New Year's
Eve to mark the anniversary of the Jan.
1, 1959, triumph of the revolution that
brought him to power.
''I have not stopped being in the loop
on main events and information,'' he added.
"I have had exchanges with our closest
comrades always when cooperation has been
necessary on vitally important issues.''
Earlier Saturday, Cuba's Communist Party
daily reported that Castro telephoned the
Chinese ambassador in Havana to wish his
president, Hu Jintao, a happy new year.
REASSURING PUBLIC
Castro's message to the Cuban people and
the short story about his call to the Chinese
ambassador seemed aimed at ensuring the
world that the leader's recovery continues
five months after he underwent emergency
intestinal surgery.
Speculation about Castro's medical condition
has been rife amid a lack of information
from the communist government.
The last news in the state media about
Castro was a story published Dec. 16 saying
he had made separate telephone calls to
Cuban lawmakers and his friend and ally
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
Castro has not been seen in public since
several days before he announced on July
31 that he was temporarily stepping aside
after an operation for an intestinal infection.
He has provisionally ceded his powers to
his brother Raúl, the 75-year-old
defense minister.
Saturday's story said Castro called Chinese
Ambassador Zhao Rongxian on Thursday evening,
and that they discussed relations between
their countries. The ambassador also transmitted
his president's wishes for Castro's speedy
recovery.
The island's official media has not commented
on a Spanish surgeon's declarations earlier
this week that Castro did not have cancer
and was slowly recovering from a serious
operation.
VISIT TO HAVANA
José Luis García Sabrido,
chief surgeon at Madrid's Gregorio Marañón
Hospital, said he flew to Havana on Dec.
21 to see Castro and consult with the Cuban
leader's medical team on how his treatment
was progressing.
Castro's medical condition is a state secret,
but Cuban authorities have denied he suffers
from terminal cancer, as U.S. intelligence
officials have claimed.
Cuban officials have nonetheless stopped
insisting Castro will return to power.
García Sabrido said Castro could
resume the presidency if his recovery is
"absolute.''
Some doctors believe Castro may suffer
from diverticular disease, which can cause
bleeding in the lower intestine, especially
in people over 60. In severe cases, emergency
surgery may be required.
Cuba rejects Castro-Pinochet comparison
The Cuban government called
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias an 'opportunistic
clown' for comparing Fidel Castro to the
late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
By Anita Snow, Associated
Press. Posted on Thu, Dec. 28, 2006
HAVANA - Cuba blasted Costa Rican President
Oscar Arias on Wednesday for comparing ailing
leader Fidel Castro to the late Chilean
dictator Augusto Pinochet, calling Arias
an ''opportunistic clown'' who does the
bidding of the U.S. government.
In a statement published in the Communist
Party daily Granma, the Cuban Foreign Ministry
said it reacted with ''profound indignation''
to President Oscar Arias' comments likening
Castro to his ideological foe.
''There is no difference'' between the
men, Arias said in an interview in Costa
Rica last week. "The ideology differs,
but both were savage, brutal and bloody.''
Pinochet, who died on Dec. 10 at age 91,
was blamed for a political crackdown that
killed nearly 3,200 people during his right-wing
military rule from 1973 to 1990.
The 80-year-old Castro governed communist
Cuba without interruption for more than
47 years until he temporarily ceded his
powers to his younger brother Raúl
following intestinal surgery on July 31.
The Washington-friendly Arias, who won
the Nobel Peace Price in 1997 for helping
broker an end to Central America's civil
wars, has exchanged salvos with Cuban officials
since he was elected earlier this year.
Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage and Arias
quarreled publicly in August after they
suspended a meeting on reestablishing diplomatic
relations between the two nations. Arias
had also wanted to use the meeting to discuss
civil rights on the island, but Lage rejected
that idea.
In the statement on Wednesday, Cuba called
Arias a ''vulgar mercenary'' of U.S. officials
and said Washington 'always had on hand
another opportunistic clown ready to follow
its aggressive plans against Cuba. President
Arias shamelessly supports the United States'
annexation plan against Cuba and disrespects
the heroic and selfless struggle of our
people.''
Doctor: Castro doesn't have cancer
A Spanish surgeon says Fidel
Castro is recovering from surgery to treat
a 'benign illness,' in the first independent
report on the Cuban leader's health since
he fell ill five months ago.
By Frances Robles. frobles@MiamiHerald.com.
Posted on Wed, Dec. 27, 2006.
Dr. José Luis García Sabrido,
chief surgeon at Madrid's Gregorio Marañón
General Hospital, flew to Havana on Thursday
on a flight chartered by the Cuban government.
In a press conference Tuesday in Madrid,
García Sabrido offered few medical
details about what is ailing the controversial
Cuban leader but insisted Castro is not
dying of cancer.
''Within [the rules] of confidentiality,
what I can say is that President Castro
doesn't suffer from a malignant illness,''
García Sabrido said at the televised
news conference when asked whether Castro's
illness was curable. "It's a benign
illness for which he has had a series of
complications.''
Asked if he had cancer, García Sabrido
said, "From what I know, I absolutely
deny it.''
The doctor's words did little to sway U.S.
officials from their belief that the Cuban
leader is gravely ill.
Castro stepped down from office July 31,
saying he had undergone intestinal surgery.
Officially a state secret, little has been
said about his health since. Most Cuba-watchers
came to believe Castro was in the last stages
of a terminal illness when he failed to
appear at a Dec. 2 parade in his honor.
On Dec. 13, U.S. Director of National Intelligence
John D. Negroponte told The Washington Post
that Castro had ''months, not years'' to
live and ''we think he's terminally ill.''
That belief was reiterated by several officials
Tuesday, though they were careful not to
suggest that Castro was suffering from some
form of terminal stomach cancer.
EVALUATION STANDS
One official said his government agency
had ''no reason'' to reconsider its evaluation
that Castro's condition was ''very serious
indeed.'' The official spoke on condition
that his name and affiliation not be revealed,
given the sensitivity and speculative nature
of the subject.
The State Department declined to comment
on the Spanish doctor's assessment. But
privately officials reiterated the U.S.
government's previously stated belief that
Castro is more ill than Cuban officials
have let on.
The State Department has said since August
that it believes Castro will not return
to wield the kind of absolute power he once
held.
García Sabrido said Castro asks
every day to return to work, but doctors
in Havana have demanded prudence. García
Sabrido did not discount the possibility
that Castro could return to office if his
recovery is "absolute.''
''I think that in these moments his decision
to delegate power implies that he must now
be dedicated to his recovery,'' the Associated
Press reported. "What happens in the
future will be an absolutely personal matter.''
Among García Sabrido's revelations:
o For now, no more surgeries are being
considered.
o Castro is in stable condition after the
very serious surgery.
o His mental condition is ''exceptional
and fantastic,'' and he has a surprising
ability to recount historical anecdotes.
o His recovery includes nutrition and physical
therapy.
o This was the first time he examined Castro,
but they had met previously.
''One of the big problems facing the medical
team is how to limit his [physical] activity,
an activity that has been long recognized
as excellent,'' García Sabrido said.
"But that's very difficult.''
The press conference was the first time
a credible source backed up the Cuban government's
account of Castro's condition. But even
when the Spanish Health Ministry made news
around the world Monday by confirming Dr.
García Sabrido's visit, Cuba's media
made no mention of it.
García Sabrido's trip is already
causing controversy in Spain, where conservative
politicians questioned the use of Spanish
funds to pay for medicines being sent to
the Cuban leader since June.
The Heath Department declined to specify
the cost, Europa Press reported.
''If the comandante has to ask for help
. . . what happens to the rest of the Cuban
citizens, especially the political prisoners?''
Esperanza Aguirre, president of the Madrid
regional government, said on Spanish TV.
AID 'FOR A DICTATOR'
Although Aguirre noted that the Spanish
government offers humanitarian aid to whoever
asks for it, she said it was unfortunate
that in this case it was for "a dictator.''
García Sabrido insisted that his
medical services were offered on a personal
basis, and not on behalf of the Spanish
government.
''The consideration for a doctor when they
asked for a medical opinion is to be a doctor,''
he said. "I do not ask patients either
their religion, their political ideology
or tendencies. I am a medical professional
and I dedicate myself to my profession.
For me, President Castro is an exceptional
patient, but he does not stop being a patient.''
The surgeon said his relationship with
Cuba dates back several years, and that
he has ''had the privilege'' of government
and scientific contacts on the island.
García Sabrido's specialty is in
the digestive system and in transplants.
This year, he gave a lecture on pancreatic
surgery.
Europa Press reported that the Cuban embassy
in Madrid was pleased with García
Sabrido's report -- suggesting he gave it
with permission from the Cuban government.
Miami Herald translator Renato Pérez
and staff writer Pablo Bachelet contributed
to this report.
New line of work in Cuba: begging
Once, panhandlers were a
rare sight in Cuba. But within the country's
ailing economy, begging tourists is relatively
lucrative.
By Miami Herald staff report,
cuba@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Mon, Dec.
25, 2006.
HAVANA - Daniel Avila's source of income
is irregular, subject to weather conditions,
and offers no paid holidays or vacations.
But as a full-time beggar on Havana's famed
seaside avenue, Avila can make in two days
what the rest of his countrymen earn in
two weeks: about $8.
Avila, disabled from a bike wreck 10 years
ago, waits until the new tourist buses park
along the Malecón in Old Havana and
drop off dozens of foreign tourists for
an afternoon of crafts-shopping, then hobbles
up and down the street asking for money,
a metal brace in each hand.
''Five years ago, you didn't see as many
people doing this,'' he said, lamenting
that day's competition: a rail-thin young
mother toting an infant baby. "Five
years ago you could get by in Cuba. Now
you see a lot of elderly and handicapped
out here asking for money. The pension they
give us just isn't enough.''
Avila is not alone. Anyone strolling through
Cuba's tourist spots like Old Havana is
likely to encounter a number of panhandlers,
from the disabled like Avila and the elderly
like Cecilia in the Plaza de Armas, to those
struggling with mental illness such as Irma
Castillo at the Parque Central.
One neatly dressed middle-aged woman walks
up and down the Prado, a main thoroughfare
in central Havana, showing a well-healed
scar on her back, explaining that she had
surgery and needs money.
Along the cobblestone streets of the tourist
city of Trinidad, a young pregnant woman
lifts her shirt to expose her swelling belly,
hoping to tear at tourists' hearts and pockets.
Another middle-aged woman there trails tourists
at the craft fair, asking for spare clothing
or even a pen.
They share a common idea: in Cuba, it's
far more lucrative to beg from tourists
than to work full-time.
Many Latin American nations have large
numbers of poor who live in shantytowns
and beg to survive, and of course the United
States has its share of panhandlers. But
begging was virtually unheard of in Cuba
before its economy crashed with the fall
of the Soviet Union.
The Cuban government has long extolled
socialism's superiority over capitalism,
precisely because of the lack of indigents
on the street in Cuba.
''Without socialism, we could not have
a society without beggars wandering the
streets, without children going barefoot
or begging, or absent from school because
they need to work for a living, . . . things
that are so common in other parts of the
world, including the United States,'' Fidel
Castro said in a 2001 speech commemorating
the 40th anniversary of his switch to socialism.
As the Cuban government publicly grapples
with a lack of ''efficiency'' by workers
and a disinterest in the 40-hour workweek,
it has yet to find an answer to address
the root of that apathy: low wages. The
socialist government provides a number of
benefits, from housing and free education
to medical care, but one month worth of
rationed food lasts only 1 ½ weeks
and salaries hover around $15 a month.
For a few, that means hopping on a bus
to their favorite panhandling spot.
''I don't like to beg,'' said Castillo,
48. "But lots of people do it. They
do it all the time because times are tough.
I've only been doing it for two months.
Foreigners have been kind to me.''
She said mental illness keeps her from
working, and her government pension is just
$10 a month. Sometimes, she said, she can
get that much from a single tourist. Dressed
in rags as much indicative of her mental
deterioration as her poverty, she showed
her worn down flip-flops and rotting toenails.
''Look at the shoes I wear,'' she said.
"Don't you have $10 to give me? How
about a pair of shoes? You didn't bring
any clothes to give away?''
These are not like inner city homeless
Americans in need of a drug fix. They come
from all walks of life, all races and ages.
Several interviewed were elderly or appeared
to be mentally ill people who seem to have
slipped through the holes in Cuba's social
service net.
Experts say the beggars are yet another
sign of the strategies -- part survival,
part hustle -- that some Cubans turn to
when their income cannot meet their needs.
''The government is basically in denial
of poverty,'' said Daniel Erikson of the
InterAmerican Dialogue think tank in Washington.
He said Cuban panhandling is quite different
from other parts of Latin America.
''The Cubans that are out there asking
for money go home to their houses,'' Erikson
said. "They are not people living on
the street like the rest of Latin America.''
Still, for other Cubans, begging is an
embarrassment.
''I have gotten to the point where I don't
go to the town square. I'm too embarrassed,''
said Odelia, a retired grandmother in Trinidad.
"I'm ashamed to see people -- people
who just don't want to work -- asking tourists
for money. I would sooner do whatever it
took -- clean, iron clothes -- before asking
anybody for anything.''
Avila said he turned to begging a year
ago. He claims he makes 50 Cuban pesos a
month on disability -- about $3 -- and said
he takes care of a sick mother.
''I live off foreigners who help me,''
he said. "I come about 11 in the morning
and stay until 4.''
He shunned other beggars on the malecón
as frauds.
''Some people aren't needy; they just don't
want to work,'' he said. "We have a
free education and health care in the country,
but what good is it if everyone is really
bad off?''
Offered lunch, Avila declined, saying what
he really needed was cash.
The Miami Herald withheld the name of the
correspondent who filed this report because
the author lacked the Cuban journalist visa
required to work on the island.
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