Yahoo! August 14, 2000
Players in Mexico After Defecting
EDMONTON, Alberta 13 (AP) - Two members of Cuba's national junior team who defected at the world junior baseball championships were reported to be in Mexico on Sunday.
"It was not a spur of the moment decision,'' Ron Hayter, chairman of the group organizing the championships, said.
"This was all pre-planned, and when they got to Canada the arrangements were made for them to leave and get to Mexico.''
William Plaza, 17, a catcher, walked out of a dormitory and into a waiting car Saturday, said Joe Kehoskie, a U.S.-based player agent who helped the two defect.
Yolexandry Reina, 18, a pitcher, slipped away during a game last Monday, Kehoskie said.
Hayter said his contacts with the Cuban team told him that the two players were in Mexico.
Defections by Cubans at international sports events have drawn the anger of the country's leaders.
About a year ago at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, 10 Cubans defected, including a 36-year-old softball coach.
The move prompted Fidel Castro to describe Canada as "enemy territory.''
Hayter said there's little organizers can do to prevent such schemes.
"We made it very clear at the start of this tournament that we, as an organizing committee, would hope that there would not be any incidents of this nature, but again we don't have any control over it,'' he said.
"We can't tie the players up and prevent them from moving around.''
He acknowledged the defections weren't a surprise.
"Whenever you have a team like the Cubans with a lot of talent you are going to have scouts looking at them with envious eyes,'' Hayter said.
"Most teams who have participated here have already been scouted by the major league scouts, but it's a little more difficult to gain access to the Cuban team and so this provided a good opportunity.''
Kehoskie described both players as "ecstatic.''
CANF Applauds Governor Bush's Strong Stance on Freedom for Cuba
Press Release. Friday August 11, 4:24 pm Eastern Time. SOURCE: The Cuban American National Foundation
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- In a televised interview on the Spanish language network Univision, Republican Party Presidential candidate George W. Bush reaffirmed his position on policy towards Cuba. The Texas Governor said: "Trade with Cuba is with the Cuban government or an entity
controlled by the Cuban government. It only enhances Fidel Castro's power.''
Governor Bush, a long time friend of the cause of freedom and democracy for Cuba, stated: "I'm going to keep sanctions on (Cuba) if I'm the president.'' The Republican Presidential candidate's comments support previous public statements he has made on the issue.
Executive Vice-President of the Cuban American National Foundation, Ambassador Dennis Hays, reacted to the Governor's comments: "We know we can trust George W. Bush's instincts and his dedication. He has been very solid and consistent in his commitment to a principled foreign policy on
Cuba.''
Governor Bush's foreign policy objectives include supporting current sanctions on Cuba until there are free elections, free speech and until Cuba releases all political prisoners.
SOURCE: The Cuban American National Foundation
Cuba Musicians Give Concert at Home
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 11 (AP) - As his gnarled hands pounded the keys of the Russian-made concert piano in the Karl Marx theater, octogenarian Ruben Gonzalez flashed a wide smile.
Gonzalez and the rest of the mostly elderly members of the Buena Vista Social Club said they were delighted to be back home to share their music with their compatriots after playing to sold-out concerts in the United States and Europe.
"In your own land, one always feels better,'' said Gonzalez, a smallish man with white cropped hair and a bright orange guayabera shirt who gave his age as ''83, or 84.''
"I like going over there, but I like it more here,'' Gonzalez added during the Thursday evening rehearsal for their first public concert in Cuba on Friday night.
As the concert got under way Friday, concertgoers said they were excited to see some of Cuba's most-heralded musicians perform.
"They're really great. We were never introduced to this music,'' said David Cardenas, 33. "I'm so glad they are now bringing us the music of our parents and our grandparents.''
Caridad Arrozalena, 58, said she came to see the group because she had remembered some of the singers and musicians when they first performed 30 or 40 years ago.
Although they have gained fame around the globe in recent years for their music and the documentary "Buena Vista Social Club,'' most of the musicians are virtually unknown in Cuba, where their music has not been publicized and marketed.
The 90-something-year-old Cuban musician Francisco Repilado, who plays under the name "Compay Segundo,'' is among the few participants on the Buena Vista recordings well known here. But Repilado has his own band and performs in Cuba occasionally.
The Buena Vista group is made up of once nearly-forgotten musicians who were discovered by American guitarist and producer Ry Cooder in the late 1990s.
The group's forte is the "son'' - traditional Afro-Cuban orchestra music heavy in brass and percussion. They also play the more romantic, Spanish-influenced bolero and the danzon - dance music with an urgent telegraph-like beat.
The Buena Vista Social Club performed on the island twice last year to small invitation-only audiences, group members say, but has never held a concert for the general Cuban public. Tickets went on sale earlier this week, at 50 cents for Cubans and $10 for foreigners.
The group's first album, "Buena Vista Social Club,'' was an instant international sensation when it was released in 1997. They later released "Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer,'' "Introducing...Ruben Gonzalez,'' and the new "Buena Vista Social Club Presents
Omara Portuondo,'' all on the World Circuit/Nonesuch label.
The albums have repeatedly appeared on Billboard's Top 10 lists for world and Latin music. The latest, featuring female singer Portuondo, appears this week on Billboard's Top 10 list for Latin albums.
The group's fame increased with its appearance in the concert film of the same name. The movie by German filmmaker Wim Wenders was nominated for an Oscar this year in the documentary category.
Last month, "Buena Vista Social Club'' remained on the list of top video sales in the United States.
The group will continue its touring on Monday, when it leaves for its first visit to Japan, said singer Ibrahim Ferrer, 73, one of the group's top names, along with Gonzalez and Portuondo. Later this year, the group will travel to South America for the first time, he said.
"But I'm really happy now to be able to play in my own country,'' Ferrer said.
"Our music is known all around the world, but we have been so busy traveling we have not been able to perform in our own country,'' added Portuondo as she sat in a theater seat listening Thursday night to the keyboard gymnastics of Gonzalez, whom she described as "a true Cuban
legend.''
"It may be our first concert here,'' she said, beaming up at her fellow musicians on the stage. "But it won't be our last.''
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press.
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