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CUBA
NEWS
The
Miami Herald
Carter endorses Payá's nomination for
prestigious Spanish prize
By Nancy San Martin, sanmartin@herald.com.
Former President Jimmy Carter has endorsed
the nomination of Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo
Payá to receive the prestigious Prince
of Asturias Award for Concord.
The award is given by the Prince of Asturias
Foundation, established by the Spanish monarchy,
to recognize those who contribute to fraternity,
the struggle against injustice and the defense
of liberty.
Payá is the coordinator of a grass-roots
initiative in Cuba known as the Varela Project,
which seeks a referendum on greater personal,
political and economic freedoms, as well as amnesty
for political prisoners who have not committed
violent acts.
''Oswaldo Payá is a man of courage who
speaks out for all Cuban citizens to have a voice
in their country's future,'' Carter said in a
written statement issued this week from Atlanta.
"His leadership of the Varela Project and
Christian commitment to human rights deserve international
recognition.''
Last year, Payá received the Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Union's
top human-rights award. The National Democratic
Institute in Washington also gave him its highest
honor, and he has been touted as a worthy recipient
of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Native American group honors Castro with its
highest award
HAVANA - (AP) -- An American Indian group awarded
its highest honor for exceptional warriors to
President Fidel Castro on Thursday -- the first
time that the ''Eagle Feather'' has been bestowed
on a non-native of the United States, a Cuban
news agency reported.
Daniel Cheng Yang, leader of the American
Indian Movement (AIM) youth group, presented
the award to Castro in Havana, along with a declaration
honoring ''the man who represents respect, success,
honor and bravery,'' Cuba's official National
Information Agency said.
During his visit, Cheng also condemned the U.S.
economic blockade against the communist-governed
island and expressed the Indian organization's
solidarity with five Cuban spies held in U.S.
prisons, the news agency said.
Cheng also read a letter from imprisoned Native
American activist Leonard Peltier, who thanked
Castro and the Cuban community for supporting
efforts to free him.
Peltier was convicted in 1977 of participating
in the slaying of two FBI agents on a South Dakota
Indian reservation in 1975.
He is serving back-to-back life sentences in
federal prison.
The Indian movement claims that the FBI obtained
his conviction through coerced and false testimonies.
U.S. courts have denied several appeals.
The five Cuban spies were convicted in Miami
in 2001 of trying to infiltrate U.S. military
bases and Cuban exile groups in Florida. Their
sentences range from 15 years to life.
Cuban authorities say the men are patriots who
were working to prevent violent Cuban exile groups
from launching terrorist acts against their homeland.
Castro is the first live person, head of state
and non-U.S. native to receive the ''Eagle Feather,''
the highest honor bestowed by AIM, the news agency
said.
Pro-Castro activists to join the fray at Latin
Grammys
Contingent to support Cuban artists.
By Elaine De Valle, edevalle@herald.com.
Posted on Fri, Aug. 29, 2003
There will be not one, but two protests in downtown
Miami on the night of the Latin Grammys next week.
A contingent of pro-Castro, anti-embargo activists
have obtained a permit for their own demonstration
-- just blocks from where anti-Castro Cuban exiles
plan to protest any participation of Cuban musicians
in the Latin Grammys on Wednesday.
Andrés Gómez, national coordinator
of the Antonio Macéo Brigade, said his
organization and several others want to show support
for the inclusion of Cuban artists -- though Thursday
afternoon it appeared that none would attend the
show because they could not get visas.
''They are not going because they are not being
permitted to enter the country to participate,''
Gómez said. "We are demanding that
the United States government permit cultural liberty
in this community so we can see Cuban artists
from Cuba participating in cultural events in
this city.''
The counter-protest will be on the southwest
corner of Biscayne Boulevard and Ninth Street,
across from the AmericanAirlines Arena -- and
at least three blocks from the other demonstration.
Some of the people from the six exile groups
who organized that demonstration are suspicious
of the new one.
''Castro agents who live in Miami were activated
immediately after the tyrant's secret service
learned that their representatives would not have
the most minimal chance of putting their dry feet
on the red carpet of our AmericanAirlines arena,''
said Emilio Izquierdo, a former political prisoner
and spokesman for the group.
Izquierdo also wonders how they got a permit
to protest on such short notice when the anti-Castro
organizations negotiated for months to get theirs.
The counter-protesters requested the permit on
Aug. 19.
But Miami police Lt. Rene Landa said the second
group went through the same hoops.
''We had numerous meetings with the parties involved.
We physically came out again and took pictures
of the areas to see what could be done to ensure
safety for both parties,'' Landa said.
Because the new group only anticipates 150 protesters
-- compared to the 1,500 that the anti-Castro
group expects -- they will be on the sidewalk
rather than the street.
Other groups joining the counter-protest are
Allianza Martiana, Alliance of Workers of the
Cuban Community, Rescate Cultural Afro Cubano,
the José Martí Association and the
Miami Coalition Against the U.S. Embargo.
Many of the same groups led a caravan through
the city of Miami in September of 2001 to protest
what they called ''a climate of violence and terrorism,''
which they blamed for driving the Latin Grammys
away that year.
Severo Alberto 'Lino' Borges, interpreter
of Cuban bolero music
HAVANA - (EFE) -- One of the leading interpreters
of Cuban bolero music, singer Lino Borges, died
Thursday in his hometown of Batabanó, a
local radio station reported. He was 71.
Severo Alberto ''Lino'' Borges, upon the death
of Fernando Alvarez, was considered the last living
interpreter of Cuban bolero music from the 1950s.
The singer began his career as a vocalist with
musical groups from Batabanó, just south
of Havana.
He later joined the Saratoga Ensemble, which
performed at the Hotel Saratoga during the mythic
Prado open-air performances.
Borges' first big hit was the song You Teach
Me, performed with the Rumbavana band. He later
returned to the Saratoga, with whose house band
he recorded his famous version of Life Is a Dream.
Borges' main artistic moment came in 1962, when
he recorded Die Dreaming and Homero Parra's Lush
Life on a 45-rpm recording made with the Joaquín
Mendivel orchestra on the Modinet label.
More recently, he proved a regular feature at
international ''Golden Bolero'' festivals held
each year in Cuba, making appearances on television
and performing solo in nightclubs.
Experts consider bolero from the 1950s one of
Cuba's finest musical offerings, starting with
Beny More and Arcenio Rodríguez and continuing
with, among others, Nico Membiela, Vicentico Valdes,
Abelardo Barroso, Pacho Alonso, Orlando Contreras,
Orlando Vallejo, Tejedor, Roberto Faz, Alvarez
and Borges.
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