Yahoo! August 31, 2000
Cuba To Deport Swedish Journalists
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 30 (AP) - Three Swedish journalists detained for working in Cuba without proper visas will be sent back to Sweden, Swedish officials said Wednesday.
Cuban authorities on Tuesday detained Peter Goetell, Birger Thureson and Helena Soederqvist, reporters with provincial Swedish newspapers, for working as journalists and attending seminars in Cuba after entering the country on tourist visas.
The Cuban Ministry for Foreign Affairs sent Swedish officials a message Wednesday saying the three would be put on an Air France flight at 8 p.m. Thursday, Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Johan Murray said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh had sent a formal protest to Cuba on Wednesday over the detentions.
The organization that sponsored them, the Swedish International Liberal Center (SILC), a foundation close to that country's Liberal Party, said they were on a personal trip to Cuba.
``They're in Cuba as individuals on their free time, to meet independent journalists in Cuba and talk with them how the Swedish freedom of press works,'' Madeleine Sjoestedt, the SILC's secretary general, told the Swedish news agency TT.
The three remained in detention Wednesday, Murray said.
Officials of the Swedish Embassy in Havana had talked with the three ``several times ... they are all right,'' Murray said.
The Cuban government had no immediate comment on the detentions, which Sjoestedt described as ``harassing people who want to express their free thoughts.''
Cuba, like many other countries, requires foreign journalists to apply for visas to do reporting work in the country. Most of Cuba's domestic press works for state-owned media outlets, and independent journalists here have complained of alleged government harassment.
Liberal Party leader Lars Leijonborg suggested in a letter to Lindh that ``Sweden should withdraw its aid to Cuba until Cuba shows greater respect for the human rights.''
Thureson worked for Nya Dagen, a small religious newspaper; Goetell for the daily Sundsvalls Tidning, and Soederqvist for Avika Nyheter, a small regional paper.
Cuba: US Tries to Paw Immigration
By Mark Stevenson, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 30 (AP) - Cuba on Wednesday dismissed a U.S. diplomatic protest over cases of Cubans blocked from leaving the island and charged the United States with manipulating immigration issues for political gain during an election year.
Noting that the U.S. protest involved just 117 people - out of nearly 20,000 visas granted annually - the Cuban Foreign Ministry in a written statement called the U.S. protests ``a publicity maneuver, suspiciously timed to coincide with visits to Miami by presidential candidates'' Democrat Al
Gore (news - web sites) and Republican George W. Bush (news - web sites).
The statement suggested that this year's spat was motivated by the candidates' ``competition for funds and support'' from the Cuban exile community in Miami.
Tensions between the two countries rose after Secretary of State Madeleine Albright accused Cuba on Monday of arbitrarily denying exit permits to Cubans with U.S. visas, thereby separating families and forcing would-be immigrants to attempt high-risk escapes by boat.
Cuba, in turn, has accused Washington of luring Cubans to risk their lives making the dangerous 90-mile crossing to Florida, by promising automatic residency for any Cuban who makes it ashore.
Cuba has suggested the U.S. policy is designed to make the immigrants look like political refugees, when in fact such a policy - if extended to other Latin American nations - would draw waves of economic refugees from throughout the regions.
The statement defended what it called the relatively few cases - mainly involving doctors or relatives of dissidents - in which Cuba has refused to allow those with U.S. visas to leave.
``The United States' practice of trying to steal qualified personal, trained for free from kindergarten, from an underdeveloped country is shameful,'' the statement continued.
As for dissidents and their families, Cuba said they would not be given preference in immigration.
The dispute follows a protracted and touchy U.S. dispute with Cuban Americans over 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez.
The boy was spirited from Cuba by his mother, who died at sea, and taken home by his father after a lengthy legal battle with emigre relatives in Florida.
The Cuban government cited the incident in June when it asked for a postponement of immigration talks with the United States - but has since said it is ready to restart the negotiations, but that the U.S. government hasn't proposed a date.
Elian Protest Boy Charges Dropped
MIAMI, 31 (AP) - Charges have been dropped against the youngest person arrested during protests over the government's April seizure of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez.
Christopher Quintana, 11, was accused of blocking traffic and inciting a riot, a felony. The charge was later dropped, but the sixth-grader still faced one count of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.
On Wednesday, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office dropped the misdemeanor charge. Prosecutors also dropped the same charge against his 16-year-old brother.
Don Ungurait, state attorney's office spokesman, said the charge was dropped because the arresting officer gave prosecutors a conflicting story about Christopher's actions.
More than 350 people were arrested when Cuban-Americans took to the streets and burned debris after the April 22 raid that removed Elian from his Miami relatives. None served jail time and most of the felony charges were dropped.
Elian, who was rescued off the Florida coast in November after surviving a boat sinking, returned to Cuba in June after an international tug-of-war.
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press.
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