June 30
FROM CUBA / Taxi fares can now be paid in pesos
Cuban taxicabs that up to now
were for the exclusive use of tourists are beginning
to accept payment of their fares in pesos, thus
becoming available to the Cuban population, admitted
reluctantly a driver for the Ver a Cuba (See Cuba)
government agency.
FROM CUBA / Prisoner receives beating after refusing
to participate in political act
An inmate at the Kilo[meter]
7 maximum security prison received a beating after
refusing to participate in a political act in
the prison yard, reported relatives.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-U.N. expert says she wrote
Castro to request pardon of 50 dissidents
-President Bush visits Little Havana
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Bush pushes "free Cuba" in
Florida
-McCartney considering concert in Cuba: report
-A Library in Cuba: What Is It?
-Mother leaves Cuba for US after release of kidnapped
children
Cuban victims meet with top European Union & Belgian
government officials / Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch and Castro's
daughter lead delegation to ask Europeans to impose
world-wide economic sanctions for crimes against
humanity.
'Hell does exist,' Cuban prisoner says / Tracey
Eaton / The Dallas Morning News
Their names sound like something
out of the Magic Kingdom: Happy Camp and Friendship,
Green Sea and Dark Woods, Taco Taco and Pork Fat
Beach. But they're anything but enchanted. They
are prisons in revolutionary Cuba, where dissidents
say about 300 political prisoners are doing time.
External
links
A Library in Cuba: What
Is It? / The New York Times
One of the last places you
might expect a debate over free expression is
the American Library Association, the world's
oldest and largest organization of its kind and
a longtime champion of open access to information.
But when the subject is as politically charged
as Cuba, anything is possible.
Ira
David Meeks Dies; Hijacked Plane to Cuba / The
Washington Post
Connie Meeks, who married Mr.
Meeks in 1990, said he told her that he tried
to explain to Cuban authorities that "he felt
persecuted as a black man in America and had heard
that things would be better in Cuba." But, she
said, Cuban authorities suspected him of being
a spy and tortured him.
Former
colleagues turned on Cuban dissidents / Sun-Sentinel,
FL
It wasn't long ago that Manuel
David Orrio stood at the head of a long table
in the residence of Washington's top man in Havana
leading an ethics workshop for Cuba's independent
journalists.
Nobody
likes Fidel any more / Lysiane Gagnon / The Globe
and Mail, Canada
For nearly 50 years, Fidel
Castro has enjoyed a special status: Cuba's president
for life has been the only dictator whose crimes
went unnoticed by most Western governments. He's
been the darling of the intellectuals, who systematically
ignored the Cuban dissidents' desperate pleas
for help. Even as horrific tales of repression
came out of the island, Fidel Castro would remain
the romantic hero who dared defy the American
giant -- a compelling argument, especially in
Canada.
Crackdown in
Cuba quiets, but does not suppress discontent
/ Charleston.Net News
The success of the harshest
crackdown on dissent in a generation is a relative
matter. While Communist Party and government authorities
pride themselves on containing dissent, the discontented
continue to denounce the leadership, although
in more cautious terms.
'Jazz is all about
freedom' / Dan LeRoy / Daily Mail, WV
He turned out to be a pianist
instead of a drummer, but some of the best career
advice Miguel Romero ever got came from a jazz
legend behind the skins.
June 27
FROM CUBA / Prison Journal (II)
Manuel Vázquez Portal, sentenced to 18
years in prison. Boniato Prison, Santiago de Cuba,
continues his journal from prision.
FROM CUBA / Independent journalist threatened with
20-year sentence
An agent of the political police in the Isle of
Youth, off the coast of Havana province, threatened
to send an independent journalist to prison for
20 years unless he quit sending news stories abroad,
including to CubaNet.
Cuban political prisoner transferred away off from capital / PRIMA News
On 20 June the Cuban authorities transferred the
political prisoner Jorge Luis Garcia Perez from
the Combinado del Este prison in Havana to another
prison in the town of Rodos, Cienfuegos province.
This information was passed on to the sister of
Perez by relatives of another dissident serving
his sentence in the same prison, called Ariza,
in Rodos.
Remembering Dissidents / The Miami Herald
Back in April, as 75 Cuban dissidents were sentenced
to prison terms totaling 1,454 years, Nicaraguan-born
Ana Navarro decided she had to do something for
Cuba's political prisoners. She went to Idaho-born
Gene Prescott, Biltmore Hotel president, and told
him she wanted to organize a ''little'' something
for the dissidents.
American Woman Leaves Cuba With Two Kids / Yahoo!
An American woman left Cuba with her son and daughter
Friday after Fidel Castro's government intervened
in an international custody battle and arrested
the children's father.
Cuba bill faces roadblocks / The Casper Star-Tribune
Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi and Montana
Democratic Sen. Max Baucus agree that U.S. citizens
should be able to travel to Cuba, but they disagree
over how to force action on a bill that would
permit it.
Cuba on the Verge: An Island in Transition / Art
Museum Network News
The International Center of Photography is pleased
to announce a major exhibition focusing on life
in Cuba today. Over seventy works by more than
a dozen American, Cuban, and Cuban-American photographers,
including Virginia Beahan, Carlos Garaicoa, Abelardo
Morell, Manuel Piña, and Carrie Mae Weems,
will be presented for the first time.
Cuba on the Verge: An Island in Transition / Art
Museum Network News
The International Center of Photography is pleased
to announce a major exhibition focusing on life
in Cuba today. Over seventy works by more than
a dozen American, Cuban, and Cuban-American photographers,
including Virginia Beahan, Carlos Garaicoa, Abelardo
Morell, Manuel Piña, and Carrie Mae Weems,
will be presented for the first time.
External
links
Exile
family threatens to sue U.S. / The Business Journal,
FL
A Cuban exile family this week threatened to force
the United States into trade warfare with the
European Union over foreign hotel chains that
operate luxury resorts on 100 acres of prime oceanfront
property Fidel Castro confiscated 43 years ago.
To Crush
a Conscience / Myles B. Kantor / NewsMax.com
Last fall, 24-year-old Cuban history teacher Alain
Gómez Ramos was asked to sign an initiative
that makes "the economic, political and social
system consecrated in the Constitution of the
Republic untouchable."
Cuban
band evokes rage, nostalgia / St. Petersburg Times,
FL
Fidel Castro's henchmen, the midnight roundups,
the firing squads, political prisoners wasting
away in Cuban dungeons - these were the things
the Los Van Van concert evoked for Margaret Rabeiro,
watching through outraged tears Wednesday night
as concertgoers cheerfully filled the community
hall across Columbus Avenue.
June 26
FROM CUBA / Cuba and its massive disinformation
Those Cubans who depend on the forms of public
information controlled by the regime to understand
what is currently happening in the world, will
undoubtedly, perceive a diametrically opposed
reality. This disinformation is the regrettable
game played currently on the island of Cuba.
Cuba holds Dade couple; family pleads for release
/ The Miami Herald
A family torn apart by Cuba's cryptic accusations
of espionage is appealing to the media and the
American government for help in freeing their
imprisoned relatives on the island.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Lawyer Says Mass. Woman With Kids in Cuba
-U.S. Children in Cuban Protective Custody
Cuba's economic breakdown / Business Journal
France and Spain, who are major customers of the
Cuban government, "have been left holding
the bag while Castro moves his millions to pay
Americans in cash for the purchases he has made
recently trying to put his foot in the door for
credit, which is what he really wants," Ferretti
said.
Cuban cultural freedom fading, Armas said / AGI
Online
"The already narrow Cuban cultural opportunity
are even more reducing." The Cuban writer
Pedro Marques De Armas, who participated to a
press conference in Florence, launched an alarm
about cultural and political repression in Cuba.
June 25
FROM CUBA / Anti-government sign posted inside
military hospital
The sign, which read "Down with Fidel, Murderer,"
was put up in the No. 4 operating room of the
Manuel Fajardo Jiménez military hospital,
next to a photograph of Fidel Castro which, presumably
the same person or persons, took down and damaged.
FROM CUBA / AReturned rafter feels harassed
Anti-government activist and returned rafter Armando
Veitía says the Cuban government has repeatedly
threatened to annul the license with which he
earns a living.
Cuba: "One hundred days of solitude"
/ RSF
A hundred days ago today, the Cuban government
began an unprecedented round-up of dissidents.
They included 26 independent journalists who joined
the four journalists already imprisoned in Cuba.
Three months later, Reporters Without Borders
announces new initiatives to obtain the release
of the 30 detained journalists.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-European panel: Cuba's recent actions 'harmful'
-Two Cuban U.S. residents accused of espionage
and held in Cuba
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Miami couple jailed in Cuba, accused of spying:
relatives
-Che Guevara's daughter defends Cuba
-Cuban Communist Party Replaces Ideologist
-Cuban Book Aims to Discredit Dissidents
Yearning for Freedom / WorldNetDaily.com
"This is not, and never has been, an issue
of intellectual freedom, books or libraries,"
said Ann Sparanese, an ALA board member who also
belongs to the Venceremos Brigade, a U.S. group
that has supported Castro's revolution for three
decades.
June 24
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Court backs sentence of Cuban journalist
-Outlook grim for Cuba sugar harvest
External
links
FIU
project examines Cuban reconciliation / Sun-Sentinel
The project, headed by FIU sociology professor
Marifeli Pérez-Stable, is under way at
a time when particular attention has been paid
to the island's human rights record, given the
government's crackdown on dissidents and its execution
of three men who tried to hijack a boat to the
United States.
'Gift'
connects Hemingway, humanity and Cuban baseball
/ The Kansas City Star
Writers like to wax poetic about baseball. More
than any other sport, perhaps, the details and
dreamtime of baseball transcend the box scores
and become handy metaphor for describing human
nature and launching literary rapture.
Toeing
the Cuban Line / The Washington Post
In "Prisoners Treated Humanely, Cuban Says"
your paper provides a top Cuban official with
a platform (in the headline, no less) for his
outrageous statement that Cuba's prisoners of
conscience are being treated humanely. Obviously,
your paper has the right to publish anything it
considers newsworthy, but wouldn't an article
and a headline detailing the conditions under
which these prisoners are kept and their current
state of health have been more appropriate and
more conscientious, considering the well-known
unreliability and human rights record of the Cuban
government?
Denis
Dutton: Goodbye tyrants, hello democracy / Denis
Dutton / New Zealand News
I expect some of my romantic, leftist friends
will feel a sense of profound loss the day oxen
are replaced in Cuban tobacco fields, Starbucks
opens in Havana, and they start having traffic
congestion on the streets. The Cubans won't share
their nostalgia. They want freedom.
Complex exploration
of heritage / Detroit Free Press
Cristina Garcia's dreamy, largely captivating
novel, "Monkey
Hunting," is her loving and complex exploration
of heritage. It takes place in China, Cuba and
the United States and spans nearly 140 years.
It examines the way culture hybridizes and enriches
even as it alienates. And, in its romantic evocation
of pre-Castro Cuba, the book implies that any
kind of distance, be it racial, cultural or political,
is a bad thing.
Telephone
call rate to Cuba being increased / Observer Reporter
/ Jamaica
CABLE & Wireless Jamaica yesterday announced
that it is increasing the cost of calls to Cuba
in what it described as a move to rationalise
an anomaly in the tariffs on that service.
Cuba's Jailed
Librarians / FrontPage Magazine
At the American Library Association annual meeting
in Toronto this weekend there will be a Cuba program.
But there won't be any panel debate about intellectual
freedom in Fidel's tropical paradise. Efforts
to include Cuba's independent librarians -- considered
enemies of the Revolution -- on the ALA program
have failed. That means that only employees of
El Maximo Lider will be featured speakers. That
should be downright riveting.
Del
Mar man brings playgrounds to Havana children
/ Union-Tribune, CA
In a neglected corner park surrounded by ornate,
but crumbling, houses and buildings American volunteers,
toiling under a searing sun, were digging holes
and pouring concrete to put into place elaborate
climbing bars, slides, swings and jungle gyms
all brightly colored in yellows, reds, blues and
greens.
Domino tourney celebrates Cuban
tradition / keysnews.com
Teams of two squared off for a domino tournament
Saturday celebrating a Cuban tradition for passing
the time. The tournament was held at El Meson
de Pepe's as part of the Cuban-American Heritage
Festival. Competitors in the tournament were few
due to the humidity, but the restaurant's general
manager, Jose Diaz, was able to find five teams
of two players to play the traditional Cuban game.
June 23
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-U.S. Accused of Backing Cuban Dissidents
-Cuban Transportation Minister Replaced
-Tearful relatives of Cuban dissidents call for
sanctions against Castro
Pro-Castro librarians accused of shushing rivals
/ National Post
A cold war has broken out at a librarians' conference
in downtown Toronto as accusations fly that pro-Castro
elements within the American Library Association
are trying to silence debate over Cuba's crackdown
on independent libraries.
Ever-vigilant Cuba braces for an expected U.S.
assault / The Miami Herald
Government using propaganda to stoke nationalist
fervor
Castro's behavior baffles analysts / Nancy San
Martin / The Miami Herald
Three months after Cuban President Fidel Castro
launched his harshest crackdown on dissidents
in decades, there's still no agreement on what
drove him to take such steps and then lash out
at valuable European allies that criticized him.
Appeal from Cuban free unionists sent to Walesa
Irena Kirkland, widow of Lane Kirkland, former
president of AFLCIO and an enthusiastic supporter
of Solidarity, has sent an appeal of independent
Cuban trade unionist to Lech Walesa. Mrs. Kirland's
letter follows.
External
links
How
Cuban repression benefits Fidel Castro / Ann Louise
Bardach / The Toronto Star
"Propaganda is the very soul of our struggle,"
Fidel Castro instructed a comrade in a letter
written in 1954. What then, could Castro, a champion
spinmeister, be thinking by tossing 75 Cuban writers
and dissidents into prison two months ago, to
serve terms ranging up to 28 years?
Lack
of pluralism disappoints Cuban church / By Gary
Marx / Sun Spot, MD
Five years after Pope John Paul II's visit unleashed
hopes of a religious revival and a wider political
opening in Cuba, the country's Roman Catholic
leadership expresses disappointment at the lack
of pluralism but voices unwillingness to challenge
the recent crackdown on dissent.
Cuba's
economic breakdown / Kevin Gale / MSNBC
Cuba's economy once seemed to be on the rebound
after the disastrous curtailment of aid from the
Soviet Union, but a deteriorating picture has
re-emerged. Fallout from a political crackdown
on the island is adding to woes caused by a lukewarm
global economy and slowness in travel after Sept.
11. The nation also has suffered from a drop in
the prices for nickel, lackluster harvests of
sugar cane and the devastating effects of Hurricane
Michelle in 2001.
Cuba
Travel Services to Launch Tampa Travel Service
Provider Office / Business Wire
With the increased demand for travel services
to Cuba for Cuban Americans in the Florida region,
Cuba Travel Services, Inc. will be opening new
offices in Tampa, Florida providing travel services
for Cuban Americans and licensed travelers who
qualify under the current U.S. Treasury regulations.
Steering
medical gear to Cuba / London Free Press
John Dubois loves Cuba. It's been the favourite
vacation spot for him and his wife, Marion, for
years. But what the Caribbean hotspot offers Dubois
as a tropical paradise of sun, surf and sand,
hardly matches what he offers in saving lives.
World
pop culture transforms Cuban coming-of-age ritual
/ By Vanessa Bauzá / Orlando Sentinel,
FL
Keeping with a recent fad, she wants what are
called "artistic" photos: suggestive
shots in which girls clad in bikinis and thongs
pose with strategically placed feather boas, flowers,
fans or sombreros that cover them but leave little
to the imagination.
To Crush a
Conscience / Myles B. Kantor / NewsMax.com
Families often have political disagreements, but
they usually don't end with one of them in prison.
Imagine: A father and son in Miami are arguing
about President Bush. The father, a Bush supporter,
says that intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq
enhanced American security and liberated millions
of people. "Bush only intervened there because
he's a tool of the oil barons!" the son responds.
Sandoval
has fun playing in the rain / Steve Greenlee /
Boston Globe
Even the most miserable weather could not
impede the indomitable spirit of Arturo Sandoval.
An unrelenting downpour flooded the finale of
the Boston Globe Jazz & Blues Festival yesterday
at the Hatch Shell, but Sandoval's septet transported
a crowd of maybe 300 people to sunny Cuba for
an hour.
Playing
ball in Cuba / Vineland Daily Journal, NJ
Vineland boys on Philadelphia Boys Choir head
to Havana to perform before royalty and hopefully
hit a few home runs.
June 20
FROM CUBA / Cigar-factory workers' salaries four
months in arrears
Workers at the Alfredo López Brito cigar
factory in Cabaiguán, central Cuba, have
not been paid their salaries in convertible [hard]
currency for the months of February through May
due to lack of money, said dissident Noel Salabarría.
FROM CUBA / Non-commercial fishing forbidden off
the Isle of Youth
Residents of the Isle of Youth, off Cuba's southern
coast, have been barred from fishing by government
authorities.
FROM CUBA / Government stores overcharge consumers,
ex-inspector charges
The government store in a small rural community
in the Isle of Youth charged consumers 50 cents
instead of the stipulated quota price of 35 cents
for 230 grams (about a quarter pound) of chicken
they sold, charged a former prices inspector.
FROM CUBA / As if talking to him would have helped
Yaquelín Rodríguez was fired from
her job at a dollar store after she refused pressure
from a Department of State Security operative
to help change her father's mind.
Cuba: The Internet under Surveillance / RSF
Internet use is very restricted and under tight
surveillance. Access is only possible with government
permission and equipment is rationed.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-HELLO, FIDEL? Prank gets foul-mouthed response
-Democracy Movements wants to take its memorial
flotilla into Cuban waters
29 Cuban Doctors to Arrive in Limpopo / AllAfrica.com
Provincial health spokesman Phuti Seloba said
on Thursday that the doctors' arrival in South
Africa is part of the existing co-operation agreement
between Cuba and South Africa, which started about
six years ago.
Castro's cynical appeal to fear / The Toronto Star
By jailing dissidents, journalists and human rights
activists, Castro looks less like a revolutionary
hero under fire than a practised dictator who
is crushing dissent, while whipping up alarm about
a U.S. attack that will never come. He has cynically
played on people's fears.
Cuba's jailed librarians get no succor from the
ALA / WSJ
Efforts to include Cuba's independent librarians
-- considered enemies of the Revolution -- on
the ALA program have failed. That means that only
employees of El Maximo Lider will be featured
speakers. That should be downright riveting.
Pro-Castro librarians accused of shushing rivals
/ National Post
A cold war has broken out at a librarians' conference
in downtown Toronto as accusations fly that pro-Castro
elements within the American Library Association
are trying to silence debate over Cuba's crackdown
on independent libraries.
External
links
Fisher
College to hold seminar in Cuba / Columbus Business
First
While details of the itinerary will be completed
this summer, plans are to expose participants
to various aspects of the Cuban economy. The cost
is $2,895 per person and the deadline to register
is July 17. The college hopes to attract about
17 attendees.
Teen
church group leaving for Cuba / The Oakland Press
Nine high school students on a 10-day trip to
a Caribbean island - Sound like spring break?
What if that island was Fidel Castro's Cuba? Still
sound like a vacation? If nothing else, it will
be an experience for several metro Detroit and
Oakland County teens who are traveling to Cuba
today.
Court
rules Reno has immunity from Elian protester lawsuit
/ Herald Tribune
A group of people who alleged their constitutional
rights were violated during the raid to seize
Elian Gonzalez three years ago cannot sue former
Attorney General Janet Reno, a federal appellate
court ruled Thursday.
Castro's son
says not interested in leadership / Gulf News
Diaz said the U.S.-styled democracy presented
by the American media as the best in the world
has failed in Argentina and other Latin American
nations. "Argentina was a rich country. The
so-called liberalisation has turned it into a
poor country. That was the case with Peru as well."
Havana's
Lust Stand / The Washington Post
The driver issues one of those crazy-American
eye-rolls and heads off in his brand-new 1986
Lada. Bouncing and beeping and squawking and barking,
the little Russian car sets off through the landscape
of ruin that was once one of the most beautiful
cities in the world.
The Terrorist
Next Door / Humberto Fontova / NewsMax.com
The plan called for blowing up the Statue of Liberty,
Macy's, Grand Central Station, the Humble Oil
refinery in Linden, N.J., and several Manhattan
subway stations. The FBI found manuals with diagrams
showing the correct placement of incendiaries
for "maximum destruction" to oil tanks,
trains and subway stations. The manuals also cautioned
against "attaching detonators to incendiary
bombs while on your person."
Cuba
link gets UK blessing / The Royal Gazette, Bermuda
Britain has finally approved Bermuda's plans to
have a memorandum of cultural understanding with
Cuba, but it is now up to Government to decide
whether to proceed, Government House confirmed
yesterday.
Judge
overturns conviction in U.S.-Cuba trading case
/ National Post, Canada
A salesman who became the first Canadian found
guilty of violating strict U.S. trade laws for
doing business with Cuba has had the conviction
overturned and a new trial ordered because of
misconduct by prosecutors handling the case.
U.S.
should drop charges against Niagara native / The
Standard, Canada
Now that a U.S. federal judge in Philadelphia
has ordered a new trial for St. Catharines native
Jim Sabzali, we think it's time American lawmakers
took a step back to reconsider the travesty that
his ordeal has become.
June 18
FROM CUBA / Government opponent refused previously
promised job
After having hired him to work in the Caibarién
lobster processing plant, authorities refused
to employ Pedro Rafael Jorge once they learned
he had links to dissident groups.
FROM CUBA / All workers punished for pilfered supplies
All the workers at the "El Jíbaro"
sugar complex, in Sancti Spíritus province,
had their incentive pay suspended and were given
a general reprimand after the discovery that 11,000
dollars of agricultural chemicals were missing.
FROM CUBA / Urgent Appeal to International Labor
Organizations
The International Conference of the International
Labor Organization adopted a resolution dated
June 11th that condemns the government of the
Republic of Cuba. This is an unprecedented event
in our nation's history.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Group: Cuba Trade Show Licenses Denied
-Overzealous Closing Causes New Trial Over Cuban
Trade
-Fidel Castro to Visit India
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-U.S. pulls plug on Cuba expo
-Mel Martínez rules out U.S. Senate bid
South Fla. DJs Play Prank On Fidel Castro / NBC6.net
The DJs at "El Zol" 95.7 FM gave Fidel
Castro a wake-up call to remember on Tuesday after
getting through to him on the phone while they
were on the air.
EU reiterates "grave concern" over Cuba
clampdown / EUBusines
The European Union reiterated on Monday its "grave
concern" over a recent crackdown on dissidents
in Cuba, and recalled earlier criticism which
sparked a fierce outburst from President Fidel
Castro.
Castro leads Cuba to the cliff's edge / The Miami
Herald
Fidel Castro is facing a new enemy. He calls it,
with great contempt, ''the little gang.'' The
little gang is Europe. It's 25 countries: Spain,
Italy, Britain, France, Germany and so on. They
are the 15 members of the European Union with
10 others who are waiting at the door.
External
links
Cuba's
Catholic Church leaders refuse to challenge recent
crackdown on dissent / Sun-Sentinel, FL
Five years after Pope John Paul II's visit
unleashed hopes of a religious revival and a wider
political opening in Cuba, the country's Roman
Catholic leadership expresses disappointment at
the lack of pluralism but voices unwillingness
to challenge the recent crackdown on dissent.
Quince
parties show an economic elite is returning to
Cuba / Sun-Sentinel, FL
Dressed in a pink flowing gown and glittering
crown, the girl stood at the entrance to a huge
ballroom where friends and family waited to celebrate
her 15th birthday. The lights were cut. The girl
walked in. And then a single spotlight shone down
on her. The crowd fell silent before erupting
into applause.
Three men executed
in Cuba were black, first to be killed for trying
to escape / BET.com
A report on racism in Cuba released this week
by Jaime Suchlicki, director of Cuban Studies
at the University of Miami, also cited in The
Times article, noted that none of the top 10 generals
or senior military leaders in Cuba is Black and
none of the 15 presidents of the provincial assemblies
is Black. According to government reports, Black
Cubans hold only 5 percent of the best tourism
jobs in the country but comprise 85 percent of
the country's prison population.
US
Congress considers Havana Club dispute / Financial
Times
A worldwide dispute over rum hit Washington on
Tuesday as the US Congress considered a bill that
would bring a longstanding trademark dispute between
Pernod Ricard, the spirits company, and its rival
Bacardi to a federal court. At stake is control
of the Havana Club brand name, a foothold in the
potentially lucrative US market for Cuban rum
and worldwide trademark protocols.
Getting
the message to Castro's captives / WorldNetDaily.com
Freedom
is something that we now take for granted. The
nation's public schools do a poor job of educating
American children on what it took to secure our
freedom. Even worse, our textbooks gloss over
the evils of communism and totalitarian dictatorships
such as the one just 90 miles off our shore.
It is not surprising
Czechs Take a Stand / World
Press Review
The
persecution of political opponents of the Cuban
dictatorship has elicited an unusually unified
protest in the Czech Republic. With the exception
of the communists, Fidel Castro's brutality has
been denounced by all key institutions, from the
president to Parliament and government, to the
churches and representatives of the domestic media.
In support of the dissidents, there was a demonstration
in front of the Cuban Embassy in Prague [on April
16].
Castro and Iraq / World Press
Review
Right
after the attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, one political
commentator spoke with concern of a resulting
"lucky break" for authoritarian regimes.
This meant there was now a risk that the struggle
against Islamic terrorism would serve as cover
to various dictators bent on smashing their internal
opposition.
June 17
FROM CUBA / Fearing imminent collapse, tenants
vacate building
Around 45 residents of a two-story building in
central Havana took their possessions out on the
street June 11 and demanded to be relocated, citing
fears that the building could collapse after heavy
rains in recent weeks.
FROM CUBA / Workers say their retirement savings
are missing
Around 30 food-industry workers in Havana processing
their retirement papers found the moneys discounted
from their pay do not show in the computer as
having been credited to their accounts.
FROM CUBA / TV station director dismissed
The director general of Cuban TV's information
services and of Cubavisión channel, Mario
Robaina, was dismissed from his post, presumably
for irregularities in processing a Swiss businessman's
application for an exclusive representation agreement.
Memorial to Marti may be built at FIU / The Miami
Herald
''Las palmas son novias que esperan (Palm trees
are lovers who wait),'' the Cuban patriot José
Martí told a Tampa audience in 1891, at
a rally in support of Cuba's struggle against
Spanish rule. Today, 150 years after his birth
-- he was born Jan. 28, 1853 -- it would appear
that it is not only the palms, but Martí,
who must wait.
External
links
Birthday parties
highlight Cuba's (lack of a) 'classless society'
/ Gary Marx / Chicago Tribune
With some teenagers attending two or three
parties a week, a whole industry has developed
around the celebration, with Cubans opening dress
rental and photography shops. Others fashion the
gigantic cakes that are de rigueur.
Analysis:
EU sees red with Cuba / NewsMax.com
Septuagenarian musicians such as Ibrahim Ferrer
play to packed theatres across the continent,
new Cuban bars and eateries continue to spring
up in European capitals, and more and more Europeans
choose to spend their holidays lapping up Havana's
old-world charm and the Caribbean coast's new-world
tourist facilities.
Castro
foe switches to airwaves / Sun-Sentinel, FL
José Basulto's television station can fit
in a suitcase and be broadcast from a small plane.
In his South Miami home, Basulto demonstrates
his $4,000 worth of equipment, a camcorder, a
transmitter and devices to measure and amplify
signals. The shoestring operation, which Basulto
has employed twice, was an attempt to show that
if a couple of amateur radio aficionados could
broadcast to Cuba, so could the U.S. government
with its $10 million-a-year enterprise, TV Martí.
June 16
FROM CUBA / "The dissident movement must die
now," journalists told
Five independent journalists in Morón,
Ciego de Ávila province, were summoned
June 10 by a captain Zamora of the Department
of State Security, who told them "the dissident
movement must die now" and warned them to
stop practicing journalism, according to one of
the journalists.
FROM CUBA / Workers interrogated at electric power
plant
Department of State Security officials have been
interrogating workers at a Havana power plant
after a blackout May 20 left wide sections of
the city in darkness.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Eight Cuban migrants taken into custody
-Cuba Takes Control of Spanish Center
-Cuba Continues European Union Bashing
Castro makes powerful foes / Isabel Vincent / National
Post
In addition to China, which has become Cuba's
leading trade partner, Castro has also forged
strong alliances with Vietnam, Iran and Latin
American countries that have recently elected
leftist regimes. These include Brazil, Venezuela
and lately, Argentina.
External
links
Library group
hit on Cuba stance / The Washington Times
The American Library Association (ALA) is under
fire for inviting Cuban government librarians
to its upcoming annual convention, while ignoring
colleagues from independent libraries in Cuba
who were recently sentenced to prison terms of
up to 27 years.
Cuba honours Comrade
Che / BBC
He played a key role in the revolution which brought
Fidel Castro to power in Cuba in 1959 and went
on to become a revolutionary icon for communism.
Che Guevara's image, with beard and beret, was
recognised all over the world.
Tropical
Storms of Intrigue in Pre-Revolution Cuba / The
Washington Post
In
his fifth novel, Thomas Sanchez, whose "Mile
Zero" and "Rabbit Boss" won lavish
praise, offers an exotic portrait of sex, violence,
corruption and conspiracy in Cuba two years before
the triumph of Fidel Castro's revolution.
Another
swipe at Fidel / SunSpot.net, MD
The Bush administration needs to refocus some
of its attention and diplomatic resources south
of the border if it wants to enlist Latin America's
help in matters related to Cuba.
Castro's execution
of 3 raises specter of racism / The Washington
Times
The execution of three blacks by a Cuban government
firing squad in April for attempting to hijack
a boat to Miami is raising questions about racism
on the communist island. It was the first time
anyone, black or white, had been executed for
trying to flee Cuba.
Hammond
woman detained after visit to Cuban homeland /
Northwest Indiana News
Pipping first went to Cuba in 1998, where he met
Susely, who was a ballerina in that country. "I
wanted to go some place where the Americans haven't
screwed it up," he said. "I even bought
a house there, one block from the ocean."
But Pipping said neither he nor his wife has ever
had a problem before now.
June 13
FROM CUBA / Harsher terms announced for prisoners
of conscience
The director of Cuban prisons told several prisoners
of conscience that they would be subject to harsher
terms from now on. The director, General Rafael
Tamayo, made the announcement during a visit on
May 18 to the maximum security prison at Agüica,
in Matanzas province.
FROM CUBA / Dissident's health worsens in prison
Relatives of prisoner of conscience Miguel Galbán
Gutiérrez charge that he is suffering from
dehydration after suffering from chronic bouts
of diarrhea for two months.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cubans swarm Spanish and Italian embassies to
protest EU
-Defecting Cuban Star Arrives in Miami
Castro protests his allies' 'fascism' / The Miami
Herald
After comparing the leaders of Spain and Italy
to Hitler and Mussolini, Cuban President Fidel
Castro led a massive march Thursday in Havana
against European Union criticisms of his government's
crackdown on dissidents.
Editorial: Castro crushes dissent in Cuba / Toronto
Star
Canadians generally have nothing but warm feelings
for the people of Cuba and their lovely island.
Some 400,000 of us vacation there every year.
Webb on Cuba: 'We are proud we can help those less
fortunate than ourselves' / The Royal Gazette
The controversy over Cuba flared up again in the
House of Assembly on Friday as Opposition politicians
fired off a few more salvos in the House of Assembly.
Crema resigns from 'Italy-Cuba Friendship' inter-parliamentary
section / AGI Online, Italy
Rome, Italy, June 12 - With a letter sent to defence
minister Antonio Martino, SDI senator Giovanni
Crema - president of the inter-parliamentary union
- resigned from the presidency of the bilateral
section "Italy-Cuba frienship". "I
acknowledged that, following the last tragic events,
there is no possibility to communicate frankly".
Cuban Doctors' Problem Cured / AllAfrica.com
Locally deployed Cuban doctors who refuse to pay
the compulsory 57% of their salaries to their
government or send their 15-year-old children
back to their motherland, can do so without fear
of being fired from South African hospitals.
External
links
Fidel
Castro mobbed by fans in Argentina / Independent
Online, SA
Members of left-wing organisations in Argentina
foiled strict security surrounding Cuban leader
Fidel Castro on Monday in Buenos Aires, and in
the crush, several people ended up on the ground
and a journalist was punched in the face. Admirers
chanted slogans against Washington.
Castro
turns on the old Cold War chill / Tracey Eaton
/ Dallas Morning News
Just when you thought Cuban affairs were warmer.
Just last fall, a smiling Fidel Castro mingled
with American farmers and cuddled up to Minnesota
calves at a Havana trade show. How times have
changed.
Cuban-American
community divided over US Havana policy / Henry
Hamman / Financial Times
The US response to last month's crackdown on dissent
in Cuba that resulted in the imprisonment of 70
opposition activists has highlighted deep divisions
inside the powerful Cuban-American community.
We
shouldn't be told not to visit Cuba / The Record,
NY
There's another, more important point: The U.S.
government should not be in the business of telling
Americans where and why they can travel. The freedom
to travel is not explicitly enshrined in the Constitution,
perhaps because the Founders never envisioned
a government trying to restrict it.
June 12
FROM CUBA / Caught in between
Eleven-year-old Wilver was alone at home when
they arrived: two trucks bearing agents of the
special police, officials of the municipal housing
authority, a judge, and the president of the local
Committee for the Defense of the Revolution.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Castro Protests EU Decision With March
-Cuba Claims EU Serving American Interests
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Once-hopping Havana no longer hot scene for modeling
-Cuban singer seeks start in Miami
-Dodd's request for memo hinders Latin envoy's
job
National Alliance Replies to Castro: A regime is
collapsing / AGI
"What is going on in Havana is the clear
proof of the deep crisis in which the last communist
regimes have fallen" said Sergio Cola (National
Alliance), vice chairman of the council for the
justice procedure authorisation dept. of the Justice
Commission.
Cuban regime is trying to alter reality, DL said
/ AGI
What is happening in Cuba is unbelievable. After
arresting, and heavily sentencing 75 independent
journalists and oppositors, after sentencing to
death three hijackers who didn't killed anyone,
now the regime is trying to change reality."
External
links
A
son's execution, a mother's rage / Tracey Eaton
/ The Dallas Morning News
The knock on the door came at 6 a.m. "Your
son has been executed," a state security
agent said. Rosa María García flew
into a rage and began hurling insults and rocks.
When her husband tried to stop her, she bit him.
"I went psycho," she said. And she wasn't
the only one who was upset.
In Cuba, fresh
proof of Castro's betrayals / A.M. Rosenthal /
NY Daily News
Fidel Castro is my obsession. The thought of him
leaps into my mind wherever I am and whenever
I think of the world's slew of dictators. The
thought of him makes me queasy, not simply because
of the number of Cubans he has killed, tortured
or imprisoned for the more than four decades he
has been in power, but for what he has not done.
June 11
FROM CUBA / Independent journalists harassed, threatened
Two independent journalists in the central Cuban
city of Morón were summoned by an officer
of the Department of State Security (DSE) and
told to cease practicing journalism by "order
of the Comandante."
FROM CUBA / "Rejoin society," said the
political police
There is a very simple way for us to rejoin society,
and even for the close to two million Cubans who
are scattered throughout the planet to rejoin
society. And that is for Fidel Castro to abandon
power.
Powell finds Kirchner receptive to defending human
rights in Cuba / The Miami Herald
Does rejoining society mean accepting as good
everything the government has done and does? Or
accepting that the government constantly talk
about war instead of leading the country toward
a policy of understanding with the neighbors and
among all Cubans?
Cuban Musician Granted Asylum in Texas / Yahoo!
A popular Cuban musician defected and was granted
asylum in South Texas after taking a taxi from
Monterrey, Mexico, to the U.S. border, an immigration
official said Wednesday.
Europe Gets Tough / The Miami Herald
The European Union handed Cuba a serious diplomatic
defeat last week when its members unanimously
approved a set of diplomatic sanctions against
Fidel Castro's government. We're encouraged by
this new display of outrage by Europe.
Brazil and Cuba: More than Good Friends / Janer
Cristaldo / Brazzil
Does anyone remember the 1970s, when you could
be labeled an 'imperialist pig' for denouncing
Cuba as the financier of the so-called 'revolutionary
movements' in Brazil? The connections between
Cuba and the Brazilian left were obvious, but
one was doomed and immediately blacklisted by
the Left for daring to state the obvious.
External
links
Fidel foiled / The Washington Times
The
United States has won two unlikely allies in its
efforts to bolster the democratic freedoms in
Cuba: the European Union and stalwart journalists
on the island. In wake of Cuba's imprisonment
and summary sentencing of 75 dissidents in April,
Fidel Castro may have tighter controls over captive
Cubans, but opposition toward the dictator is
strengthening in some parts of the world and there
are pockets of undaunted resistance in Cuba.
Tampa
Port Authority gets consent for Cuba travel /
Sun-Sentinel
The Tampa Port Authority has received approval
from federal regulators for travel to Cuba on
a trade mission. The authority, which received
approval Tuesday, said it hasn't arranged the
details, but a group is expected to travel to
the communist island nation before the travel
license expires Sept. 6. The group cannot stay
for more than a week.
EU recalls cuban atrocities;
what about OAS? / J. Grant Swank, Jr. / MichNews/com
Don't say EU isn't noting. It is. And it's taking
some moral positions worth the civilized world's
applause. In recent days, the EU concluded to
diminish alliances with Fidel's politic as a moral
pronouncement against jailing, particularly unreal
prison consignments, meted out to 75 political
opponents as well as independent thinking journalists.
June 10
FROM CUBA / Candidates for employment at new tourist
hotel need political endorsements
Candidates for employment at the new "Breezes"
tourist hotel need to pass an exam and obtain
endorsements from block committees, the Armed
Forces and the Communist Party and be between
25 and 40 years of age.
FROM CUBA / 90 percent of the buses on the Isle
of Youth are out of service
Public transportation on the Isle of Youth is
operating with only 10 percent of its buses because
of a shortage of spare parts.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-US seeks democratic Cuba, but not by force: Powell
-Powell Asks OAS to Back Democracy in Cuba
Cubans set to take jobs from SA engineers - Freedom
Front / Cape Times, SA
A storm has erupted over a decision by South African
health authorities to employ 50 Cuban engineers
and technicians to service medical equipment in
South Africa.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Powell to OAS: Help Cubans
-Brothers pilot seeking $76 million from Cuba
Jacksonville lumber company begins shipments to
Cuba / KansasCity.com
A lumber company will begin shipments to Cuba
this month, becoming the first American company
to sell wood to the communist nation since 1958,
company officials said Monday.
External
links
Fidel
Castro mobbed by fans in Argentina / Independent
Online, SA
Members of left-wing organisations in Argentina
foiled strict security surrounding Cuban leader
Fidel Castro on Monday in Buenos Aires, and in
the crush, several people ended up on the ground
and a journalist was punched in the face. Admirers
chanted slogans against Washington.
Castro
turns on the old Cold War chill / Tracey Eaton
/ Dallas Morning News
Just when you thought Cuban affairs were warmer.
Just last fall, a smiling Fidel Castro mingled
with American farmers and cuddled up to Minnesota
calves at a Havana trade show. How times have
changed.
Cuban-American
community divided over US Havana policy / Henry
Hamman / Financial Times
The US response to last month's crackdown on dissent
in Cuba that resulted in the imprisonment of 70
opposition activists has highlighted deep divisions
inside the powerful Cuban-American community.
We
shouldn't be told not to visit Cuba / The Record,
NY
There's another, more important point: The U.S.
government should not be in the business of telling
Americans where and why they can travel. The freedom
to travel is not explicitly enshrined in the Constitution,
perhaps because the Founders never envisioned
a government trying to restrict it.
June 9
FROM PRISON / Diary of Manuel Vázquez Portal
From the use of not disposable needles in a prison
with AIDS patients, to the allowance of only 4
visits a year, poet and journalist Manuel Vázquez
Portal writes about his experiences in Boniato
penitentiary, where he serves an 18 years of prison,
in an isolated cell in the maximum security area.
FROM CUBA / Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet's wife fears
for his life
A letter faxed from Cuba on June 5th by Dr. Oscar
Elias Biscet's wife, Elsa Morejón, denounces
his critical state and makes an urgent appeal
for his life.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
US Secretary of State Colin Powell sought a united
stand to push Cuba toward democratic change in
a speech to the Organization of American States
that has always been divided on how to handle
the communist island.
Despite recent crackdowns, Cuban journalists persevere
/ The Miami Herald
As many as 40 independent Cuban journalists, apparently
undeterred by an intensified wave of repression,
are challenging the government by filing regular
news reports to foreign news outlets -- the same
practice that resulted in long jail sentences
for 75 dissidents in April.
Nat Hentoff Blasts ALA on Persecution of Librarians
in Cuba / Friends of Cuban Libraries
In a stinging rebuke to the American Library Association,
one of the nation's foremost defenders of civil
liberties, Nat Hentoff, has criticized the ALA
for failing to take action to defend volunteer
librarians in Cuba who are being subjected to
a brutal crackdown.
Castro promises unmasking in coming days / The
Globe and Mail
Fidel Castro did not speak at a political rally
Saturday protesting U.S. policies toward his country,
but told reporters afterward he would have plenty
to say in the coming days about recent events.
External
links
Young urge change
inside Cuba / BBC, UK
Inside Cuba, a greater threat to the government
may be lurking - not in organised opposition,
but in the hardships of everyday life.
Cuba beyond
Castro / The Washington Times
However you measure the remaining life of the
Fidel Castro regime in Cuba, it has clearly passed
from autumn to a bleak mid-winter. A month ago,
three young Cubans died by firing squad for attempting
to escape that imprisoned island. Their summary
trials were closed even to their own families,
who were refused permission to visit them in prison
before they died.
Cuba
libre / Paul Reniers / The Globe and Mail, Canada
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham's decision
to cancel some high-level contacts with the Cuban
government and to encourage other countries to
do the same is deeply concerning. It marks a turn
in our foreign policy toward increasing support
for U.S. interventionism.
Canada
to push action by OAS against Cuba / The Globe
and Mail, Canada
Canada will ask the Organization of American States
to consider taking non-economic measures against
Cuba in response to a crackdown on peaceful dissent,
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said yesterday.
Who's shaping
policy on Iraq, Cuba? / Brandenton Herald
When, oh when, will our government wake up
to the fact information from exiles cannot be
taken at face value, but that it must be carefully
researched, then accepted or rejected? I have
experienced a lot of déjà vu in
that regard. And within that déjà
vu is a nagging suspicion that our administration
chooses to believe whatever suits its purposes.
Cuba's
Spiritual Olive Branch / Newsday.com
When Lucy Fetterolf of Huntington first traveled
to Cuba in 1986 in connection with her church,
most of her friends and neighbors were befuddled.
Some were offended.
Cuban crackdown stalls
trade drive / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just three months ago, the bandwagon to end the
U.S. trade embargo against Cuba was gaining steam,
with a growing list of American companies lobbying
for Cuban business and a bipartisan group in Congress
promising to reverse the four-decade-old policy.
June 6
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-U.S. Demands Exit Visas for 636 Cubans
-US wants Cuba to remove barriers to orderly emigration
-Cuba Announces Bid for 2012 Olympics
-Cuban Exile Leader Arrested in Miami
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-EU set to review relations with Cuba
-Making waves: Cuban American leads cutter
-Dissident smuggles diary from Cuban jail
Reporters Without Borders deplores confirmation
of heavy prison sentences against two arrested
journalists
Reporters Without Borders deplored the Cuban supreme
court's confirmation of sentences imposed on two
of the 26 independent journalists arrested at
the end of March and since jailed for lengthy
terms. The court upheld on 3 June a sentence of
26 years on Miguel Galván Gutiérrez
(photo) and 16 years on José Ubaldo Izquierdo
Hernández.
External
links
EU condemns Cuba over
human rights / BBC News
Castro accused of 'deplorable' human rights
abuses. The European Union has announced it
will impose a range of diplomatic sanctions against
Cuba over its recent human rights record.
Court
to decide if Cuban activist has right to stay
in U.S. / Sun-Sentinel
Although Sanchez came to the United States from
Cuba in 1967, he never became a permanent resident,
a status Cubans may obtain one year after they
are paroled into the United States under provisions
of the Cuban Adjustment Act.
Families
of Cuban dissidents risk speaking out / CNN
Many families of Cuban dissidents are speaking
openly to the media in an attempt to draw attention
to the plight of the political prisoners.
June 5
FROM CUBA / From my prison cell / Manuel Vázquez
Portal
The toilet is basically a hole regurgitating its
stench 24 hours a day. Above it, a faucet provides
water for washing and drinking. There is no table,
or chair, or cabinet for personal objects. There
are no sheets, no pillows, no mosquito netting,
no blanket. There's no radio or TV, no newspaper
or books.
FROM CUBA / Alcoholism on the increase among young
Groups of young people sitting on a street corner
around a bottle of rum are becoming a frequent
sight in the Isle of Youth. Some say this confirms
an increase in alcoholism among the young.
FROM CUBA / Promised incentive pay not delivered
Seafood-exporting firm Clodomira S.A. hasn't paid
its workers promised incentive pay since last
January.
FROM CUBA / Workers quit due to poor working conditions
Nearly 35 workers have quit their jobs in the
Horticultural Plan in San José de las Lajas,
a town south of Havana, due to low salaries and
poor working conditions, said labor activist William
Toledo.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Dissident smuggles diary from Cuban jail
-Defense asks for visit to Cuban airport
FROM CUBA / Save Private Braulio!
He remembers that morning his mother went to meet
him at the Havana airport. They had lowered the
wounded from the airplane. The ambulances were
parked to one side of the runway, close by the
Cubana de Aviación airliner.
June 3
U.S. Concerned About Cuban Prisoner / Yahoo!
The United States is deeply concerned about the
Cuban government's treatment of a prisoner, Oscar
Espinosa Chepe reportedly is suffering from liver
disease and other ailments, the State Department
said Monday.
Hunger strike of Cuban political prisoners / PRIMA
News
Cuban political prisoners held in the central
prison in Holguin province have gone on hunger
strike to demand access to their families. Among
the hunger strikers is Adolfo Fernandez Sainz,
a PRIMA correspondent in Cuba sentenced to 15
years in prison.
Cuba: Escalation of repression must be halted /
Amnesty International
A new report published today, Cuba:
"Essential measures"? Human rights crackdown
in the name of security details a massive
increase in the number of prisoners of conscience
and calls on Cuba to immediately halt executions
and resume its three-year de facto moratorium
on executions.
Cuba gets a strong slap for jailing 75 dissidents
/ The Miami Herald
Amnesty International on Monday declared all 75
Cuban government opponents jailed during an islandwide
sweep in mid-March ''prisoners of conscience,''
making Cuba the country with the highest number
of prisoners with that status in the Western Hemisphere.
External
links
Treat
Dissident, U.S. Tells Cuba / The New York Times
The Bush administration demanded today that Cuba
provide adequate medical attention to Óscar
Espinosa Chepe, a dissident journalist with liver
disease. Mr. Chepe, 62, was among 75 writers,
economists and human rights activists sentenced
to prison this spring in a sweeping campaign against
government critics.
Cuban delegation
seeks joint business ventures / The Nassau Guardian
The arrival of a Cuban delegation in Nassau could
mean closer trading ties between The Bahamas and
the socialist nation, with a focus on joint business
ventures with local entrepreneurs.
Obasanjo invited to Cuba / The
Triumph, Nigeria
Mr. Pedro Montejo, a member of the country's
Council of State, who was at the head of the country's
presidential delegation to Obasanjo's inauguration,
told newsmen in Abuja today that Castro had also
received an invitation from Obasanjo to visit
Nigeria.
Cuban
Docs Hold 4th Scientific Workshop / Ghana HomePage
Dr. Eurique Colcis Perez, the leader of the group,
said that services carried out by the CMB between
2002 and April 2003 include 12,322 surgeries,
12,999 anaesthesia and 26,948 x-rays. He said
the doctors also undertook fieldwork in villages
and communities throughout the year. (Cuban public
heath: Related) http://www.cubanet.org/libros/links_english.htm
Cuban hip hop groups join
the roots in a historic concert at the Apollo
Theater / Music Industry News Network
In its continuing effort to promote cultural exchange,
The Hip Hop Theater Festival and The International
Hip Hop Exchange will unite Cuba's leading Hip
Hop groups, Doble Filo and Obsesion with America's
leading politically and socially conscious Hip
Hop artists: The Roots, Common, Tony Touch, Soul
Live w/J-Live, Kanye West, El Meswy and Tomorrowz
Weaponz with other special guests.
CUBA:
Dark Days Ahead? / Chris Marquis / Hoover Digest
It doesn't take much imagination to see how American
policy toward Cuba has failed. The biggest proof,
of course, is Castro himself, still there after
10 American presidents.
June 2
FROM CUBA / Private sale of wood and charcoal forbidden
"Every day is a new headache, just trying
to figure out what we are going to eat and how
we are going to cook it," said one local
man who refused to give his name. "As far
as I know, the government of the United States
has not forbidden the Cubans to cut down 'marabú.'"
FROM CUBA / Workers complain of agonizing progress
to hotel repairs
The remodeling of the Miramar hotel, in Guanabo
beach, east of Havana, already two years underway
and no end in sight, is making employees despair
they'll get their jobs back any time soon.
False Pretenses - The Dissident was a Spy / Gary
Marx
As the crackdown intensified, I began searching
for an independent journalist whom I could profile.
A U.S. diplomat and a well-known Cuban dissident
both suggested I contact Orrio. I tracked him
down. We spoke for three hours.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Bidders buy two Cuban planes hijacked to the
Keys
-Cuba's cardinal rejects call to support dissidents
-Coast Guard picks up 5 Cuban migrants 30 miles
offshore
-Concert to aid Cubans' families
Purge Rights Violators / The Miami Herald
The rogue nations are at it again. Cuba's regime,
among the world's most proficient human-rights
abusers, is leading the charge to yank the consultive
status of Reporters Without Frontiers at the U.N.
Human Rights Commission.
Castro's grim phoney war / The Economist
America's reluctance to tighten its embargo is
rare good news for Cubans
Castro's 'charm' turns 'offensive' / Craig Gilbert
/ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Last fall, Cuba's Fidel Castro wined and dined
American food producers in Havana, part of a well
crafted "charm offensive" aimed at weakening
the U.S. trade embargo. This spring, Castro made
a public relations splash of a different kind.
Clergymen relive rescue of hundreds from Cuba in
'80s / The Miami Herald
He was just a little boy with a big suitcase --
now being knocked down by other children, once
his school buddies. WORM! they screamed. The boy's
teacher soon joined in as the frenzied crowd began
smearing ketchup and syrup over the little boy's
head.
External
links
Independent
journalists in Cuba told to stop writing or go
to jail / Vanessa Bauza / Sun-Sentinel, FL
I was given three options: to stop writing, leave
the country or go to jail," said Garcia,
37, from his second-floor apartment where he writes
his stories in longhand. "The government
is unpredictable. They may summon you and nothing
happens, or they may arrest you."
Dissidents' wives
irk Cuban regime / Gary Marx / HoustonChronicle.com
Dressed in white and wearing black scarves, the
two dozen women sit together quietly during Mass.
This rankles Cuban officials. Defying threats,
they seek to improve conditions for imprisoned
spouses.
Sailboat
race to Cuba may have violated federal regulations
/ Sun-Sentinel, FL
Crews competing in the Key West Sailing Club Conch
Republic Cup departed May 22 for Havana and several
Cuban shore communities after receiving pre-race
warnings they would be violating U.S. Department
of Commerce licensing regulations.
The
Matanzas connection / SunSpot.net, MD
The home team had the lead in Victory of the Bay
of Pigs Stadium, a no-frills concrete hulk in
Matanzas, a port city 60 miles east of Havana.
On a cool April evening, about 350 fans were watching
their provincial baseball team battle rivals from
the Isle of Youth, once known as the Isle of Pines,
the former site of a notorious prison.
Cuban exiles
debate value of lifting trade embargo / Brian
Monroe / Florida Today
Cuba is never far from the hearts and minds of
exiles who freed themselves from its communist
regime. And the island nation's recent efforts
to silence its dissidents only increases their
concern. Cuba also is on the minds of some U.S.
lawmakers.
Images of a drowsy
island / Gazzete.net
The oil paintings he created there reflect that
dreaminess. They are on view at R. Michelson Galleries,
132 Main St., Northampton, through June 15, in
a show called "A Glimpse of Havana Today."
Bryden wrote about the paintings and his experiences
in Cuba in a booklet of the same name that is
available at the gallery.
It's Official:
It's Contreras / The New York Times
George Steinbrenner will get his wish: José
Contreras is in the Yankees' rotation. Joe Torre,
the Yankees' manager, made it official after today's
10-9, 17-inning victory over the Tigers. Contreras
will start the next time through the rotation,
and Jeff Weaver will pitch in long relief.
Contreras's
First Start In Majors Is a Winner / The Washington
Post
Jose Contreras made an impressive pitch to stay
in New York's rotation, allowing two hits in seven
innings in his first major league start as the
visiting Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-0,
last night behind two homers by Jason Giambi.
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