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U.S. Mission Flouts Cuba Christmas Warning
By Vanessa Arrington, Associated
Press Writer. December 15, 2004.
HAVANA - U.S. diplomats on Wednesday ignored
a warning from the Cuban government to immediately
take down Christmas decorations outside its offices
or face unspecified consequences.
The trimmings of Santa Claus, candy canes and
white lights wrapped in palm trees still stood
on the mission's seaside lawn a day after the
warning. The element that irked the Cuban authorities
most was a sign among the decorations that reads
"75" - a reference to 75 Cuban dissidents
jailed last year, according to U.S. Interest Section
Chief James Cason.
A reporter who drove past the interest section
Wednesday saw the sign and the other decorations
were still displayed along Havana's coastal Malecon
highway. There were no onlookers or even traffic
because of a tidal surge that threatened the area
with flooding.
"Our intent, in the spirit of Christmas,
was to call attention to the plight of these 75,"
Cason told reporters. "We're prepared to
pay whatever price for the things we believe in."
Cuban Foreign Ministry officials insisted the
decorations be taken down in meetings Saturday
and Tuesday, Cason said. The U.S. Interest Section
refused, and was told it would face unspecified
consequences.
"They could expel us, they could continue
to hinder our activities," Cason said. "We
don't know what they're going to do."
U.S. relations, never good during Fidel Castro's
four decades of communist rule, have deteriorated
under the Bush administration, which has toughened
economic sanctions and publicized its plan for
a democratic Cuba after the death of the 78-year-old
leader.
The United States and Cuba have not had diplomatic
relations since shortly after Castro took over.
In lieu of embassies, interest sections provide
consular services and limited official contact.
The dissidents imprisoned last year were accused
of receiving money from U.S. officials to undermine
the island's system - a charge the activists and
the U.S. government denied.
They were sentenced to up to 28 years in prison,
but 14 have been released for medical reasons.
Cason said the Cuban government was annoyed by
an event at the mission for relatives of political
prisoners and a Christmas party held for their
children. He said state security officers outside
his house intimidated the children as they arrived
to the party.
"Our position is that our Christmas decorations
are up through Christmas," he said. "It's
a matter of principle to us."
US: Cuban war games a distraction
WASHINGTON, 14 (AFP) - A series of mass exercises
by Cuba's military, including a simulated invasion
by US forces, represents an attempt by Havana
to distract people from their daily hardships,
the US State Department said.
These "exercises are just, I would say,
one or more of the many things that the Cuban
government does to try to distract people from
the problems that they face in their daily lives,"
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told
reporters here.
Cuba on Monday launched its biggest military
exercises in almost 20 years involving hundreds
of thousands of troops and reservists and millions
of civilians who will participate in civil defense
drills.
Asked about the emphasis on repelling a fictional
invasion of Cuban shores, Boucher replied: We
don't think there is any justification, or any
particular foundation for this kind of charge."
"The United States has repeatedly called
for a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba.
We think that's what the Cuban people deserve,
and we think they deserve it in a peaceful fashion,"
Boucher stressed.
Castro, Chavez: Cuba, Venezuela trade pact
to beat US version
HAVANA, 15 (AFP) - Cuban President Fidel Castro
and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced
formation of a trade bloc to challenge a US bid
for a free-trade area of the Americas.
Castro said the alternative to the US-backed
economic system was conceived as "a battle
fought with the same rules and regulations as
those imposed by the (US) empire to divide the
people."
Chavez was in Cuba to commemorate his first visit
to the Communist island 10 years ago. Castro and
Chavez are each other's only close ally in the
Caribbean. Venezuela is Cuba's supplier of oil,
which Cuba pays partly in cash and partly with
doctors, nurses, sports coaches and literacy experts.
Chavez arrived in Havana late Monday, and was
met by Castro, 78, who is recovering from a broken
knee and arm from a fall in October.
Chavez placed a wreath at a monument to independence
hero Jose Marti before sitting down to talks with
Castro at the Palace of the Revolution.
Their agenda was not made public. Cuban authorities
said only that they would have a "broad program
of activities."
Still, the two said their alternative to the
US Free Trade Area of the Americas, would face
a challenge from their Bolivarian Alternative
for the Americas, or ALBA, in its Spanish initials,
meaning "dawn." The pact is named for
South American liberator Simon Bolivar.
"It is an alternative to the perverse FTAA,
which they have been trying to impose on us for
years," Chavez said. "FTAA is dead!"
However, Cuba is in desperate need of energy
assistance.
Basic Industry Minister Marcos Portal Leon was
fired October 14, amid a paralyzing energy shortage
and controversial decisions about the nickel industry.
The ministry is among the country's most important
as it handles power generation, oil, nickel, rubber
and pharmaceuticals. Portal was replaced by Yadira
Garcia.
A government statement criticized Portal for
having rejected colleagues' advice and consequently
making mistakes.
A breakdown in May at Cuba's main oil-fueled
power plant in Matanzas province, took months
to repair and blackouts have been rampant.
And amid breakdowns at other plants, power output
plunged to about 50 percent of demand a few months
back, officials said.
Led by Castro since 1959, Cuba has been in economic
straits since the collapse of the Soviet bloc,
which once provided subsidized food and fuel.
Havana has been unable to complete a Soviet-technology
nuclear reactor planned for Juragua.
Cuba's oil-burning plants rely on Venezuelan
oil because Cuban crude, which is high in sulfur,
requires costly cleaning.
Venezuela, Latin America's only OPEC member,
delivers 53,000 barrels of crude a day to Cuba.
A ceremony at Karl Marx theater marked the 10th
anniversary of Chavez's first visit to Cuba, before
becoming president.
Venezuelan students and patients in Cuba were
on hand as were members of Cuban government youth
and student organizations.
Cuba steps up wargames in warning to US
HAVANA, 14 (AFP) - Cuba pressed with its biggest
military exercises in decades, with 400,000 reservists
joining regular forces and millions of civilians
in wargames which the authorities say are aimed
at deterring a US invasion.
The second day of the "Bastion 2004"
exercise went ahead as the London-based International
Institute for Strategic Studies said Cuba has
increased defence spending for the first time
in many years in "a reflection of growing
tensions between Washington and Havana."
Cuban regular troops are also taking part in
the exercises, heavily covered by the communist
nation's official media.
Trucks towing armored cars and officers armed
for battle were mobilized on the streets of Havana.
Massive underground shelters where planes, tanks
and heavy artillery are housed were opened to
combat troops.
"The enemy will never catch us by surprise,"
the communist party daily, Granma said.
"The only way to stop aggression is to make
it abundantly clear that, in this case, Cuba will
become from one end (of the island) to the other
an enormous wasp's nest that no aggressor, however
powerful, will be able to overcome," Defense
Minister Raul Castro said Monday.
"In the end, (the aggressor) will have to
withdraw, bloodied and defeated, because this
would be a war of all of the people," Castro,
a younger brother of President Fidel Castro, warned.
Raul Castro said last week the exercises were
in part to make sure that Washington "does
not commit the errors it committed in Vietnam
and that it is now committing in Iraq. So that
they do not underestimate our people, who are
united and more powerful than those in Iraq."
The IISS said in its annual Military Balance
2004/2005 report that most of the Soviet-made
weapons used by the Cuban armed forces are outdated
and considered obsolete by most experts.
Cuba's army is estimated at 38,000 troops with
about 900 tanks. There is also a small navy and
air force.
According to Cuban officials, the military has
divided the island of 11 million people into 1,400
"defense zones" intended to be able
to operate independently in case of war.
Squadrons trained in guerrilla tactics have several
special Cuban-made arms including "Alejandro"
rifles that fire anti-tank grenades and "Mambi"
rifles designed to puncture heavy armor, as well
as mines and anti-tank units.
Each zone has an anti-air heat-guided missile
launcher.
The United States on Monday rejected assertions
that it planned an invasion. "We don't think
there is any justification, or any particular
foundation for this kind of charge," said
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
These exercises "are just, I would say,
one or more of the many things that the Cuban
government does to try to distract people from
the problems that they face in their daily lives,"
Boucher said.
The communist-run island sits some 90 miles (145
kilometers) off the coast of Florida.
Despite the military exercises and rhetoric,
a delegation of US lawmakers and businessmen was
to start talks in Havana on Wednesday about selling
about 100 million dollars of US food and agricultural
products to Cuba.
The war games also went ahead as the ailing President
Castro welcomed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,
his only close ally in the Americas, whose government
helps keep Cuba's economy afloat with cut-rate
oil.
The two presidents were to have talks on Tuesday,
with energy expected to be a key topic.
With its oil-burning plants, Cuba relies on imports
from Venezuela, Latin America's only OPEC member,
delivers 53,000 barrels of crude a day to Cuba.
It is also a major supplier to the United States.
US food firms to hold talks in Cuba
HAVANA, 14 (AFP) - A group of US lawmakers and
businessmen will hold talks in Cuba this week
on supplying about 100 million dollars of food
products to the cash-strapped nation, the state
Alimport company announced.
The negotiations from Wednesday to Friday will
go ahead as Cuba stages a huge military exercises
which the government says is intended to prepare
for any attempted US invasion.
Cuba has been the target of a US embargo since
1962, but since 1991 the US agriculture industry
has been allowed to sell food to the communist
nation after Congress permitted "humanitarian"
sales.
Up to October, the sales totalled 894 million
dollars and were expected to pass one billion
dollars by the end of the year, Alimport said.
According to US media reports, more than 165
US companies will be represented at the Havana
talks and Senator Max Baucus, the senior Democrat
on the Senate Finance Committee, is expected to
attend as well as state lawmakers and agricultural
officials.
Portuguese SATA airliner returns to Cuba after
false bomb alert
LISBON, 15 (AFX) - A SATA plane, heading to Portugal
from Cuba, has been forced to return to the pacific
island after a passenger found a message warning
that a bomb was on board, a spokeswoman for the
Portuguese airliner said.
The message was later determined to be a hoax.
SATA, which is based on Portugals mid-Atlantic
Azores archipelago, flies mostly charters and
regular routes between Portugal and destinations
in Europe and North America.
The Airbus 310, which can carry up to 280 passengers,
returned to the resort of Varadero shortly after
takeoff late yesterday and the passengers disembarked
without incident, she said.
The plane resumed its journey to Lisbon some
five hours later, after a police search of the
plane found no evidence of a bomb.
'A passenger found the words 'Bomb on Board'
written in the pages of an in-flight magazine
while the plane was still on the runway but only
told a crew member after the plane was in the
air', the spokeswoman said.
The airline staff member immediately informed
the pilot who decided to return to Varadero, she
said.
'It was a hassle for the passengers, but fortunately
nothing was found on the plane', she added.
Copyright © 2004 AFP AFX.
Iran, Cuba Sign Mou On Labor Cooperation
MADRID, Dec 15 Asia Pulse - Iran and cuba signed
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to bolster
labor and employment cooperation in the Cuban
capital Havana on Tuesday.
According to a report released by the Iranian
embassy in Havana, the agreement was signed between
the Iranian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs,
Nasser Khaleqi, and his Cuban counterpart, Alfredo
Morales Cartaya.
The MoU sets the framework for expanding cooperation
in research towards better security and health
standards for laborers in the sugarcane industry,
adoption of proper labor standards, classification
of occupations and training of labor inspectors.
Under the MoU, the two countries are to exchange
information and experiences pertaining to their
labor markets and services with the end in view
of eliminating their unemployment problems.
The sides are also slated to expand social insurance
and work to increase their presence in international
conferences, particularly in the International
Labor Organization.
The Iranian minister, heading a high-ranking
delegation, arrived in Havana Tuesday night last
week. His visit is on the invitation of Morales
Cartaya. He and his delegation left Havana yesterday.
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