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US stands by Cuban sex tourism allegations
after Castro denials
WASHINGTON, 27 (AFP) - The United States
refused to back down from US President George
W. Bush (news - web sites)'s charge that
Cuba is a favored destination for pedophiles
and other sex tourists after Cuban leader
Fidel Castro angrily denied the claim in
an invective-filled speech.
"The issue of prostitution in Cuba
is something, I think, that is well-documented,"
deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli
said.
He referred to a 2002 report from a Washington-based
human rights group, The Protection Project,
that said Cuba had replaced Southeast Asia
as one of the world's top sex tourism destinations
and the State Department's own annual Trafficking
in Persons reports.
The 2004 edition of the State Department
report, released in June, slams Cuba for
failing to take action against the sex trade,
particularly involving children, tolerating
and in some cases encouraging prostitution.
"Cuba's tourist industry is heavily
dominated by state companies, and government
employees tolerate corrupt practices that
facilitate this sexual exploitation, sometimes
even making state-run facilities available
for underage prostitution," the report
says.
At a July 16 speech in Florida, Bush accused
Castro's regime of turning Cuba into the
favored destination for sex tourists from
the United States and Canada as way to to
earn money for his cash-strapped government.
"The dictator welcomes sex tourism,"
Bush said. "Sex tourism is a vital
source of hard currency to keep his corrupt
government afloat."
Cuba denies encouraging the sex trade and,
on Monday, Castro lashed out at Bush, calling
the accusations "crude calumnies"
made by "a sinister caracter who threatens
and insults us" and pointing to the
US leader's past problems with alcohol.
Castro questioned the Bush's mental capacities,
quoting from the "Bush on the Couch"
book to describe the US president as a past
alcoholic. About half of the 90-minute speech
was devoted to quotes from the book, written
by psychoanalyst Justin Frank who portrays
Bush as a man driven by rage and fear.
Ereli said he had not seen those specific
comments and declined to "dignify them
with a response" but stressed that
the United States would continue to press
for democratic transition in Cuba despite
Castro complaints.
"It's in the interest of the Cuban
people and in the interest of the hemisphere
to help hasten transition to a democratic
Cuba and that's what the policy of the United
States is directed to," he said.
Cuba and Japan Olympic baseball favourites
after US failure
WASHINGTON, 28 (AFP) - A century after
baseball made its Olympic debut as an exhibition
sport, the American past time stands on
the brink of Olympic extinction without
a United States team even qualifying for
the Athens Games.
Cuba and Japan will be favourites to claim
gold at Athens after their major rivals,
the reigning champion Americans and South
Korea, failed to qualify.
"It's a shock and a disgrace the Americans
won't be represented in the Olympics,"
2000 US Olympic gold medal team manager
Tommy Lasorda said after a US squad was
eliminated by a 2-1 loss to Mexico in a
qualifying tournament.
The failure by a collection of US minor-leagues
symbolizes baseball's status as an Olympic
disappointment because Major League Baseball
refuses to shut down and allow top talent
to play on national teams during the Olympics.
"We can't adjust our schedule. We
can't stop our season," major league
commissioner Bud Selig has said of the six-month
North American baseball slate.
Olympic officials considered chopping the
sport before backing down, but with Major
League Baseball wanting to create a pre-season
World Cup of "Dream Teams" next
year, it's unlikely the Olympics will ever
stage an elite global baseball event the
way it does in ice hockey or basketball.
Australia, Taiwan, Canada, Italy, Greece
and the Netherlands complete the Athens
lineup. At least one will win a medal. American-born
talent dominates the Greek lineup while
Canada boasts 15 players with major league
experience.
"We're anxious to get going and have
high hopes for our team in Athens,"
said Baseball Canada national team director
Greg Hamilton, whose team makes its Olympic
debut.
Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos,
a Greek-American, has helped train and develop
a Greece squad that counts 22 Americans
of Greek ancestry, some as distant as great-grandparents,
among its 24 players.
Rob Derksen, the original Greek manager
and an Orioles scout who was the Aussie
1996 Olympic manager, died of a heart attack
in June. Since then, some Greek officials
have complained more Greek-born talent should
be in the side.
The Olympic baseball centennial comes after
the game was an exhibition sport six times,
starting in 1904 at St. Louis, and twice
a demonstration event, at Los Angeles in
1984 and Seoul in 1988.
Cuba won gold in 1992 and 1996 and reached
the 2000 Sydney final before losing to a
US minor-league squad. Pitcher Ben Sheets,
now a major leaguer, amazed and frustrated
Cuban batters in the gold medal game.
Japan won the Asian Championship with Taiwan's
second place finish enough to return to
the Olympics for the first time since 1992.
Cuba and Japan meet August 17 in round-robin
play and if form holds would meet again
eight days later in the Olympic final.
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