CUBA NEWS
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Cuba informs US of drug kingpin arrest
WASHINGTON, 13 (AFP) - The US State Department
said Cuba had informed it of the arrest
of an alleged Colombian drug kingpin wanted
in the United States, but his possible extradition
here remains unclear.
"The Cuban government has informed
us by our interests section in Havana that
they've arrested an individual who claims
to be Luis Hernandez Gomez," department
spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
"At this point, we're looking at it
as a law enforcement matter and our law
enforcement agencies are studying the situation,"
he said.
Colombian officials had urged Cuba Monday
to quickly extradite Luis Hernando Gomez
Bustamante, the alleged leader of the Norte
del Valle cartel, but Cuban Foreign Minister
Felipe Perez Roque said he "has been
in our country a short time."
The minister said Cuba was investigating
the 46-year-old Gomez Bustamante, arrested
July 2 at Cuba's international airport for
carrying a false passport.
"Cuban police authorities (and) the
anti-drug agency are in contact with their
Colombian counterparts, (and) moving forward
with the investigation," Perez Roque
had said.
Colombian authorities want to charge Gomez
Bustamante in order to extradite him to
the United States, where he is wanted for
allegedly heading a cartel believed to ship
30 to 50 percent of the cocaine sold in
the United States.
Boucher referred to the Department of Justice
for any comment on his possible extradition
to the United States.
NFTC Urges Congress to Protect American
Trademarks in Cuba
Tuesday July 13, 2:00 pm
ET
WASHINGTON, July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Today,
Bill Reinsch, president of the National
Foreign Trade Council, urged the Senate
Judiciary Committee to repeal "section
211," a law that threatens thousands
of U.S. trademarks currently registered
in Cuba.
"NFTC's 300 member companies support
full repeal of section 211 as embodied in
S. 2002, the U.S. Cuba Trademark Protection
Act. Quite simply, it's the only way to
ensure compliance with all U.S. trade and
treaty obligations and protect the interests
of the more than 400 U.S. companies currently
holding 5,000 trademarks in Cuba,"
remarked Reinsch.
Reinsch was one of several experts asked
to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee
on the issue of section 211 of the 1999
Omnibus Appropriations Act. The law allows
for discriminatory treatment of certain
Cuban trademarks by prohibiting their renewal
and by denying their holders access to legal
redress in U.S. courts.
The WTO has ruled that section 211 violates
TRIPS, the global intellectual property
protection treaty, and has given Congress
until the end of 2004 to bring the U.S.
back into compliance. Because section 211
is not consistent with long-standing U.S.
intellectual-property protection obligations,
the 5,000 American trademarks currently
registered in Cuba are in jeopardy of infringement
and counterfeiting.
"As we saw in South Africa, recovering
the rights to trademarks necessitates lengthy
and expensive litigation. The U.S. can avoid
a repeat scenario in Cuba by maintaining
consistent and predictable intellectual
property relations. Step one in this maintenance
must be full repeal of section 211,"
continued Reinsch.
Despite political hostilities spanning
four decades, both the U.S. and Cuba, in
a rare act of cooperation, have respected
each other's intellectual property rights
by honoring trademarks for nearly 75 years.
The National Foreign Trade Council is a
leading business organization advocating
an open, rules-based global trading system.
Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of
American companies, the NFTC now serves
300 member companies through its offices
in Washington and New York.
Source: National Foreign Trade Council
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