CUBA NEWS
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Cuba, Mexico agree to send back ambassadors
after spat
HAVANA, 19 (AFP) - Cuba and Mexico agreed
to send back their ambassadors to the countries'
respective capitals as they moved to mend
a two-and-a-half-month-old diplomatic spat
that hurt bilateral relations.
But a number of key economic issues remained
unresolved.
The announcement came after talks here
between Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto
Derbez and his Cuban counterpart, Felipe
Perez Roque.
Perez Roque described the talks as "full
and frank," while his Mexican guest
said they took place "in an atmosphere
of total openness."
"This openness and a vision for future
relations between Cuba and Mexico have allowed
us to normalize our bilateral ties at the
level of ambassadors," Derbez pointed
out.
He said that Sunday's discussion had laid
the foundation for resolving issues that
could arise between the two countries, in
a cooperative spirit.
Perez Roque said the two sides had offered
no mutual apologies but tried to explain
their actions.
"We talked to each other with full
respect," he said. "And we thoroughly
analyzed and examined our bilateral relations
as well as events that have occurred."
Both ambassadors are expected to return
to their respective posts on July 26.
The restoration of full ties marked a breakthrough
for the communist-ruled island that suffered
a stunning diplomatic setback in early May,
when both Mexico and Peru recalled their
ambassadors from Havana, complaining of
the communist island's unwillingness to
respect their sovereignty.
On May 2, Mexico recalled its ambassador
and expelled Cuba's envoy in Mexico City
after Cuban leader Fidel Castro blasted
Mexico for supporting an April 15 resolution
at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva
that condemned Cuba's human rights record.
Castro said Mexico's prestige and influence
in Latin America had "turned to ashes"
as a result of that vote.
Mexico also took umbrage at a visit to
Mexico in April of three high-level Cuban
officials, insisting the trio had engaged
in "unacceptable" activities.
Tensions escalated further in late April,
when Cuba, in a surprise move, expelled
Carlos Ahumada, a Mexican businessman of
Argentine origin, complaining that Ahumada
was involved in activities that were political
in nature.
Cuba is also facing a diplomatic crisis
with Peru, which recalled its envoy to Cuba
in parallel with Mexico, over what the Peruvian
Foreign Ministry called "offensive
remarks made by the Cuban head of state
with regard to Peru" in response to
Peru's vote in support of the same UN resolution.
In his remarks, Castro said that Peruvian
President Alejandro Toledo's popularity
rating stood only at eight percent and he
was in "no position to lead or attempt
to lead anything."
Relations between Havana and Lima remain
at a low point.
Addressing reporters at the end of their
talks, Derbez said that a number of medium-sized
Mexican companies would like to expand their
activities in Cuba and wanted to be able
to obtain reliable financing for their plan.
He pointed out that the issue of Cuba's
400-million-dollar debt to Mexico's state-owned
bank "Bancomext" remained unresolved.
Annual trade between the two countries
dwindled from 237 million dollars in 2000
to 160 million last year.
Canadian under-18 women's basketball
team loses 58-38 to Cuba
HAVANA, 18 (CP) - The Canadian under-18
women's basketball team opened a four-game
exhibition series with Cuba on a down note
Sunday after a 58-38 loss.
Chantelle John of Toronto led Canada with
six points while Amanda Anderson of Dover
Centre, Ont., added five.
Cuba took advantage of Canadian struggles
from the opening tip-off and jumped out
to a 15-4 lead after six minutes of play.
The Canadians were able to get within 21-16
early in the second quarter, but Cuba rebounded
to lead 43-23 lead at the half and didn't
look back form there.
Canada has little time to regroup before
its next meeting with Cuba, on Monday. They
also play Wednesday and Thursday.
Both teams are using the series as a tune-up
for the FIBA Americas under-18 world championship
qualification tournament in Mayaguez, Puerto
Rico from Aug. 4-8.
Bush says US has 'particular duty' against
human trafficking, slams Cuba
TAMPA, United States, 16 (AFP) - The United
States has a "particular duty"
to lead the worldwide fight against illicit
trade in persons for sex and forced labor,
President George W. Bush said, singling
out Cuba as one of the world's worst violators.
"This trade in human beings brings
suffering and shame to our country and we
will lead the fight against it," Bush
said.
At a training conference here for law enforcement
and community leaders, Bush said Fidel Castro's
communist regime has made Cuba the favored
destination for pedophiles and sex tourists
from the United States and Canada, replacing
nations in Southeast Asia that have fought
for years to end the trade.
Florida, a key battleground state in the
US presidential race, is home to some 800,000
mostly anti-Castro Cuban-Americans.
"The dictator welcomes sex tourism,"
Bush said. "Sex tourism is a vital
source of hard currency to keep his corrupt
government afloat."
Cuba, along with North Korea and other
frequent US targets, is one of 10 countries
cited in a State Department report in June
for tolerating the trade or failing to adequately
fight it. In his speech, Bush said the trade
was one of many reasons the United States
is committed to getting rid of Castro.
"The regime in Havana, already one
of the worst violators of human rights in
the world, is adding to its crimes,"
he said.
Cuba denies encouraging the sex trade.
In a June 21 speech, Castro called the US
charges "new insults" against
his country. But in an interview last year
with filmmaker Oliver Stone, the dictator
boasted that "even our prostitutes
are university graduates."
Bush has made ending human trafficking
a focus of his foreign policy, using a September
23 speech to the UN General Assembly to
call for a worldwide effort to stop the
trade.
The issue is one that resonates among the
religious and conservative voters the Republican
president needs to rally as he fends off
a stiff challenge from Democrat John Kerry
(news - web sites) in the November 2 presidential
election.
"You're in a fight against evil, and
the American people are grateful for your
dedication and service," he told those
attending the conference. "Human life
is a gift of our Creator and it should never
be for sale."
Since 2000, the United States has adopted
tough new laws against human trafficking
and barred US citizens from engaging in
sex tourism. Washington also has threatened
sanctions against nations that tolerate
the trade or fail to take adequate efforts
to stop it, including a loss of access to
international lending agencies.
US officials estimate that between 600,000
and 800,000 people are forced into slavery
each year across the world, including between
14,500 and 17,500 in the United States.
Some 62 countries -- including most African
and Middle Eastern nations -- lack laws
criminalizing the trade, and only 117 have
signed a UN treaty calling for international
cooperation to end the practice.
Consequently, US officials are keen to
ensure their own efforts are above reproach,
with Democratic and Republican lawmakers
working to craft effective solutions in
a rare display of bipartisan cooperation.
The conference this week follows on a Justice
Department report in June that recommended
better training for local authorities to
help them recognize and combat human trafficking.
Washington however has not yet ratified
the UN Convention Against Transnational
Crime and its antitrafficking protocol.
The United States is one of 69 countries
that have signed but not ratified the convention,
which took effect in September.
Brigades Work Against U.S. Policy in
Cuba
By Vanessa Arrington, Associated
Press Writer. Fri Jul 16.
HAVANA - They have been coming to Cuba
for decades, building schools, pruning citrus
trees and helping with the sugar harvest
to show support for the communist island.
But this year's visit by members of Brigada
Venceremos, a group of American activists
in its 35th year, has added significance:
It's a direct challenge to new U.S. rules
tightening restrictions on travel to Cuba.
"The Cubans need to see that solidarity
has not stopped," said Bonnie Massey,
a 23-year-old high school counselor from
New York City. "We're very firm on
our stance. We have the moral law on our
side."
The activists don't know what to expect
when they return to the United States by
way of Canada next week. But they say they
are ready to defend what they believe is
their constitutional right to travel.
The new rules cut the amount of dollars
Cuban emigres can send home and curtail
visits to Cuba by cultural and academic
groups as well as Cuban-Americans.
The Bush administration hopes the measures
will close loopholes in the long-standing
U.S. embargo on Cuba and weaken the rule
of President Fidel Castro (news - web sites).
Brigada Venceremos has always defied the
embargo by refusing to apply for a license
to travel and arriving in Cuba via third
countries such as Canada.
Breaking the rules can lead to fines of
up to $7,500, and the U.S. government typically
notifies violators by letter after their
trip.
Brigada Venceremos volunteers have received
such letters in the past and have requested
civil hearings. As yet they have not been
called.
"I'm nervous, but I'm not scared,"
said Mei-ying Ho, 24, who works for a nonprofit
organization in San Francisco. She added
that she wasn't going to comply with "Bush's
unjust policies."
The brigade began traveling to the island
in 1969. During the civil rights and women's
liberation movement, hundreds of activists
would arrive on boats each summer, spending
up to six weeks working on the island.
Today, volunteers number in the dozens,
arrive by air and stay for two weeks.
"It's changed, but the concept is
the same," said Massey, one of the
brigade's organizers. She said the group
still believes Cubans should be able to
determine their own destiny without U.S.
interference.
"We don't see Cuba as an enemy,"
she said. "We see it as a neighbor
that we want to be friends with."
Kathe Karlson, who also came on one of
the first trips in 1970, said the U.S. government
has manipulated Americans for years by depicting
Cuba as a dangerous nation.
"The war against Cuba hasn't stopped,
it's just increasing," said Karlson,
a 55-year-old social worker who declined
to give her hometown. "This country
does not pose a military threat to us. Our
policy is outdated and wrong."
The brigade always receives a warm welcome
from Cuba's government, which provides housing
in the regions they visit.
This year, 77 volunteers ranging in age
from 16 to 73 began their trip in the eastern
city of Santiago, where they helped remodel
an elementary school, visited historic sites
of the Cuban revolution and were named "guests
of honor" by city officials. Most of
the volunteers are students, teachers, doctors
or artists.
They worked their way west, staying at
a state-run camp in rural Havana province.
The walls were plastered with pictures of
Cuban revolutionary leaders and slogans
such as "solidarity lives among the
people of the world."
Brigade members sleep in bunk beds, eight
to a room, then awake before sunrise for
breakfast.
On Thursday, a handful of volunteers fought
stomach problems and dehydration, but the
rest piled into buses and trucks and headed
off to work. One group dug trenches and
laid pipes alongside Cuban workers building
a physical therapy center.
"They are good workers," said
43-year-old Cuban builder Alejandro Peru.
"It is risky for them to come here,
but here they are. They're tough."
It was the first trip to Cuba for most
of the volunteers.
Larry Hales, 27, writer, activist and coffee
shop employee from Denver, said he thought
the United States could learn a lot from
Cuba.
"I think we've all seen the ugliness
of our society, the increasing disparity,"
he said. "There's a desire for something
better."
Cuban-Americans Show Divisions
Cloe Cabrera, ccabrera@tampatrib.com.
Sun Jul 18.
TAMPA -At 8 a.m. Saturday, under a steady
drizzle, Amelia Zapata maneuvered her wheelchair
through the rain- soaked dirt.
Once she settled into place along the
west side of Himes Avenue, the 37-year-old
Cuban-American began waving her Cuban flag
and chanting "No mas Bush! No mas Bush!
[No more Bush!]''
"I have to do this,'' said Zapata,
who emigrated to the United States three
years ago.
"My mother lives in Cuba. She is 76
and has cancer. I should have the right
to see her when I want. This law is keeping
families apart. It isn't hurting Castro.''
Full
story at Tampa Bay Online
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