Yahoo! News
December 12, 2001.
Miami Herald . WPLG Click10.com. Wednesday December 12
11:06 AM EST
Five cuban spies to be sentenced
Five Cuban spies are scheduled to be sentenced this week -- beginning with
the alleged ringleader.
Gerardo Hernandez was convicted of conspiracy in June for his part in
planning the shootdown of four Brothers to the Rescue pilots in 1996.
Hernandez's sentencing is set for this afternoon in Miami federal court.
Hernandez's family members from Cuba are in Miami on special visas. They are
expected to testify on his behalf.
Caribbean countries question trade
Caribbean Countries Question Benefits of Hemispheric Free Trade Pact
By Alexandra Olson. Associated Press Writer
PORLAMAR, Venezuela 12 (AP) -- With host President Hugo Chavez expressing
the strongest skepticism, 25 Caribbean basin nations questioned the benefits of
the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas for their cashed-strapped
economies.
At a summit of the Association of Caribbean States on Tuesday, leaders
insisted on a level playing field in a free trade zone where the average citizen
in the poorest country -- Haiti -- lives on less than $4 a day, while the
average U.S. citizen earns more than $90 a day.
Predicting the FTAA will further impoverish Caribbean countries, Chavez
proposed that Caribbean nations consider an alternative to the FTAA, which takes
effect in 2005 and will extend from Alaska to Argentina.
The two-day ACS summit on Venezuela's Margarita Island also addressed the
region's lifeblood tourism industry, transportation problems among island states
and preparing for natural disasters.
Many Latin American and Caribbean countries complain that developed
countries maintain trade restrictions to protect their own industries but want
greater access for their own products in poor countries.
Barbados's prime minister, Owen Arthur, urged the three largest members of
the ACS -- Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela -- to promote preferential treatment
for their more vulnerable associates during FTAA negotiations.
Colombian Andres Pastrana assured that his country "is and will be
supportive of small economies during the FTAA negotiations.''
But disagreements over the FTAA emerged.
Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez, a free trade enthusiast, said
eliminating trade barriers would let his country export sugar to wealthier
markets. Costa Rica expects a recent free trade treaty with Canada to boost its
sugar quota with Canada to 40,000 tons within seven years.
Responding to Rodriguez, Cuba's Fidel Castro countered that free
trade would only deepen the dependence of poor countries on imports from richer
nations.
"We march toward a world in which trade barriers are disappearing. I
wonder how long the beans that Mexicans eat will be Mexican?'' Castro asked.
Cuba -- as the only communist country in the Western Hemisphere --
is barred from FTAA negotiations. But Castro thanked his fellow Caribbean
leaders for reaching out, an effort he said helped the communist island survive
under four decades of U.S. economic sanctions.
ACS leaders are expected to condemn the trade embargo in their final
statement, to be signed Wednesday. Caribbean leaders are also expected sign a
pact to protect the environment while promoting tourism. Many criticized
industrialized countries that transport toxic waste through the Caribbean Sea.
"What would become of us without the crystalline waters and white sands
of the Caribbean Sea?'' said Dominican Republic President Hipolito Mejias. "This
association should not sacrifice any efforts to ... regulate and prevent the
traffic of nuclear waste through the Caribbean Sea.'' | 
