March 31
FROM CUBA / Two dissidents
charged with "crimes against the State" / Ernesto Roque
FROM CUBA / Arrested journalist
brings total to 27 / Ernesto Roque
Thousands rally on Calle Ocho /
The Miami Herald
Cuba News / Yahoo!
Socialist International calls
for the release of civic and social leaders arrested in Cuba
External
links
Cuban
dissidents to be tried under repressive law / PRIMA News, Russia
Cuba,
Ukraine discuss trade issues / Hoover's Online
Cuba
crackdown / Union-Tribune Editorial
Dissidents in
Cuba / Wayne S. Smith / NY Times
Crackdown in
Cuba / A reminder that Castro is still a tyrant / Post-Gazette.com
Cuban
oil zone in Gulf of Mexico expected to yield more crude / Hoover's.Online
Watching
History and Taking Notes / NY Times
March 28
FROM CUBA / Arrested dissident
sentenced to six months / UPECI
The first dissident to be
tried of the more than 70 arrested in the last week was sentenced to six
months in jail for "disobedience" by the municipal tribunal in
Jovellanos, Matanzas province.
FROM CUBA / Family evicted from
abandoned clinic in Moa / APLO
Flérida Franco, 43,
and her three sons, 17, 13, and 4, were evicted from an abandoned clinic
where they had been living since June, 2002, when their house fell down
during a rain storm.
Cuba's crackdown amid war
likely to escape punishment / The Miami Herald
Despite
worldwide condemnation of Cuba's recent crackdown on dissidents, Fidel
Castro's government once again appears likely to escape any damaging
consequences, according to a variety of policy analysts.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba, Ukraine discuss trade issues
-State-funded Cuban ballet company
produces world class dancers
-Trinidad, Cuba come away with victories in
Gold Cup qualifiers
First family visits for
imprisoned journalists as European / RSF
The families of
several of the independent journalists and dissidents arrested last week have
been allowed to visit them since 24 March in various places of detention
around the country.
External
links
Cuban dissidents
arrested in government crackdown / Education Week
The leader of a
small group of independent Cuban teachers, who is also an open critic of
President Fidel Castro, remained in jail this week after being arrested as
part of a sweeping crackdown by the Cuban government against political
opposition.
Armenia and
Cuba sign intergovernmental / WorldNews.com
Armenian and Cuban
Foreign Ministers Vardan Oskanyan and Felipe Perez Roque signed today in
Yerevan an intergovernmental agreement "On trade-economic cooperation
between Armenia and Cuba".
Cuban
dissidents to be tried under repressive law / PRIMA News, Russia
A
famous Cuban dissident, leader of Assembly to promote the civil society Martha
Beatriz Roque is to be charged under repressive Law 88. PRIMA correspondent
in Havana Adolfo Fernandez is also to be charged under the same law.
Cuba to
stage a show trial of dissidents / PRIMA News, Russia
On March 26,
the family of PRIMA's correspondent Adolfo Fernandez was allowed to visit him
in prison for 15 minutes. When asked about the nature of charges against him,
a state security officer told them that Adolfo Fernandez who was arrested on
March 20 "is under investigation in connection with a threat to the
national security".
Sex
conference in Cuba covers everything from implants to / The Dallas Morning
News
Given Cubans' reputation for sensuality and the country's
opposition to the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, it was only fitting that Havana
hosted the 16th World Congress of Sexology earlier this month. The head of
Cuba's sexologist delegation was Mariela Castro Espín, daughter of Raúl
Castro.
A
disturbing Cuban roundup / Orlando Sentinel, FL
With the world's
attention riveted to war in Iraq, Cuban President Fidel Castro is back to his
old tricks. A day before the first bombs hit Baghdad, Cuban authorities began
rounding up dozens of dissidents who have dared to work for peaceful democratic
change on the island. Now, about 80 people are in jail and facing long
sentences.
Castro
feels the heat / Palm Beach Post
Saddam Hussein's days are
numbered, and Castro feels at least a twinge of negative empathy he would
rather not sense. Regression is the only way an aging, increasingly
irrelevant tyrant can feel better.
Can
Latin America Sieze the Middle Ground in the U.S.-Cuba Conflict? / The
Washington Post
With the eyes of the world turned to Iraq, Cuban
leader Fidel Castro last week arrested dozens of dissidents on the island for
conspiring against the Cuban Revolution with the "imperialist"
enemy to the North.
Once
There Was a Pipeline From Cuba to D.C. / The Washington Post
A
left-handed first baseman, Becquer had a quick and level swing -- much to the
liking of a man in the stands named Joe Cambria. Long before Major League
Baseball became the world game it is today, Cambria had opened a pipeline to
the Caribbean in general and Cuba in particular.
Capturing
the Rhythm of a Nation / The Washington Post
Local photographers
who went to the 2002 International Jazz Festival in Havana with the Latin
American Folk Institute in December found it difficult to sit still and take
pictures while music and dancing pulsated in the streets, jazz clubs,
theaters and music houses of Cuba.
New
York's Havana film festival marred by visa troubles / Hoover's.com
The Havana Film Festival, which began this week in New York, has been marred
by the absence of a number of Cuban filmmakers who were unable to attend because
of difficulties in securing visas.
Goebbels
Lives in Havana / Myles Kantor / FrontPageMagazine.com
National
Socialist Germany's chief propagandist died in 1945, but the virulent spirit
of Joseph Goebbels lives in Communist Cuba.
Fawning
over Fidel / SunSpot.net, MD
Fidel is blinded by the light of
Fidel Castro. But this idolatrous documentary is revealing in spite of
itself, as a set of political fans' notes.
March 27
FROM CUBA / Raid targets
operators in informal economy / Grupo Decoro
In a series of
raids starting March 20, Cuban authorities have been confiscating tons of
products and equipment from operators in the informal economy in the area of
Mariel, Pinar del Río province, northwest of Havana.
FROM CUBA / Evicted dissident
threatens to camp out in front of Communist party headquarters / Grupo Decoro
Dissident Alfonso Mesa, who was recently evicted from his home along with his
wife and 11-year-old son, threatened to pitch camp in front of Communist Party
headquarters in Sagua la Grande unless the order to evict him is rescinded.
FROM CUBA / Traitors? / Jose
Manuel Caraballo
To call a traitor somebody who reveals the
hidden and censor's truth, is a task of serviles, is crawling to the
dictator, to the rulers's feet, specialy when the accused is empeled to
answer back.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Resolution at top U.N. human rights body avoids condemning Cuba
-Wives of Cuban dissidents detained in crackdown visit husbands, say they are
in good health
-EU condemns arrest of dissidents in Cuba
-Bush
Condemns Cuba Crackdown
-Cuba Ballet Company Trains Elite Dancers
-Court: Cuban Boy's Kin Can't Sue Reno
-US sets free 11 Cubans who
sought asylum after hijacking
-Hijacked Cuban DC-3 going on the auction
block in Key West
Cuban hijack suspects get bond
/ The Miami Herald
A federal magistrate refused prosecutors'
request Tuesday to deny bond to six Cuban men charged last week with using
knives and a hatchet to hijack a Douglas DC-3 plane from Cuba to Key West.
Writers who stand against
tyranny -- and suffer for it / Raul Rivero / The Miami Herald
There are some writers and artists who manage to be very happy in a
totalitarian state: Foreigners in transit. Particularly those who take long
and hurried strides because they no longer feel -- as poet Rubén Darío
might have said tartly.
March 26
FROM CUBA / Independent medical
dispensary shut down / UPECI
Cuban authorities last week
shut down a medical dispensary operated in the town of Pedro Betancourt,
Matanzas province, by the Alternative Option movement, one of several civil
society initiatives targeted by the government in a series of raids.
FROM CUBA / Independent library
opens despite repression / UPECI
An independent library
opened in the town of Navajas, Matanzas province, even as the government
shuts down similar initiatives of the civil society movement in Cuba.
FROM CUBA / Anti-government
slogans in midst of repression / UPECI
An independent
library opened in the town of Navajas, Matanzas province, even as the
government shuts down similar initiatives of the civil society movement in
Cuba.
FROM CUBA / Independent
journalist complains about break-in / Cuba-Verdad
Independent journalist María Elena Rodríguez charges a break-in at
her home last Friday was related to the wave of arrests and home searches
carried out against other independent
[
SECTIONS ] [ LATEST HEADLINES ]
The risk of dissent in Cuba /
The Miami Herald
The number of Cuban dissidents arrested
since last week is up to 95. Of those, two remain under house arrest and
another 18 have been released. The word is that the dissidents will be
charged under the ''gag'' law, which provides for up to 20-year prison terms.
Havana Remains Faithful to its
Own Agenda / Yahoo!
The arrests of at least 75
anti-government activists in Cuba could cost the government a new
condemnation of its human rights record in the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights, and a setback in its dialogue with the European Union.]
Too close to Castro / Miriam
Leiva / International Herald Tribune
Even without the
latest roundup, however, there was more to Cuba than met the commissioner's
eye. Nielson's hasty conclusions are perhaps due to a few days of flattery
from his official hosts and to a vision of Cuba reduced to showcases reserved
for foreigners.
External
links
Robert
Rivard: As Saddam's despotic rule nears an end, Cuba cracks down / San
Antonio Express-News
In a time when all eyes are on Iraq, let me
introduce you to a young Cuban journalist named Claudia Márquez
Linares. We met in Havana in October when 40 editors from the American
Society of Newspapers Editors traveled to Cuba for a firsthand look.
Using
eroticism to peer into Cuba's politics / The Oregonian
Cuban
American writer Nilo Cruz's play "Two Sisters and a Piano" looks at
the issue of repression in Fidel Castro's Cuba through the prism of love and
sex. Cruz's play, which has just opened at Artists Repertory Theatre, is
about a Cuban poet, Maria Celia, who is based loosely on the real-life poet
Maria Elena Cruz Varela.
Expos
Acquire Livan Hernandez From Giants / NY Times
The Montreal Expos
acquired Livan Hernandez from the San Francisco Giants on Monday night,
uniting the former World Series MVP with his half brother, Orlando Hernandez.
Editorial:
Castro up to his old tricks / San Antonio Express-News
While the
United States and much of the world are focused on the U.S-led effort to oust
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, closer to home another well-known tyrant is
back to his old tricks.
March 25
FROM CUBA / Cuba: Between war
and peace / Rafael Ferro Salas
Cuban government officials
spare no effort in the search of pretexts to justify the sad reality that is
lived out on the island. In the face of the armed conflict between the United
States and Iraq, the Cuban discourse is now aimed at justifying the nation's
own misfortunes with the foreign war.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Rules changed on Cuba trips
-Despite an easing of
arrests, Cuban dissidents still fearful
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba's Catholic Church Decries Crackdown
-Treasury Dept. Cracks Down
on Cuba Travel
-Russian, Cuban foreign ministers meet, deplore Iraq war
External
links
Using
eroticism to peer into Cuba's politics / The Oregonian
Cuban
American writer Nilo Cruz's play "Two Sisters and a Piano" looks at
the issue of repression in Fidel Castro's Cuba through the prism of love and
sex. Cruz's play, which has just opened at Artists Repertory Theatre, is
about a Cuban poet, Maria Celia, who is based loosely on the real-life poet
Maria Elena Cruz Varela.
Expos
Acquire Livan Hernandez From Giants / NY Times
The Montreal Expos
acquired Livan Hernandez from the San Francisco Giants on Monday night,
uniting the former World Series MVP with his half brother, Orlando Hernandez.
March 24
FROM CUBA / Search warrant /
Claudia Márquez Linares / Grupo Decoro
Twelve State
Security officers. Two of them armed. One with a search warrant authorizing
them to look for "items constituting crimes." The man in charge
called himself Captain Pepe. I met him in my bedroom, standing there, looking
at me. I had to demand he leave the room so I could finish getting dressed.
He told me to do so quickly, because he had orders to search.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba's Crackdown on Gov't. Critics Slows
-Press freedom group
stresses threats to media in Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and around the world
-Cuba satisfied with US decision to prosecute men for hijacking
-Cuba's Castro Sends Signal With Crackdown
-16 Cubans on Hijacked Jet to
Return Home
-Cuban Agents Round Up More Dissidents
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Passengers of hijacked plane return to Cuba
-Hijacked plane held for
judgment against Cuba
Reaction to the arrests /
Sweedish International Liberal Centre
-Liberal
International president's reaction to the arrests
-Protest of 43 MPs from
all the parties in the Swedish Parliament
U.S. Senate Announces Cuba
Working Group / Cuba Policy Foundation
Ten Member,
Bipartisan Group Will Examine U.S. Policies Toward Cuba, Calls Sanction
Policy "Ineffective"
Seek alternatives to Cuba
embargo / Jim Davis / The Miami Herald
Just 90 miles from
Florida's shores lies a country with whom America's history, culture, economy
and people are tightly intertwined. Yet our nations' diplomatic relationship
remains severed.
External
links
Bipartisan Senate
group says end sanctions / The Washington Times
A bipartisan group
of U.S. senators yesterday brushed aside global condemnation of Fidel
Castro's latest crackdown on dissent and formed a group seeking an end to the
40-year-old American trade embargo of Cuba.
Cuba urged to end
crackdown / BBC, UK
Criticism is mounting on Cuba's crackdown on
the country's opposition - stealthily undertaken, some suggest, while the
world's attention is fixed on Iraq.
Cuba
detains more in sweep / The Dallas Morning News
The number of
dissidents and journalists jailed here climbed to nearly 60 Thursday, the
third day of the most intense crackdown Cuban authorities have carried out in
years.
Cuba
Arrests More Dissidents Amid Outcry / NY Tmes
Cuban authorities
continued their islandwide roundup of dissidents, journalists and other
opposition figures today, even as representatives of Latin American nations
introduced a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Commission
condemning the country's human rights record.
Arrests
deal Cuban dissidents big setback / Sun-Sentinel, FL
Once almost
invisible to the outside world, dissident leaders had stepped into the
limelight recently, gaining access to high-profile foreign delegations,
including visits from congressmen and European Union officials earlier this
month.
Cuban Exiles
Finding Spirit of Reconciliation / NY Times
Like thousands of
other Cuban exiles here, Juan Cabrera left behind his family, job and home
with the hope of someday returning to a democratic island. But unlike many
who came before him, Mr. Cabrera, 30, says that the best way to achieve the
dream is not by toppling Fidel Castro, starving his economy or keeping
relations with Cuba in the deep freeze, where they have been for 40 years.
March 21
FROM CUBA / Arrested dissidents
may top a hundred in Cuba / Ernesto Roque
he wave of home
searches and arrests begun by the government Tuesday afternoon keeps growing,
with some estimates placing the number of dissidents in custody at over a
hundred.
FROM CUBA / Six more
journalists arrested / Fara Armenteros / UPECI
Reports of
the home searches are falling into a pattern. Groups of ten officers, wearing
black vests and latex gloves thoroughly search every nook and cranny,
confiscating mostly documents and equipment, such as tape recorders. The
officers don't seem to be rushed for time.
FROM CUBA / Police increase
pressure on people who don't hold government jobs / Grupo Decoro
A growing number of people here are complaining police are putting pressure
on those who don't hold a government job, raising fears that the government
is trying to revive the anti-Vagrancy laws that held sway in the 1970s.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba continues to prosecute crackdown while world focuses on war in Iraq
-Carter urges Cuba to free dissidents
-Cuba Expands Crackdown, Grabs
Dissidents
-Cuban plane hijackers face 20 years in US prison
March 20
FROM CUBA / Over twenty
dissidents arrested amid rising tensions in U.S. / UPECI
Cuban State Security officers fanned out across Havana starting at about 4 p.m.
tuesday and arrested at least 20 dissidents, according to the latest reports,
after searching their homes and confiscating books, papers, computers and
cameras.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba's sweep of dissidents intensifies with at least 55 detained
-Cuba demands return of hijacked plane, hijackers, crew and passengers
-Cuba Continues Crackdown on Dissidents
-Cuba Says Will Put Dissidents
on Trial
-U.S. Upset With Cuba's Dissident Arrests
-Tensions
rise between Cuba and U.S. after dissident crackdown, new travel restrictions
on American diplomats
-Passengers, crew of hijacked Cuban plane taken to
Miami detention center; 6 suspects in jail
Arrested correspondent of PRIMA
/ PRIMA News
On the night of March 19-- 20 Cuban state
security police arrested in Havana Adolfo Fernandez Saints, a correspondent
of the Moscow-based PRIMA News Agency. After an eight-hour search at his
home, he was taken to the state security headquarters on Villa Marista Street
in the Cuban capital.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-35 Cuban dissidents arrested
-Men detained for Cuban hijacking wanted
asylum, official said
-Cuban plane flown to U.S.; six arrested in
hijacking
-Ferry may go to Cuba April 15
Forging Cuba's civic movement /
Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat / The Miami Herald
Traditionally,
two forms of struggle against the Castro regime have been posited: one, armed
revolution; the other, dialogue and understanding.
External
links
Online
Journalists Jailed in Cuba / By Julia Scheeres / Wired News
The
Cuban government has jailed 10 independent journalists -- most of whom publish
articles on Internet news sites -- as part of a larger crackdown against
political opposition on the island. Police went from house to house on
Tuesday, rounding up the reporters and 24 political activists, according to
the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. Authorities confiscated the
detainees' computer equipment, books and papers, the group said.
Cuba
Arrests a Score of Dissidents Linked to a U.S. Diplomat / NY Times
The roundup on Tuesday, the biggest sweep of dissidents in recent years, mostly
singled out independent journalists whose reports on politics and daily life
have earned them the ire of Fidel Castro's government. A group of them had
attended a journalism workshop last week at the home of James Cason, the
chief American diplomat in Havana. Human rights advocates said the
authorities also searched homes and confiscated fax machines, typewriters and
even medicines.
Dissidents arrested,
U.S. envoys targeted / The Washington Times.
The Cuban government
has begun what State Department officials yesterday called the most
significant repression of its political opposition in seven years. Dozens of
Cuban opposition leaders have been arrested in the past few days. The
campaign is also targeting senior U.S. diplomats, who are being singled out
by name on nightly government television broadcasts and accused of illegal
activities.
Cuba cracks down
on dissidents / BBC, UK
Cuba's communist government says it has
arrested dozens of dissidents who were in contact with the US representative
in Havana.
Cuba
rounds up dissidents / The Dallas Morning News
Cuban authorities
began rounding up political dissidents and independent journalists Tuesday,
describing them as "traitors" and accusing them of working with the
United States to try to topple the socialist government.
Cuba,
Mexico resume friendly relationship / The Dallas Morning News
Two
years after it began, the diplomatic war between Cuba and Mexico is over,
according to senior officials in both countries. The unannounced end of
hostilities means a return to a century-old relationship considered among the
most fraternal in the world.
March 19
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Cuba announces new restrictions on diplomats
-Carter 'disappointed'
by Cuba's handling of Varela Project petition
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba Cracks Down on Dissidents, Diplomats
-A look at the U.S.
Interests Section in Cuba
-Seven Cubans detained in Honduras on way to
the United States
Free Prisoners of Conscience /
The Miami Herald
Francisco Chaviano González's
''crime'' was to document rafters who disappeared or died trying to flee
Cuba. Convicted of ''revealing State Security secrets'' in a kangaroo-court
trial, he was handed a 15-year prison term. Having served nearly eight years
of his sentence, he is eligible for parole and should be released.
March 18
FROM CUBA / Elaborate
preparations mark Cuban girls' 15th Birthday / Claudia Márquez Linares
Some parents here are willing to go to considerable lengths, including risking
jail time, to provide a proper 15th birthday party, or "quince,"
for their daughters.
FROM CUBA / Cuban mangroves
endangered / Reinaldo Cosano Alén
The red mangrove,
black mangrove, patabán and yana are the four species indigenous to
Cuba of this so very important coastal plant, whose importance as a regulator
of the environment is beginning to be recognized.
FROM CUBA / Manati, a ghost
town / Reinaldo Cosano Alen
Manati, a sugar factory located
in Las Tunas, one of the most oriental provinces of Cuba, is staring to look
like a "ghost town".
FROM CUBA / Eviction / Rafael
Ferro Salas
The woman entered the doctor's office at full
tilt. Desperately, she searched with a look and saw Dr. Guillermo examining a
pregnant patient. The doctor finished with the patient and showed her out
with a smile.
Canseco gets 2 years' house
arrest, probation and community service / The Miami Herald
After spending a month in jail, a contrite Jose Canseco apologized to a
Miami-Dade circuit judge and prosecutors on Monday for treating the justice
system with a cavalier attitude and violating probation on assault charges.
March 17
FROM CUBA / Power outages
inconvenience Havana residents / UPECI
Since the end of
last week, Havana has been subject to electric power cutbacks of over ten
hours every day due to maintenance and repair work in three power generating
plants around the island.
Ailing migrants quickly recover
/ The Miami Herald
The nine Cubans who reached American
soil Thursday after claiming they had swallowed pills at sea were released
from hospitals within hours and could soon gain their freedom, prompting
concern that other migrants might try similar stunts.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba slams door in UN special representative's face
-Cuba limits
travel of U.S. diplomats; U.S. reciprocates, officials say
-Cuba Won't
Let Human Rights Monitor In
-EU Commissioner Backs Cuba in Trade Pact
-EU commissioner calls for Cuba's inclusion in aid and trade pact to
help nurture democracy
Respect Human Rights / The
Miami Herald
The United States, the European Union and
other nations that believe in human rights should make every effort to rescue
the United Nations Human Rights Commission from itself this year.
ALA takes action on librarian's
health emergency / The Friends of Cuban Libraries
On March
14 the International Relations Committee of the American Library Association
wrote a letter to Cuba's Foreign Minister regarding the situation of Leonardo
Bruzón, who has been imprisoned without charge or trial since February
2002.
External
links
Hunger
strike begins in Cuba / Dallas Morning News
In all, about 500
members of the political opposition will fast in the coming weeks, refusing
food for eight to 12 hours at a time, organizers said. Six, including three
of Cuba's best-known dissidents, vowed to stop eating solid food entirely.
Cuba
rejects U.N. rights monitor / Northern Light
Cuba has told the
United Nations that if it tries to send the French magistrate named to
promote and monitor measures to improve the communist regime's deficient
human rights record, it will refuse her entry,
Brazil Petrobras said
interested in Cuba oil exploration / Petroleum World
Brazil's oil
giant Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), or Petrobras, is interested in resuming oil
exploration and production activities in Cuba, a spokeswoman for the Cuban
embassy in Brazil said Thursday.
Report:
Charges to be brought against Chavez for oil to Cuba / Northern Light
A high-ranking Venezuelan prosecutor intends to charge President Hugo Chavez
with damaging the public interest by providing cut-rate oil to the Cuba of his
friend Fidel Castro, a Caracas daily reported Friday.
Conference
will promote trade between S.C., Cuba / The State, SC
For the
first time since the United States relaxed trade sanctions against Cuba two
years ago, South Carolina is paying attention to the potential market that is
less than 700 miles from our shores.
Ambassador
Murdoch leads delegation to Cuba / Antigua Sun
Antigua &
Barbuda's non-resident ambassador to Cuba Colin Murdoch left the island over
the weekend at the head of a delegation from Antigua & Barbuda on an
official visit to Cuba.
Normalizing
Cuban relations / Harrison Daily Times
The first time I saw 2nd
District U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder's (Dem. Little Rock) picture all buddied-up
with Fidel Castro in Havana and plastered all over the USA Today newspaper, I
was shell-shocked.
Iran,
Cuba review expansion of mutual ties / IranMania News
Visiting
Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Jose Guerra Menchero conferred here Sunday with
First Vice Speaker Behzad Nabavi on issues of mutual interest, IRNA reported.
'Limping
loony' sends Canadians to Cuba / OCRegister.com
While Cuba remains
off-limits to most leisure travelers under U.S. law, it has rolled out a
refurbished welcome mat to tourists over the past 10 years, and a growing
number of Canadians are picking Cuba over destinations in the United States,
a trend that worries some Florida officials.
'Khrushchev':
The First De-Stalinist / Leon Aron / New York Times
He brutally
crushed the Hungarian revolution -- yet he opened the gates of the gulag for
millions, and authorized the publication of Solzhenitsyn's ''One Day in the Life
of Ivan Denisovich.'' He built the Berlin Wall and put nuclear-tipped
missiles into Cuba -- yet he ordered deep unilateral cuts in Soviet conventional
forces and initiated the first detente with the United States.
Like That,
Contreras Ends Talk of Slump / New York Times
Contreras had
several reasons to feel optimistic about his chances for marked improvement
today. He benefited from a productive bullpen session on Wednesday with
Stottlemyre; he heard on Thursday that his 80-year-old father, Florentino,
was being released from a Cuban hospital after a stroke; and Manager Joe Torre
declared that he had made the Yankees' opening day roster.
Father
of Yankees Cuban pitcher Contreras is released from hospital /
WayMoreSports.com
The father of New York
Yankees pitcher Jose Contreras was released from a Cuban hospital Thursday.
Florentino Contreras, 80, had a stroke Saturday, five days after requiring
surgery to clear an intestinal obstruction.
Film
on Elián says media portrayed exiles as 'raving lunatics' /
Sun-Sentinel, FL
Elián González is back in the
spotlight, this time the focus of a documentary by a filmmaker who thinks
Cuban-Americans who wanted the Cuban castaway to remain in the United States
were portrayed as raving lunatics by the media.
Covering
Cuba 3: Elián is Cuban-born artist and filmmaker Agustin
Blazquez's latest effort at presenting views of Cuban-Americans who lobbied
for Elián to stay.
In
Cuba, rich in adoration / SunSpot.net
Stevenson waved me inside.
He had a few chores to take care of. Out back was his 480-pound pig, Malu.
Stevenson filled a trough with feed and water. "She'll have another
litter or two," the champ said. "And then ..." He slid his index
finger across his throat.
The
Conga Room and Andy Garcia host honorary event for Cuban music sensation
Cachao / Hoover's Online
Actor Andy Garcia hosted and performed at
a star-studded event at Los Angeles hotspot The Conga Room last night to
honor renowned Cuban musician Cachao on his musical achievements.
March 14
FROM CUBA / Independent
journalists' homes attacked / Grupo Decoro
The homes of two
independent journalists were stoned Saturday night in Güines, a town
south of Havana. The sequential timing of the incidents suggested to some
that the same person or persons were involved.
No EU Aid For Cuba / The Miami
Herald
The European Union got it right last year when it
rebuffed suggestions that Cuba be invited to participate in an EU aid pact
with poor African, Caribbean and Pacific nations. The pact, know as the
Cotonou agreement, sets conditions regarding human rights and democracy.
Cuba's totalitarian dictatorship didn't respect those conditions then, nor
does it now.
Cuba News / The Miami Herald
-Former Cuban intelligence officer arrested in Dade
-Sickly rafters
brought ashore
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Group Sues U.S. Over Elian Gonzalez Raid
-Cuba Protests About
Treatment of Spies
March 13
FROM CUBA / Fishermen fined in
Nuevitas / APLA
For the last two weeks authorities have been
imposing fines on anyone caught with either fish of fishing gear in Nuevitas,
on the north coast of Cuba.
FROM CUBA / Street vendors
chased from school / Grupo Decoro
he peddlers, mostly women
who are otherwise unemployed, sell guava and coconut pastries at two pesos
each, French fries at five pesos the bag, or a confection similar to a
doughnut at one peso each.
FROM CUBA / Havana's lifeguards
complain of poor working conditions / Reinaldo Cosano Alén
Lifeguards who patrol the 15-mile stretch of beaches east of Havana complain
of working conditions they say renders them ineffective.
FROM CUBA / Fire in armed
forces warehouse / Cuba-Verdad
A serious fire broke out
Sunday in a warehouse belonging to the Cuban armed forces in Managua, a town
20 miles south of Havana.
FROM CUBA / U.S. TV and radio
signals received off Cuban coast / APLA
Surprised residents
of Turiguanó island, off the northern Cuban coast near Morón,
found themselves able to receive TV and radio signals from the U. S. last week,
according to Nilo Gutiérrez, a local correspondent for APLA.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Government opponents ask European Union not to include Cuba in agreement
-Cuban bishops complain about exclusion from convent inauguration
-Family of American executed in Cuba seeks $600 million in damages
-Cuban Man Gets 10 Years for Hijacking
Damages sought in dad's death /
The Miami Herald
The regime executed Anderson, 41, on April
19, 1961 -- two days after the Bay of Pigs invasion. Under Cuban law, such an
offense usually carried a maximum of nine years in prison, the suit says.
External
links
Dissidents lobby
EU against Cuba / BBC, UK
Leading Cuban dissidents have urged the
European Union not to sign a trade and aid agreement with their country.
Hunger
strike begins in Cuba / The Dallas Morning News
Dissidents across
Cuba began an unprecedented hunger strike and fasting campaign Tuesday,
demanding the release of hundreds of political prisoners.
Conference
will promote trade between S.C., Cuba / The State.com, SC
For the
first time since the United States relaxed trade sanctions against Cuba two
years ago, South Carolina is paying attention to the potential market that is
less than 700 miles from our shores.
[ SECTIONS
] [ LATEST HEADLINES ]
Rehberg
to organize trade delegation to Cuba / Montana Forum
Rep. Denny
Rehberg, R-Mont., plans to organize a Montana trade delegation to Cuba to
sell state farm goods to the communist government. "I'll get on the
phone starting tomorrow," Rehberg said Tuesday, after returning to
Washington from a five-day trip to the island with other lawmakers
Cuba
increases metals exports / Hoover's Online
Cuba's steel and
metal-extraction industry in 2002 reported exports totaling $81.5 million, 33
percent more that the previous year, according to official data.
Profiles in REAL Courage / Humberto Fontova / NewsMax.com
Disdain for Communism and dictatorships of any sort were the guideposts of the
young rebel's benevolent crusade. Matthews reported how Castro's very lips
curled when mentioning these vile authoritarian concepts, so alien to his
core beliefs, so contrary to his nature.
Hernández
Counsels Contreras / NY Times
Orlando Hernández was one of
the Yankees' best postseason pitchers and one of their biggest enigmas.
Although they traded him to Montreal last January, Hernández is still
helping the Yankees.s
March 11
FROM CUBA / Eight U. S.
Representatives meet with Cuban dissidents / Miriam Leiva
The Representatives met with Cuban dissidents Vladimiro Roca, Héctor
Palacio, Víctor Rolando Arroyo, Osvaldo Alfonso, Gisela Delgado Sablón,
Oscar Espinosa, and Miriam Leiva.
FROM CUBA / The sound of
silence / Rafael Ferro Salas
Now he can speak with the wind
and he explains it to his wife on her visiting days to the prison, the few
times they grant him visits in his condition as a political prisoner.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-American lawmakers propose a town hall meeting with U.S. Congress members in
Cuba
-EU Opens New Office in Cuba
-Cuba wins support for bid
to join EU trade pact; European bloc to open Havana office
-AP
Corrects Cuba Church Story
A Gutsy Mother: The Elian case
in reverse / NewsMax.com
There have been many Elian cases in
reverse, where parents have been able to defect and the Cuban regime refuses
to let their children go, so they remain hostage in Cuba. Cuba often uses
this hostage-holding technique to prevent relatives abroad from talking
publicly about the horrible violations of human rights in Cuba or other
secrets they know about the regime.
Leonardo Bruzón Avila
transferred to Military Hospital in Havana / Information Bridge Cuba Miami
Alcira Avila Fabré, mother of Bruzón Avila told Ríos that
right now her son is worst than when he was in prison for his weight is not
more than 70 pounds, and he cannot walk at all.
External
links
8
vow to have U.S.-style meeting in Cuba / Dallas Morning News
Mr.
Flake and others said U.S. authorities pay no attention to this group [Cubans
who visit their country] even as they harass and level fines against Americans
who go to the island. "It's blatantly discriminatory. We exclude one
ethnic group from any scrutiny or penalty," said Phil Peters, a former
State Department official who organized the congressional visit.
Spanish
Disposition / The New York Times
''He's a maniac,'' says Julian
Schnabel, who cast Bardem in ''Before Night Falls'' when Benicio Del Toro
pulled out of the project. ''But like all great actors, he has this gift of
becoming this other character. He dives profoundly into finding out what he
needs to learn in order to become that person".
Cuba:
Vice-President Lage calls for more discipline, control in tourism sector /
Hoover's Online
Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage today brought to
a close the annual assessment meeting for the tourism sector by calling for
greater management discipline and control. Lage said the nation's primary
economic activity must be the most disciplined, controlled and demanding
sector of the economy. He added that everything must be regulated properly.
Compensation
sought from Cuba for businessman's execution / Houston Chronicle
After nearly 42 years of waiting, the family of an executed American businessman
may finally receive compensation from Cuba for his death. The family's claim
stemming from the torture and death of Howard Anderson is one of many such
claims dating back to the revolution of the late 1950s. Anderson was
convicted of aiding counterrevolutionaries.
Cuba,
Fidel and me / Telegraph, UK
He flourishes an extremely thin gold
and platinum Swiss chronograph. "He said, 'Nice watch - can I try it
on?' I said, of course, Senor Presidente. So he put his watch in his pocket
and wore mine for the rest of the party. He showed it off to a group of
nurses who had been invited. They were asking him about his health, which
everyone always talks about. 'Don't worry - I'm strong,' he said. 'I take a
lot of vitamins: A, B, B12, D. And plenty of Viagra.' "
A Ghostly Leading Lady
Surfaces in Off-Bway Musical, Havana Under the Sea / Playbill.com
Written by Abilio Estévez and translated and adapted in English by
Caridad Svich, Havana Under the Sea stars Doreen Montalvo and Meme Solís.
Montalvo plays, among other characters, the central role of Cecilia, the
ghost of an aristocratic lady condemned to wander for eternity among the
sunken ruins of Havana.
Cuban Asylum Seeker Tries
to Sneak Back / AllAfrica.com
A Cuban immigrant whose application
for asylum in Namibia was thrown out has been arrested after he sneaked back
into the country. Pedro Osvaldo Ortegas Suarez was quietly released by
Namibian immigration authorities a week ago following an appeal by Amnesty
International not to deport him back to Cuba.
March 10
FROM CUBA / Anti-government
graffiti now in english / UPECI
Anti-government graffiti in
the Pinar del Río town of Manuel Lazo is a common occurrence, but to
find them in English, as townspeople did this past week, is a novelty.
FROM CUBA / Fast boat in
container nabbed by police / Cuba-Verdad
Residents of the
Capri neighborhood were startled Tuesday morning at finding a 42-foot long
trailer-truck containing a fast boat parked in front of the police's Ninth
station.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-EU official travels to Cuba to open European Union office
-Largest
delegation ever of U.S. lawmakers arrives in Cuba
-Fidel Castro makes
unusual appearance at blessing of religious convent
-U.S. Protests
Castro's Diplomat Criticism
25 and counting / The Miami
Herald
The smells hit you first. A mixture of roast pork,
onions, cheese arepas and tobacco wafts through the air as you amble up the
street, passing block after block of people hawking food and T-shirts and
sodas and water and beaded necklaces in the colors of every Latin American
country.
External
links
Saddam's
tough to persuade. Cuba tried / The Washington Post
In the fall of
1990, Alcibíades Hidalgo was part of a high-level Cuban diplomatic
delegation sent by Fidel Castro to Baghdad on the eve of the Persian Gulf War
to try to persuade Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait.
Cardinal's
missive evokes a hero to all / Sun-Sentinel, Florida
Communists
claim him for his anti-colonial fervor, and dissidents claim him as an
inspiration for political reform. But Father Felix Varela was first and
foremost a man of the church, Cardinal Jaime Ortega reminded Cubans in his most
recent pastoral letter.
No
thaw in Cuba relations / The Dallas Morning News
U.S.-Cuba
relations, mostly bad over the last 44 years, have hit a nasty low. Cuban
President Fidel Castro says America's top diplomat in Havana is a bully and
provocateur who must be swilling alcohol at meetings with dissidents, because
otherwise his behavior wouldn't be so strange.
Dissidents
organize in Cuba / Sun-Sentinel, Florida
Dissidents have created
more than 100 small "citizens' committees" in cities and remote
towns like this across Cuba to continue gathering signatures for the Varela
Project.
Sherritt
moving ahead in Cuba / The Toronto Star, Canada
Sherritt
International Corp. will spend $110 million to develop its oil and gas
holdings in Cuba this year while it negotiates with the government over the
way the business is taxed, the resource company said yesterday.
Cuban
kids theater to perform in Bay Area / Oakland Tribune
Troupe says
it will donate half of proceeds to California children.
Yankees
react to Contreras's slump with caring / NY Times
The unforeseen
circumstance is the illness of Florentino Contreras, Contreras's 80-year-old
father, who was admitted to a hospital in Cuba last week. José Contreras
said his sister informed him Saturday that Florentino had had a stroke. José
Contreras cannot see his father and has no assurance he will be able to speak
to him directly.
March 7
FROM CUBA / Supply of
non-rationed goods in government stores drops / Grupo Decoro
he government stores began as an alternative to Cubans who lack the needed
currency for purchases in dollar stores. But with the years the supply has
declined to the point of some stores closing for lack of merchandise on their
shelves
FROM CUBA / Fundamental Rights
Charter survey results announced / Cuba-Verdad
A total of
35,209 Cubans were consulted during a five-month survey of viewpoints
concerning the Cuban Fundamental Rights Charter.
FROM CUBA / New publication
from the opposition in Cuba / Grupo Decoro
'Río
Arriba' 'Upstream' is edited by members of the independent civil society in
the province of Havana. The editorial board consists of Miguel Galban, director;
Jose U. Izquierdo, news editor; and Jose Orta, advisor.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Castro Re-Elected to 6th Term in Cuba
-Cuba Wins Support to Join EU
Trade Pact
Protest at hotel wrecks meeting
by advocates of talks with Cuba / The Miami Herald
A news
conference intended to boost support for a meeting in Havana next month
between Cuban government officials and exiles turned into a parking-lot protest
against the hotel management Thursday, which unexpectedly kicked participants
off the premises.
March 6
FROM CUBA / Wife of dissident
threatened / APLO
The wife of pacifist dissident Angel
Ramon Evans Rodríguez was told by state security agents to force her
husband to leave their home if she did not want to face reprisals.
FROM CUBA / Workers refuse to
work overtime / Grupo Decoro
Workers at the Planta Mecanica
metal plant in Santa Clara are refusing to work overtime on the grounds the
company did not pay them for previous work they had agreed to carry out.
Amnesty International weighs in
on Cuban hunger strike / The Miami Herald
Amnesty
International has issued an ''urgent action'' notice calling on human rights
activists from around the world to send appeals to Fidel Castro and other the
Cuban government officials to provide immediate medical attention and the
unconditional release of an imprisoned opponent on a prolonged a hunger strike.
New Cuban parliament convenes,
expected to re-elect Fidel Castro / Yahoo!
Cuba's newly
chosen parliament convened for the first time Thursday and was expected to
re-elect Fidel Castro, the world's longest ruling head of government. Cuba's
state-controlled media has not specifically mentioned the re-election of
Castro during Thursday's National Assembly meeting, but this week has said
that the Council of State will be elected during the gathering.
Q & A with Cuba's President
Fidel Castro / Vancouver Sun
An interview with Castro as he
stops on British Colombia on his way to Cuba.
Davis says Cuba trip differed
from Greco's / Tampa Bay Online
Tampa politician Jim Davis
ignored four decades of political convention and alienated some constituents
this week by becoming the first Florida congressman to openly visit Cuba
since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.
Emerson making third trek to
Cuba / St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Mrs. Emerson has been a
leader in seeking increased trade with Cuba. She wants American producers,
particularly farmers in her southeast Missouri district, to be allowed to
sell more food to Cuba.
External
links
Cuban-style
B & Bs / The Globe and Mail, Canada
Private casas particulares
offer clean, basic rooms, home cooking and a refreshing intimacy in this
Communist nation
Tight
regulations slash number of U.S. visas / The Washington Times
The
most significant drop came from Cuba more than 18,000 visas were issued in
the year prior to the legislation versus 7,000 for the year following.
'No
idea' how Iraq war will affect Cuba: Castro / The Globe and Mail, Canada
Looking slightly frail, Cuban President Fidel Castro held an impromptu press
conference near Vancouver airport yesterday telling reporters that he has "no
idea" how a war in Iraq will affect the U.S. embargo on his country.
Mexico
spied on Cuba for U.S / Palm Beach Interactive
Another Texan,
Lyndon Johnson, was in the White House. And a key enemy close to home was
newly communist Cuba, not Iraq. Nearly 40 years ago, in a historic parallel
to the diplomatic wrangling over Iraq, the United States and its neighbor
Mexico seemed at irreconcilable odds over Cuba, a country that presented a
nuclear threat during the harrowing 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
A
Cuban game to remember / The Globe and Mail, Canada
When Robert
Everett-Green attends a baseball game in Havana's open-sky, old-fashioned
ballpark, he gets a slice of real Cuban life -- and a little more than he
bargained for.
Havana
conference to draw Cubans from afar / Sun-Sentinel.com, FL
After
an eight-year hiatus, a delegation of Cubans from around the world will
return to the island for the third "Nation and Emigration" conference,
a meeting participants hope will strengthen ties between Cubans on the island
and those living abroad.
Farewell To 'The
Hawk' / East Side Boxing
In a career lasting 15 years and 143
professional fights, Cuban born Kid Gavilan was never stopped and was floored
just three times. Born Gerardo Mauras, on 6 January 1926, the man who became
known as 'The Hawk', fought in what many consider boxing's golden era. His
In Cuba,
Stevenson's still champ / San Jose Mercury News, CA
He was Fidel
Castro's towering champion, a pugilist who took home three Olympic gold
medals, dismantling American boxers along the way.
Commissioner to visit
Cuba / IRNA
Poul Nielson, European Commissioner in charge of
Development and Humanitarian Aid, will pay an official visit to Cuba from 10
to 14 March. On the occasion of his first visit to Cuba, Nielson will
officially inaugurate the new EU Delegation office in Havana, said a
Commission statement in Brussels Thursday.
March 5
FROM CUBA / Jailed independent
journalist beaten / CPIC
Brizuela Yera explained the beating
was a result of him having in his possession a copy of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and a report on Cuba prepared by the French
organization Journalists Without Borders.
FROM CUBA / The cure is
worse... / Rafael Ferro Salas
There's a new scare for the
Cuban population. One more drop in its cup of miseries. The authorities are
struggling against drugs in a crazed race in every corner of the island.
Police raids are carried out at all hours in the streets of the cities.
FROM CUBA / Independent
journalists schedule ethics workshop / CPI
Some 60 of the
more than 100 Independent Journalists in Cuba will hold a workshop March 14
on journalism ethics.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-Cuba Delivers Sentences to Drug Dealers
-Cuban opposition group
conducts human rights poll on island
March 4
Cuban seizure of American book
shipment proves pen still mightier than sword / Association of American
Publishers
"The enduring power of the written word,
especially in the form of books, was demonstrated once again in a news story
today from Havana," according to Pat Schroeder, President and CEO of the
Association of American Publishers.
Fla. is high on Cuban food
chain / The Miami Herald
Florida companies ranked second,
behind Illinois-based companies, last year in the overall value of U.S.
agricultural products sold to Cuba, a leading source of information on
U.S.-Cuba trade said Monday.
Cuba's Cardinal speaks out /
The Miami Herald
Cuba's Catholic Church is joining the
growing ranks of those losing their fear. A powerful pastoral letter released
last week sends a clear message to Cuba's totalitarian government and its
people: Cubans must have their God-given freedoms and hope for a better
future.
External
links
Illinois
leads nation in farm exports to Cuba / Chicago Sun-Times
Illinois
companies ranked first in overall value of U.S. agricultural products sold to
communist-run Cuba last year, trade statistics show.
Contreras'
father taken to hospital / N.J.com
The father of New York Yankees'
pitcher Jose Contreras was taken to a Cuban hospital with stomach pains early
Monday.
Cuban Cardinal
Ortega Defends Autonomy of Church / Zenit.org
Havana's archbishop
published a letter defending the autonomy and independence of the Church in
Cuba, while inviting the faithful to abandon mediocrity and to build a viable
future.
March 3
FROM CUBA / Raids and rumors
spread In Cuba / Oscar Mario González
By now it is
common knowledge that the anti-drug campaign begun by the government in
mid-January has come to mean daily house searches that seem directed to stamp
out the myriad economic improvisations of Cubans trying to eke out a living
behind the government's back.
Attacks on police grow with
crackdown on drugs, illegal business / Yahoo!
Amid a
crackdown on drug trafficking and other illegal businesses in Cuba, communist
authorities on Monday acknowledged a recent rise in attacks on police agents
and reminded citizens of the severe penalties for such assaults.
Cuba News / Yahoo!
-U.S. Congressmen Meet With Cuba's Paya
-United States becomes Cuba's
No. 1 source of imported food
-Castro Reflects on Cuban Missile Crisis
-Family Demands Release of Cuban Dissident
-Castro Offers to
Mediate N. Korea Crisis
-Cuban cigar aficionados celebrate
tobacco-inspired high fashion
'There is no homeland without
virtue' / The Miami Herald
These are excerpts from ''There
is no homeland without virtue,'' the pastoral letter by Cardinal Jaime Ortega
Alamino, Archbishop of Havana, released on Feb. 24, the 150th anniversary of
Father Félix Varela's death.
Miami cleric asks exiles'
support for Cuba's reform-minded bishop / The Miami Herald
Monsignor Agustín Román, auxiliary bishop of the Catholic
Archdiocese of Miami, urged Cuban exiles Friday to promote the
pastoral letter on social and economic reform issued
this week by Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, archbishop of Havana.
External
links
In
Cuba: Books, sí; for dissidents? No! / The Dallas Morning News
Calling it an issue of national sovereignty, the Cuban government has blocked
a shipment of more than 5,000 books sent by the U.S. government to the
island's growing network of independent libraries.
Hatch
Comes Back As an American / The Washington Post
The last time she
had competed, in 1997, she was known by her maiden name, Annia Potuondo. And
the last time she competed it was for another country: Cuba.
Castro
observes new China / Sun-Sentinel, Florida
In the early 1960s,
with Cuba's revolution still in its infancy and the Sino-Soviet rivalry
collapsing into an open feud, Fidel Castro made a strategic decision to align
with Moscow as his chief benefactor and ideological ally.
Travel
firms hurt by U.S. clampdown on Cuba / The Globe and Mail, Canada
A U.S. crackdown on American residents who violate their country's ban on travel
to Cuba is causing headaches for the Canadian tour companies who send them
there.
Fear and
provocation in Havana / The Washington Times
While American
servicemen continue to be placed in harm's way to protect America, members of
Congress, governors, academics and business folks are sometimes hosted by the
Cuban leader, who has welcomed the murderers of American police officers.
Cuban
children's troupe to perform / SignOn San Diego
State Sen. Dede
Alpert has fond memories of the children's theater troupe she watched perform
in Cuba last year when she visited the island on a legislative tour. Now
residents of San Diego will be able to see the children's group.
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