CUBA
NEWS The
Miami Herald
New Congress emboldens Cuban Democrats
A new generation of Democrats
is working to lure Cuban Americans away
from the Republican Party they have supported
for decades.
By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com.
Posted on Tue, Jan. 30, 2007
By her own account, Susana Betancourt earned
her anti-Castro cred by helping to represent
Bacardi in its trademark fight over Havana
Club Rum against the Cuban government --
and winning.
At 37, she's a successful and politically
active Gen-Xer, a rising star in Miami's
contentious political scene, working to
lure Cuban Americans away from the Republican
Party.
With Democrats in control of Congress and
Raúl Castro running Cuba the past
six months as his brother Fidel remains
ailing, some believe change is on the horizon.
Last week, a bipartisan group, including
Arizona Republican Rep. Jeff Flake, and
New York Democrat Charles Rangel, once again
introduced a bill in the U.S. House to allow
travel to Cuba.
If Democrats act as a catalyst for change,
Cuban Americans from their party will be
in a position that could present both opportunity
and political peril.
'There is this ongoing presumption that
if you're Cuban you're automatically a Republican,
and when you tell people you're Democrat,
it's almost like the old guard looks at
you and says, 'I didn't realize you're a
communist,' '' said Betancourt, president
of the Miami-Dade Democratic Hispanic Caucus.
Betancourt is counting on disillusionment
with President Bush's Cuba policy to attract
younger Cuban-American voters, in particular,
to the Democratic camp. ''You've had a Republican
president and you've had a Republican-controlled
Congress,'' she said. "What changes
have we seen?''
SOLD OUT?
Joe Garcia, vice president of the New Democrat
Network, said the Bush administration hobbled
the Republican Party by "selling itself
out to the ultra-right.''
''What I think you are going to find from
Democrats is they are going to look to engage
the Cuban-American community for the solution,''
Garcia said.
Republicans point out that Cuban-American
voters tend to be more conservative on Cuba
policy than more recently arrived exiles,
who may favor easing restrictions on travel
and remittances.
State. Rep. David Rivera, a Republican
who led a group three years ago that lobbied
the Bush administration to tighten the embargo,
said Democrats have to tread carefully.
''Any Democratic presidential candidate
that tries to embrace a more liberal approach
toward Cuba policy does so at their own
peril,'' Rivera said. "Because they
are trying to appeal to a group of individuals
who are not as relevant to the political
process as they may be led to believe.''
Seventy-two percent of Cuban-American voters
are registered Republicans, according to
a recent poll conducted by Bendixen &
Associates, a polling firm closely aligned
with the Democrats. Only 11 percent are
registered Democrats.
Those statistics don't discourage a group
outnumbered almost 7-1. They recall how
Democrat Bill Clinton made inroads when
seeking reelection in 1996, garnering 40
percent of the vote in predominantly Cuban-American
precincts.
This younger generation of Democrats is
carrying on a torch kindled decades ago
by former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, former
Florida state Rep. Annie Betancourt (no
relation to Susana Betancourt) and others.
Many exiles say U.S. policy toward Cuba
is too harsh.
GENERATION GAP
Conducted several weeks after Fidel Castro
ceded power to Raúl, the poll found
that Cubans who arrived from the island
before 1980 toed a harder line on sanctions
than those who arrived afterward. That makes
sanctions -- such as limiting travel to
visit family in Cuba to once every three
years -- a potential wedge issue.
Bendixen's poll showed that 49 percent
of Cuban Americans favored the 2004 sanctions
and 45 percent opposed them. Cuban exiles
who arrived after 1980 opposed sanctions
55 percent to 41 percent; those who came
before 1980 favored restrictions 63 percent
to 29 percent.
A similar poll conducted in September for
U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart found
Cuban Americans in his district backed current
sanctions, although younger voters were
less likely to support the embargo. In that
poll, 80 percent of the Cuban Americans
interviewed arrived before the Mariel boatlift.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said softening
the embargo will not help bring democracy
to Cuba. ''I would hope that regardless
of how the Cuban Democrats approach the
overarching policy, that we agree on the
end goal, which is helping the Cuban people
to establish freedom,'' she said. "We
disagree on how best to get there.''
Like Republicans, Democrats don't have
a consensus on Cuba. Some Democrats, such
as New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, back sanctions.
Some pro-trade Republicans have joined liberal
Democrats to push for U.S. travel to Cuba
and increased contacts they believe can
help lead to democratic reform.
Key Democrats say they won't press to change
U.S. policy while Castro is likely on his
deathbed; they're waiting to see what leadership
emerges.
BIDING THEIR TIME
Democrats likely won't get enough votes
to overturn a veto, which Bush has promised
for any bill that attempts to soften the
embargo and travel ban.
Nevertheless, Cuban-American Democrats
see a chance to move the debate -- and,
eventually, the White House -- in another
direction.
Coral Gables City Attorney Elizabeth Hernandez,
a Democrat, said Cuban Americans are split
over the embargo.
''I always believe in destiny, and it's
very ironic that the Democrats are in power
the year we are hoping with sufficient amount
of prayer that Fidel will meet his maker,''
Hernandez said. "I am hoping that the
Democratic Party, which is the one that
really planned for the reentry of Cuban
exiles into Cuba when this first happened,
will be at the helm when, hopefully, we
are back in Cuba.''
When Castro dies, the party's on
The city of Miami plans
to respond to Fidel Castro's death -- whenever
that may be -- with a celebration at the
Orange Bowl.
By Michael Vasquez, mrvasquez@MiamiHerald.com.
Posted on Mon, Jan. 29, 2007
One day, very possibly one day soon, ailing
Cuban leader Fidel Castro will die -- and
a nascent committee sponsored by the city
of Miami wants to be ready.
So it's planning a party.
The event, still in the very early planning
stage, would be held in Little Havana's
Orange Bowl stadium -- and might include
commemorative T-shirts, a catchy slogan
and bands that will make your hips shake.
The stadium is a bittersweet landmark in
South Florida's Cuban-American experience.
After the 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, more
than 35,000 exiles gathered there to hear
President John F. Kennedy promise a free
Cuba.
Decades later, the bowl served as a camp
for Mariel refugees.
City Commissioner Tomás Regalado,
a Cuban American, came up with the idea
of using the venue for an event timed to
Castro's demise.
''He represents everything bad that has
happened to the people of Cuba for 48 years,''
Regalado said of Castro. "There is
something to celebrate, regardless of what
happens next. . . . We get rid of the guy.''
Despite that statement, Regalado, along
with other organizers, prefers to think
of it as a celebration of the end of communism
-- whether or not that is triggered by Castro's
death -- as opposed to a large-scale tap-dancing
session on someone's grave. Regalado compares
it to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The city created the citizens committee
that is planning the event earlier this
month. When the still-unnamed panel met
for the first time last week, Castro's death
was nowhere to be found on the meeting agenda.
The meeting was officially -- and ambiguously
-- advertised under the title, "Committee
Meeting for an Event at the Orange Bowl.''
Its purpose, according to the city's website:
"Discuss an event at the Orange Bowl
in case expected events occur in Cuba.''
EVENT'S THEME
At that meeting, committee member and former
state Rep. Luis Morse stressed the need
for an uplifting, forward-looking theme
for the party -- one not preoccupied with
a human being's passing. The committee discussed
including such a theme on T-shirts that
would be made by private vendors for the
event.
Plenty of details have to be sorted out:
What musicians would perform? The city hopes
entertainers will donate their services.
How long will the event last? Hours? Days?
And how much will it cost?
Performance stages require time to be set
up, and a security guard company has already
told Miami officials it requires 24 hours'
notice before being able to work the stadium.
A gap of a day or two between Castro's death
and the Orange Bowl event is possible.
And before printing themed T-shirts, Miami
has to actually decide what the theme is.
It's still working on that one.
''That has to be done with a lot of sensitivity,''
Morse said. "Somebody needs to be a
very good wordsmith.''
The stadium plan, though in its infancy,
already has drawn criticism from callers
on Spanish-language radio who complain Miami
is dictating to Cuban Americans where they
should experience one of the most intensely
dramatic moments of their lives.
Regalado stresses that folks will still
be free to spend their time on Calle Ocho
-- the cultural heart of Little Havana and
a location viewed more fondly by many exiles
-- or anywhere else for that matter.
''This is not a mandatory site,'' he said
of the Orange Bowl. "Just a place for
people to gather.''
Ramón Saúl Sánchez,
leader of the Miami-based Democracy Movement
organization, worries about how a party
would be perceived by those outside the
exile community. He stressed that Castro's
death will prompt a whole range of emotions
among Cubans -- not just joy.
CRITIC OF PARTY
''The notion of a big party, I think, should
be removed from all this,'' Sánchez
said. "Although everybody will be very
happy that the dictator cannot continue
to oppress us himself, I think everybody
is still very sad because there are still
prisons full of prisoners, many people executed,
and families divided.''
Rather than partying, Sánchez would
rather see the post-Castro focus be on improving
conditions for those still on the island.
If an Orange Bowl event must happen, Sánchez
would like to see it in the form of a ''protest
concert'' heavy on positive messages.
Regalado, meanwhile, envisions the stadium
-- as opposed to Versailles restaurant or
some other tried-and-true landmark -- becoming
the operations hub for the hordes of media
expected to descend upon Miami: images of
a thumping, pulsating, euphoric Orange Bowl
beamed to televisions across the globe.
''It's helping a community celebrate,''
he said. "We can't stop the celebrations.
We just want to help.''
Frozen Cuban funds running out
Havana is reportedly
alarmed at the rapid depletion of funds
held in U.S. accounts and being doled out
as compensation to claimants in U.S. courts.
By Wilfredo Cancio Isla,
El Nuevo Herald. Posted on Mon, Jan. 29,
2007
U.S. lawsuits seeking monetary compensation
from Cuba face discouraging prospects: The
Cuban funds frozen in U.S. accounts now
are estimated at only around $70 million
and are expected to run out soon.
The depletion of the Cuban assets held
in U.S. banks has alarmed Havana, which
has accused the U.S. government of stealing
$170.2 million of its money over the past
five years.
Cuba's accusation was contained in a note
from the Ministry of Foreign Relations earlier
this month, after a court ruling in Miami
awarded $400 million to the survivors of
Robert Fuller, a U.S. citizen executed by
firing squad in Cuba in 1960. The compensation
in that case has not been collected.
''Cuba will never renounce its right to
demand that the U.S. government take full
responsibility for the theft of the funds
that are legitimately ours, to the last
cent,'' the ministry's note said.
In reprisal for the first disbursement
-- a $96 million award to the survivors
of the Brothers to the Rescue members killed
over the Straits of Florida -- Havana cut
off direct U.S.-Cuba telephone communications
in 2000. But Cuba analysts believe the current
complaint has a different purpose because
Raúl Castro has ''temporarily'' replaced
his brother Fidel as the island's leader.
''These funds could be a subject for negotiation
with Washington,'' said Jaime Suchlicki,
director of the Center for Cuban and Cuban-American
Studies at the University of Miami. "The
new clique of Raúl Castro, [Central
Bank President] Francisco Soberón
and company, is interested in those accounts,
with a pragmatic vision.''
Cuba faces 5,911 claims from corporations
and individuals for the confiscation of
their properties and other assets on the
island after Fidel Castro seized power in
1959. But it was not until the U.S. Congress
passed a law in 2000 that claimants in U.S.
courts could hope to collect any court awards
from the frozen Cuban funds.
Although the amount of Cuban money frozen
in U.S. accounts is inexact and ever-changing,
an article that appeared in the Granma newspaper
after the foreign ministry complaint said
that barely $76 million remain, and that
two of its accounts at the JPMorgan Chase
bank ran out after an award granted by a
New York judge in November 2006.
That award, totaling almost $91 million,
benefited the survivors of Howard Anderson
($67 million) and Thomas Willard Ray ($23.9
million), U.S. citizens who participated
in the Bay of Pigs invasion and were captured
and executed in Cuba in 1961. The ministry
maintained that only $72.1 million of that
amount could be transferred to the plaintiffs
before those accounts ran out.
The assets blocked by the Cuban Assets
Control Regulations established in 1963
consist of three major accounts in the JPMorgan
Chase bank: one belonging to the National
Bank of Cuba (BNC) and two belonging to
the Telecommunications Company of Cuba (EMTELCUBA).
A significant percentage of the accumulated
funds consists of long-distance telephone
charges due to Cuba.
According to the Granma report, the BNC
account and one of the EMTELCUBA accounts
are already depleted. The second EMTELCUBA
account contains only $6 million. About
$58 million belonging to individual citizens
and about $12 million in small accounts
belonging to private and public institutions
is all that remains of the frozen funds.
The latest U.S. Treasury Department report
on the frozen assets of terrorism-linked
nations placed the Cuban amount by the end
of 2005 at $268.3 million. Treasury's Office
of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) declined
to comment on the Cuban government's $76
million figure but did not challenge it.
''Because we do not physically possess
the assets, our information depends on the
figures given to us by the financial institutions,''
said spokeswoman Molly Millerwise. "There
are several requirements the financial institutions
must meet when they report the frozen assets,
and these [requirements] change frequently,
making it impossible to get precise figures.''
Claimants also have had problems locating
the frozen money because the U.S. banks
refuse to reveal information, so as to prevent
claims on their funds.
''A fundamental problem that emerged from
the beginning in the quest to receive awards
from the frozen funds was that there was
no mechanism to collect the awards, even
after a judge ruled favorably,'' said attorney
Frank Angones, who represented the relatives
of the Brothers to the Rescue victims in
their 1997 claim for Cuban assets.
Wellness, longevity take varied paths
in U.S., Cuba
U.S. healthcare costs
more than Cuba's and may not have an edge
in helping people live longer, but Cubans
often lack prescription drugs and over-the-counter
remedies.
By John Dorschner. jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com.
Posted on Sun, Jan. 28, 2007
The average Cuban lives slightly longer
than the average American, but the American's
healthcare costs $5,711 a year while the
Cuban's costs $251.
Those are the figures of the World Health
Organization. Some experts question the
accuracy of the Cuban numbers, but no one
doubts the underlying revelation: There
is little relationship between the cost
of your healthcare and how long you'll live.
''Medical care is responsible for only
a small portion of the variation in life
expectancy,'' says Gerard Anderson, a Johns
Hopkins professor specializing in health
policy. "Behavioral factors such as
diet and exercise are much more important.
The U.S., which spends much more than any
other industrialized country on healthcare,
is getting little value for much of the
spending.''
These factors have moved to the forefront
of the American political discussion as
leaders in both major parties work toward
solving what almost everyone agrees is a
''healthcare crisis,'' with soaring costs
threatening to increase the numbers of the
uninsured, which already include 46 million
Americans.
In such a discussion, Cuba serves as the
starkest possible contrast, a completely
government-controlled system in which ailing
leader Fidel Castro benefits from the best
possible care, including consultations with
a Madrid surgeon, while many Cubans struggle
to get basic treatment.
Here are the numbers: The average American
has a life expectancy of 77.8 years, as
of 2006. The average Cuban lives 78.3 years.
Even if the Cuban figure is inflated, no
one disputes the statistics from European
countries, where people tend to live a year
or two longer than in the United States
-- at about half the healthcare costs per
capita.
At its highest level, most people agree,
the United States has top-quality care.
The country offers the latest magnetic resonance
imaging, robotic-arm surgeries and drugs
to deal with cholesterol, acid reflux and
arthritis pain.
Americans want the biotech drug to target
tumor cells, but many don't get basic preventive
screening tests. That's particularly true
for the uninsured, who often avoid treatment
until their condition sends them to the
emergency room.
Cuba offers universal healthcare and has
twice as many doctors per capita as the
United States. The Cuban government did
not respond to The Miami Herald's request
for comment via telephone or e-mail, but
its publications have boasted that the country
is one of the world's leaders in healthcare.
Ann C. Seror, a professor at Laval University
in Quebec, Canada, says Cuba has "achieved
a remarkable level of healthcare quality
of life for its citizenry.''
But six Cuban doctors The Miami Herald
interviewed -- two dissidents still on the
island, four now in Miami -- say many prescription
drugs and even over-the-counter remedies
are nearly impossible to get, and patients
sometimes have long waits in clinics unless
they pay bribes.
One irony is that poverty has forced Cubans
into a healthier lifestyle. Juan A. Asensio,
a University of Miami trauma surgeon and
a Cuban American who is certainly no friend
of the Castro regime, put it this way: "No
McDonald's, and Cubans walk everywhere or
ride bikes because they can't afford cars.''
About one in 10 Cubans are obese, according
to the Pan American Health Organization.
In the United States, one in three are obese,
''increasing risks of high blood pressure,
type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease and
osteoarthritis,'' according to the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Still, the aging American, no matter his
weight, can lay claim to a more comfortable
life, with access to everything from Advil
to Pepto-Bismol and Viagra -- products virtually
nonexistent in Cuba.
As Nestor Viamonte, a physician who left
Cuba in 2003, puts it: "There's a difference
between a 75-year-old with quality of life
and a 75-year-old without quality of life.''
Cuban migrants land on Key West naval
property
A Navy commander in Key
West discovered 15 Cuban migrants in his
yard this week.
By Cammy Clark, cclark@MiamiHerald.com.
Posted on Fri, Jan. 26, 2007
KEY WEST - The U.S. Navy's new top commander
in Key West got up one morning this week
to a front-door taste of life in South Florida:
Calmly sitting in his yard near a hedge
were 15 Cuban migrants, fresh off a crossing
of the Florida Straits in a rickety homemade
boat.
An off-duty officer, jogging in the predawn
darkness, spotted the group around 5:30
a.m. Wednesday and knocked on the front
door belonging to Capt. James R. Brown of
the Key West Naval Air Station.
'He said, 'Hey, skipper, I need your help,'
'' Brown said Thursday. "I grabbed
my phone and shouted to my wife, Lorie,
that we had extra guests in our front yard.
. . . What a sight to behold. Fifteen people
were sitting calmly, sipping the little
water they had left.''
Four of the migrants had gone for help
and eventually returned to the group, sitting
under a streetlight so they could be found,
Brown said.
Under the United States government's ''wet-foot/dry-foot''
policy, the Cubans -- 12 men, five women
and two children -- are almost certain to
be allowed to stay because they reached
U.S. soil.
Brown lives on military property at Truman
Annex, near the big tourist buoy that marks
the southernmost spot in the continental
United States, only 90 miles from Cuba.
Brown said he cannot discuss the security
measures in place around the Navy's property,
although he did say there are markers along
the shore that say: "Do Not Enter.
Military property.''
''But the Cubans land apparently just about
anywhere,'' he said, adding that migrants
have previously come ashore on military
property in Key West. "Statistically,
it's going to happen.''
The site of the Cubans' landing this week
also is only about a mile from the Coast
Guard base in Key West and even closer to
a Virginia-based Coast Guard cutter that
was docked at Truman Annex to unload $57
million of cocaine seized from a Honduras
fishing vessel.
'ROBUST PRESENCE'
Although the Key West Coast Guard station
is without eight 123-foot patrol boats that
were dry-docked indefinitely last month
to fix structural problems, there is still
a ''robust and aggressive'' presence in
the Florida Straits, said Coast Guard spokesman
Chris O'Neil.
'We're out there, but it's a big ocean
and you can't throw a wall around the maritime
border and seal it off and say 'We have
100 percent protection,' '' O'Neil said.
'It's not achievable.' ''
Coast Guard Capt. Scott A. Buschman, the
Key West area commander, said he is getting
needed resources from other areas of the
Coast Guard to make up for the loss of the
patrol boats.
He said the Coast Guard also will soon
implement a plan called ''multi-crewing,''
in which 110-foot patrol boats will be operated
about twice as many hours on the seas --
using two crews and a revamped maintenance
plan.
PLANNING AHEAD
Shortly after he took command in Key West
in July, Brown said, he reviewed a number
of contingency plans. Among them was this:
"Let's pretend I wake up one morning
and find extra guests in my yard. What do
we do?''
The plan worked well Wednesday, Brown said,
with teams from the Navy's base security
and the Key West police and fire departments
responding. Brown said his first concern
was for the health of the migrants, especially
two very young children.
Brown said all seemed fine "but appeared
very thankful they were out of that rocky
boat.''
The migrants were given food, and the children
also got stuffed animals. They all were
taken to the Monroe County Detention Center,
where they were processed by U.S. Customs
and Border Protection.
Cuba spotlights friendship with Chávez
A high-profile Cuban
delegation visited Caracas this week in
a prominent demonstration of solidarity
with Venezuela.
By Frances Robles And Phil
Gunson. frobles@MiamiHerald.com. Posted
on Fri, Jan. 26, 2007
CARACAS - A delegation of Cuba's most influential
Cabinet members flew to Venezuela this week
to sign 16 deals worth more than $1 billion,
highlighting the close relations between
Caracas and Havana.
Perhaps even more significant than the
accords to dig for oil or host low-income
Venezuelan tourists in Cuba were the officials
who showed up for the signing ceremony:
10 Cuban ministers and Vice President Carlos
Lage.
The Cuban officials were on hand Wednesday
as President Hugo Chávez heralded
the growing economic bond between the two
nations. The Cuban delegation also was met
by a formal military reception at the Miraflores
presidential palace.
The visit was significant because many
Cuba-watchers often speculate that relations
between Chávez and Cuba's interim
President Raúl Castro are at best
icy.
MUTUAL MESSAGE
But as Fidel Castro convalesces, Chávez
continues to pour more than $2 billion a
year to Cuba to prop its economy, leaving
Raúl dependent. While Raúl's
friendship with Chávez may not be
as warm as his brother's, experts say sending
such a high-profile delegation was a clear
sign that Raúl is eager to extend
cozy bilateral relations.
''We think it's a way of each country telling
each other: we need each other,'' said Jorge
Piñon, who tracks Venezuelan oil
deals with Cuba for the University of Miami's
Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies.
"That was Raúl Castro telling
Chávez: 'I need you economically.
I cannot survive without you, and therefore
I am . . . sending my most senior representatives
to visit you.'''
Lage was accompanied by Foreign Investment
Minister Marta Lumas, Basic Industries Minister
Yadira García and Ramiro Valdés,
minister of information and telecommunications.
Also present were Transportation Minister
Jorge Luis Sierra, Tourism Minister Manuel
Marrero and the ministers of agriculture,
María Pérez, and finance,
Giorgina Barreiro. The chairman of the central
bank and the industries minister also attended.
The arrival of the delegation on Wednesday
was not announced in advance, and took even
the presidential palace press corps by surprise.
It was the first visit by such high Cuban
officials since Fidel Castro fell ill in
July.
In all, the two governments signed more
than a dozen agreements, in areas as diverse
as tourism, telecommunications and energy.
Cuba is to advise Venezuela on tourism
projects, including the development of the
island of La Tortuga. Venezuela, in turn,
plans to send 100,000 low-income tourists
to Cuba, drawn in part from the beneficiaries
of Cuban-aided social welfare missions in
Venezuela.
A joint telecommunications company -- one
of a dozen to be established under the new
agreements -- will set up a 932-mile fiber
optic link between the two countries. The
project is scheduled for completion in two
years.
FARMS AND FACTORY
Other projects include the cultivation
of rice in Venezuela for export to Cuba,
the establishment of a stainless steel plant
using Venezuelan iron and Cuban nickel,
and joint oil exploration in both countries.
The oil and nickel agreements are worth
about $500 million each, Piñon said,
but are not likely to take off for two to
three years.
Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolás
Maduro said the agreements marked "a
giant step forward in the process of union
between the peoples of Venezuela and Cuba.''
Chávez reiterated the two nations'
solidarity, and added that even if President
Bush didn't mention Venezuela in his State
of the Union speech this week, he did mention
Cuba.
''Maybe he doesn't know, or let's remind
him in case he has forgotten,'' Chávez
said, "that when he threatens Cuba,
he threatens Venezuela, too.''
''There has been kind of a conventional
wisdom that Raúl and Chávez
won't get along . . . the way Fidel and
Hugo did; the Cuban government wants to
dispel that impression,'' said InterAmerican
Dialogue analyst Daniel Erikson. "Sending
such a high-level delegation is important.
At the end of the day, the Venezuela connection
is going to be even more important for Raúl
than for Fidel.''
The Miami Herald's Frances Robles reported
from Miami.
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