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The Miami Herald.June
2, 2003.
Bidders buy two Cuban planes hijacked to the Keys
By Jennifer Babson. Jbabson@herald.com. Posted on Mon, Jun.
02, 2003.
KEY WEST - Two friends from Colorado successfully bid today for the titles
to two Cuban passenger planes hijacked from the island to Key West earlier this
year.
The planes -- a Soviet-era Antonov AN-24 once operated by Cubana de Aviacion
and a DC-3 -- were auctioned off back-to-back by the Monroe County Sheriff's
Office to satisfy a $27 million judgement against Cuba obtained by duped
spy-wife Ana Margarita Martinez.
A Miami-Dade judge declared that Martinez's marriage to spy Juan Pablo Roque
was orchestrated by Havana as part of his cover.
At the first of two consecutive auctions Monday morning, Wayne Van Heusden,
an aircraft owner from Frederick, Colo., paid $12,500 for the 1950s era DC-3.
His friend Matthew Overton, 25, a mechanic and pilot from Greeley, Colo.,
picked up the Antonov for $6,500 in bidding that was brief. The plane -- its
flight controls labeled in the Cyrillic alphabet -- is considered more of a
novelty in the United States than the DC-3, which can easily be mined for spare
parts.
On March 19, six hijackers using knives and tape forced the DC-3 from the
Isle of Youth on the island's south coast to Key West. Nearly two weeks later,
the AN-24 was commandeered from the same airport, landing in Key West after
negotiation efforts by Cuban President Fidel Castro and U.S. Interests Section
chief James Cason failed.
Though the planes have new owners, it's still not clear whether they will
ever fly over U.S. airspace again.
That's because the Federal Aviation Administration, under provisions of the
1944 Chicago Convention, doesn't allow planes to be registered in two countries
simultaneously.
Barring an agreement by the Cuban government or a Cuban court to ''delist''
the plane there, the FAA is unlikely to budge on that rule, according to
experts. A Sheriff's Office auctioneer cited that caveat -- which dramatically
depressed the value of both planes -- at the the start of bidding today.
Offers started low -- $500 for the Antonov, $1,000 for the DC-3.
Van Heusden looked stunned at the conclusion of a first round of bidding
that lasted roughly 10 minutes.
''I didn't expect to buy it, I told my wife I didn't expect to buy it,'' Van
Heusden stammered as reporters crowded around him.
Though Van Heusden said he was worried about whether he will ever be allowed
to fly the plane in the U.S., he kept raising his hand as sweat dripped down his
face.
''I am very concerned it may never leave the ground again,'' he said later. "Maybe
I will export it." Minutes after Overton found himself as the proud new
owner of a relic, he went for another look inside the cramped aircraft.
Among the options under consideration: Using the Antonov to tote cargo in
Latin America. ''It's a good flyable plane,'' Overton said. "It just needs
paperwork.''
The woman whose legal maneuvers spawned Monday's bidding looked more relaxed
than she had at the last Cuban plane auction she attended in January.
On that morning, Martinez walked away with the title of a rickety, yellow
Antonov AN-2 biplane spirited late last year to Key West by a Cuban government
pilot and his family. She had bid $7,000 for the plane -- money to be subtracted
from her unpaid judgement -- after it failed to generate high bids.
Now, that plane still sits at Key West International Airport -- saddled with
a nearly $16,000 lien for airport security costs that Martinez has yet to pay.
As if to drop a hint, airport officials parked that plane next to the
bidding Monday -- hoping that Martinez and her lawyers might re-auction the
aircraft on the spot if bidders seemed enthusiastic and eager to open their
wallets.
That turned out not to be the case.
''There was a possibility if the two airplanes fetched enough money that she
would auction that one off again,'' said Peter Horton, manager of Key West's
airport. "Her attorney and our attorney had talked about that. I was hoping
that we could find a solution for all three of them.''
This time around, Martinez stayed largely on the sidelines, though she and
her two attorneys had registered to bid.
''We decided not to bid because we wanted them to go into the hands of
somebody who would do something with it as opposed to it just sitting here,''
she said.
"I am not a plane collector. I think they are in better hands now.''
Cuba's cardinal rejects call to support dissidents
By Andrea Rodriguez. Associated Press. Posted on Sat, May.
31, 2003.
HAVANA - Cuba's Roman Catholic cardinal defended the church's pastoral role
on the communist-run island and rejected outside calls for increased support of
the political opposition.
Cardinal Jaime Ortega also called for reconciliation among Cuban believers
during a Thursday night conference attended by hundreds of people. In the
audience was U.S. Interests Section Chief James Cason, a frequent target of
criticism by the government. Foreign diplomats, opposition members and
well-known cultural figures tied to Fidel Castro's government, also attended the
conference.
''The church's mission is not to be on the side of the opposition,'' said
Ortega, the Archbishop of Havana and the island's only Roman Catholic cardinal.
"In the same way, you cannot ask the church to support the government.''
Ortega's comments came a week after a Czech bishop and former anti-communist
dissident criticized the church in Cuba for not supporting the opposition
movement here. Ortega said his Czech colleague did not visit him during a recent
stay here.
''The church leadership is very reserved toward the opposition movement,''
Bishop Vaclav Maly told reporters on May 21, hours after he returned from a
10-day visit to Cuba. ''From my point of view, it's a big mistake,'' Maly said.
Maly noted that while a church should not engage in politics, "in a
dictatorship, it's always good when people of goodwill unite.''
Maly, chairman of a Czech rights group run by the Roman Catholic Church,
traveled to Cuba after 75 government opponents were sentenced to long prison
terms and three men were executed after quick trials for trying to hijack a
ferry.
At the time, Cuba's Roman Catholic bishops issued a statement questioning
both the executions and the political crackdown.
''Violence is not eliminated with more violence,'' the Cuban bishops said,
adding that they were also concerned about "long prison sentences imposed
on political opponents.''
Ortega said that the mother of one of the executed men had later met with
him. The prelate said he was impressed by her lack of rancor and called on
believers to replace their hatred with a similar spirit of reconciliation.
Maly, 52, a signatory of the Charter 77 human rights manifesto co-authored
by former President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, was jailed numerous
times by the former communist regime.
Coast Guard picks up 5 Cuban migrants 30 miles offshore
By Jennifer Maloney. Jmaloney@herald.com.l Posted on Mon,
Jun. 02, 2003.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter picked up five Cuban migrants Monday afternoon
about 30 miles off the coast of Miami Beach.
The Coast Guard received a call at 10:25 a.m. from a ''Good Samaritan''
detailing the migrants' whereabouts, said Anastasia Burns, an agency
spokeswoman. A cutter was dispatched to the area and it spotted the migrants
around 1 p.m..
Burns said the five were all men and were reportedly in good condition.
Immigration officials were interviewing the migrants to determine whether
they would be returned to Cuba, Burns said.
No other details were immediately available.
Concert to aid Cubans' families
Effort inspired by crackdown on dissidents
By Jordan Levin. Jlevin@herald.com. Posted on Sat, May. 31,
2003.
Some of the Cuban exile community's top musicians and politicians on Friday
announced a South Florida concert and art auction to benefit the families of
political prisoners in Cuba.
The event, Voices for Freedom, will be held June 20 at the Biltmore Hotel in
Coral Gables.
Salsa singer Willie Chirino, who will headline the concert with wife
Lissette and fellow salseros Roberto Torres and Hansel, said the idea for the
concert came up in a conversation several months ago with James Cason, head of
the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
''We were talking about what was really needed, and we agreed the families
of Cuban dissidents are receiving the direct wrath of the dictator,'' Chirino
said at a news conference at the Biltmore.
Voices for Freedom cochairs and Florida congressional representatives
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart also attended the
news conference. A Cuban flag made from a pillowcase and signed by 23 political
prisoners -- several of whom signed with their blood -- stood behind them.
''It's a way for the community to champion human rights and a creative way
to express solidarity with the people in Cuba,'' Ros-Lehtinen said.
The effort was inspired by this spring's crackdown on political dissent on
the island, in which 75 dissidents were sentenced to long jail terms and three
men executed for hijacking a ferry. Organizers of the concert said political
prisoners' families are being ousted from schools and employment.
Blanca Reyes, wife of prisoner Raúl Rivero, said via speakerphone
from Havana: "I thank you for this honor in the name of my husband, the
poet Raúl Rivero, and also in the name of all the prisoners and their
families.''
Voices for Freedom will begin with an exhibit and auction of paintings by
Cuban-American artists, followed by the concert. Tickets are $250. The concert
will be broadcast to Cuba via Radio Martí and in Miami on WAQI-AM (710),
which will have a phone bank for listeners to make donations.
Plantados Until Freedom and Democracy in Cuba, a nonprofit Miami group made
up of former Cuban political prisoners, will be responsible for getting the
funds raised to Cuba. Plantados member Angel de Fama said the group would use "wire
services and people traveling to the island to get the monies to the families.'' | 
