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Yahoo!
February 14, 2003.
Cuba Deports Argentine for Journalism
By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press Writer. Thu Feb 13,
2:58 PM ET
HAVANA - A professor from Argentina who traveled to Cuba on a tourist visa
was deported Thursday for working as a journalist without government approval.
Fernando Ruiz, a journalism professor at Austral University in Buenos Aires,
was put on a morning flight to Panama, said Eduardo Porretti, first secretary of
the Argentine Embassy in Havana.
Fidel Castro's government regularly deports journalists who arrive on
tourist visas and work without obtaining the required government documentation.
The Cuban government had no immediate comment on Ruiz's deportation.
Porretti said Ruiz was detained Tuesday and the embassy was informed the
next day.
"We were successful in preventing (Cuban authorities) from opening a
criminal file, so that if he wants to make a return visit he can," Porretti
said.
It was not immediately known what Ruiz reporting on. But Porretti said it
was likely Ruiz had tried to contact dissidents or "deal with some kind of
sensitive subject."
Ex-Welterweight Champ Kid Gavilan Dies
MIAMI, 14 (AP) - Former welterweight champion Kid Gavilan, one of the first
members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, died at age 77.
Gavilan died Thursday of a heart attack at a Miami hospital, said Rebekah
Navarro, owner of the assisted-living facility where the fighter lived the past
four years.
Born Gerardo Gonzalez in Camaguey, Cuba, on Jan. 6, 1926, Gavilan became a
star and television regular in multiple fights against Ike Williams and Sugar
Ray Robinson. One of the most popular fighters in the 1940s and 1950s, he had a
15-year professional career beginning in 1943, compiling a record of 107 wins,
30 defeats and 6 draws with 28 knockouts.
Gavilan won the vacant welterweight title by outpointing Johnny Bratton in
1951 at New York, and he defended it seven times before losing it on points to
Johnny Saxton three years later at Philadelphia. One of his successful defenses
came against Bobby Dykes at Miami Stadium in 1952 — the first title bout
between black and white fighters in then-segregated Miami.
Before his title loss to Saxton, Gavilan challenged Carl "Bobo"
Olson for the middleweight title and lost a 15-round decision in 1954 at
Chicago.
Gavilan took up boxing at age 10 and had 60 amateur bouts before turning pro
at 17. Considered a hero in pre-Castro Cuba, he moved to the United States in
1968.
Known for his slick defense and timely combinations, Gavilan often displayed
his signature bolo punch, with the sweeping punch beginning like a softball
pitcher's windup and ending in an uppercut.
Gavilan was a showman, often doing a little dance during his fights —
the Ali Shuffle before Muhammad Ali.
He was a member of the inaugural class of the Hall of Fame in 1990, inducted
with Robinson and Jack Dempsey.
In one of his welterweight title defenses he won an unpopular decision over
New Yorker Billy Graham that caused a melee at Madison Square Garden. Gavilan
then scored a clear-cut decision over Graham at Havana.
One of Gavilan's final local appearances was at a ceremony saluting his
career two years ago at the Mahi Temple Shrine Auditorium in Miami.
"There were times when things were difficult, but I have faith in God,"
Gavilan said before the event. "I talk to him every day and that has helped
me win my battles."
Funeral arrangements are pending, said Frank Repensek, executive director of
the Guardianship Program of Miami-Dade County. | 
