CUBA NEWS
La Tienda de Cubanet

August 2005

August 31

FROM CUBA
Imprisoned independent journalist forced to strip naked
Independent journalist Omar Moisés Ruiz Hernández says he was forced to remove all of his clothing in front of a prison official before being allowed to enter the conjugal pavilion for a meeting with his wife.
SANTA CLARA

FROM CUBA
Graduation of medical students suspended for lack of resources
Medical students say their graduation ceremony in the capital was called off for lack of resources even though Latin American students were meted.
SANTA CLARA

FROM CUBA
Telesur signal not available to Cuban TV viewers
Although Cuba is a shareholder in the new Telesur television network organized by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, viewers on the island can't find the channel on their dial.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
State company in Cienfuegos fires 40 workers to cut costs
State-run businesses in Cuba are feeling some of the economic pressure that affects businesses in capitalist countries.
CIENFUEGOS
FROM CUBA
Anti-Castro sign appears in the city of Sancti Spíritus
A six-foot sign that read DOWN WITH FIDEL CASTRO! was put up on the wall of the food store La Vizcaína in the city of Sancti Spíritus.
CAIBARIÉN
FROM CUBA
Public transportation in Havana worsens
A worsening of public transportation in Havana has caused grumbling among those who depend on the bus service.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Wife of jailed independent journalists worries about his health
Yaraí Reyes, wife of imprisoned independent journalist Normando Hernández González, says she's worried about her husband's health because he suffers from various ailments.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
Home of independent journalist and librarian searched by police
The home of independent journalist and librarian Lázaro Raúl González in Pinar del Río province was searched by police last week who said they heard there was a fire arm there.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Policemen try to rundown independent journalist
Independent journalist Bernardo Arévalo Padrón was almost hit last week by a motorcycle carrying two members of the police force.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
Former officer detained on grounds of trying to leave Cuba
José Alberto Broche, an ex-officer of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, has been detained on grounds he was planning to illegally leave the country.
CIENFUEGOS

The Miami Herald
• Posada says Castro is persecuting him
• Posada may be Venezuela-bound
• Posada asylum trial to open
• Cheaper oil has a price
• Door to asylum may hinge on alleged Honduran trip
• Ally denies Posada trip but declines to testify

Yahoo! News
• U.S. backs away from claims that Cuba has bioweapons program
• U.S.: Cuban Militant Shouldn't Be Deported

Imprisoned journalist on hunger strike
The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply worried about the health of imprisoned journalist Adolfo Fernández Saínz, who began a hunger strike last week to protest the mistreatment of another imprisoned dissident.
Committee to Protect Journalists.

August 23

FROM CUBA
Home of independent union leader raided by security agents
State security agents on Saturday raided the apartment of Maybell Padilla, assistant secretary general of the dissident Unitarian Council of Cuban Workers..
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Human rights activist says young communist leader beat him up
René Montes de Oca, president of the Pro Human Rights Party of Cuba, says Hassán Pérez Casabón, second secretary of the Union of Young Communists, kicked him in the head as he lay defenseless on the ground.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Santa Clara dissident beaten and detained
Martín Fraga said he was about to take his son to a nearby swimming pool when some 20 men came to his home and attacked for what he said was his opposition to President Fidel Castro. Martín Fraga is vice coordinator of the Christian.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
Independent journalists demand liberty for jailed colleague
Colleagues of Oscar Mario González Pérez, an independent journalist held by police for the past month, have issued a public appeal for his release.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Four dissidents imprisoned since 2003 have been hospitalized
Four dissidents imprisoned since the 2003 crackdown, including three independent journalists, have been transferred to the hospital at the "Combinado del Este" prison in Havana.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Post office in Ranchuelo has run out of envelopes
The post office in the town of Ranchuelo has been without envelopes for nearly two weeks, preventing residents from mailing their correspondence.
RANCHUELO
FROM CUBA
Government supporters taking repressive measures against dissidents
Members of the Democratic Christian Movement of Cuba in Santa Clara say supporters of the government have been taking repressive actions against them.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
Dissident threatened with eviction from his home
Dissident Reinier Rodríguez Salgado, a member of the Cuban Orthodox Renovation Party, has been threatened with eviction from his home, which the government says he has been occupying illegally.
SANTIAGO DE CUBA
FROM CUBA
Street vendors detained in Cienfuegos
The National Revolutionary Police detained and fined a group of street vendors who were selling fruits and vegetables at lower prices than those in state stores.
CIENFUEGOS
FROM CUBA
Father obliges daughter and son-in-law to leave family home
Independent journalist Niurvys Díaz Remond says her father insisted she and her husband leave the family home where they lived because authorities planned to arrest her..
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Search continues for 31 Cubans
• Coast Guard searches for missing Cuban migrants
• Chávez slams U.S. in show with Castro
• U.S. sends 234 back home
• Blackouts in Cuba generate crisis
• When time stands still, call on master 'relojero'
• Deflated blimps limit broadcasts to Cuba
• Rumsfeld seeks views on Cuba, Venezuela

Yahoo! News
• Cuban crackdown brings arrests of 50 dissidents
• Cuba Confiscates Land Where Dissidents Met
• Cuba, Panama Restore Diplomatic Ties
• Washington worried by Venezuela, Cuban socialism
• Cuba to trade 17 million for US agro products from Nebraska
• Rumsfeld meets with Paraguayan president amid concerns over Cuba, Venezuela

Critical ill health of dentist, prisoner of conscience in Cuba
"Dr. Alfredo Manuel Pulido Lopez, was summarily tried and sentenced to serve 14 years in prison for defending in Cuba something as dignified as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
Coalition of Cuban-American Women.
Cuban bank to operate in Venezuela
Under a resolution published in the Official Gazette on Monday, the Cuban institution is to operate as a commercial bank and, therefore, its equity amounts to USD 7.4 million, as provided for under the Bank Law, article 88.
El Universal, Venezuela.
Rumsfeld meets with Paraguayan president amid concerns over Cuba, Venezuela
Ask 1,000 people when President George W. Bush's birthday is, and 999 probably will shrug. Ask 1,000 Cubans when President Fidel Castro's birthday is, and most likely 999 will know.
Houston Chronicle.
Cuba, Iran's Ahmadinejad stress closer ties
Jose Ramon Rodriguez, the outgoing Cuban Ambassador to Tehran met Saturday with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
La Nueva Cuba.
English puts Cuban on cigar roll
If you're looking to score a hand-rolled Cuban cigar, Guillermo "Willy" Carrazana is ready to talk business.
The Arizona Republic.
Cuba: an island of despair; Castro regime professes hope, but basic services are abysmal, many say
There are no signs of an exodus, the report said, but unhappiness with Fidel Castro's socialist government is growing. Tensions are mounting, Cuban dissidents agree.
Tracey Eaton, Dallas Morning News.

August 31

FROM CUBA
Imprisoned independent journalist forced to strip naked
Independent journalist Omar Moisés Ruiz Hernández says he was forced to remove all of his clothing in front of a prison official before being allowed to enter the conjugal pavilion for a meeting with his wife.
SANTA CLARA

FROM CUBA
Graduation of medical students suspended for lack of resources
Medical students say their graduation ceremony in the capital was called off for lack of resources even though Latin American students were meted.
SANTA CLARA

FROM CUBA
Telesur signal not available to Cuban TV viewers
Although Cuba is a shareholder in the new Telesur television network organized by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, viewers on the island can't find the channel on their dial.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
State company in Cienfuegos fires 40 workers to cut costs
State-run businesses in Cuba are feeling some of the economic pressure that affects businesses in capitalist countries.
CIENFUEGOS
FROM CUBA
Anti-Castro sign appears in the city of Sancti Spíritus
A six-foot sign that read DOWN WITH FIDEL CASTRO! was put up on the wall of the food store La Vizcaína in the city of Sancti Spíritus.
CAIBARIÉN
FROM CUBA
Public transportation in Havana worsens
A worsening of public transportation in Havana has caused grumbling among those who depend on the bus service.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Wife of jailed independent journalists worries about his health
Yaraí Reyes, wife of imprisoned independent journalist Normando Hernández González, says she's worried about her husband's health because he suffers from various ailments.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
Home of independent journalist and librarian searched by police
The home of independent journalist and librarian Lázaro Raúl González in Pinar del Río province was searched by police last week who said they heard there was a fire arm there.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Policemen try to rundown independent journalist
Independent journalist Bernardo Arévalo Padrón was almost hit last week by a motorcycle carrying two members of the police force.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
Former officer detained on grounds of trying to leave Cuba
José Alberto Broche, an ex-officer of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, has been detained on grounds he was planning to illegally leave the country.
CIENFUEGOS

The Miami Herald
• Posada says Castro is persecuting him
• Posada may be Venezuela-bound
• Posada asylum trial to open
• Cheaper oil has a price
• Door to asylum may hinge on alleged Honduran trip
• Ally denies Posada trip but declines to testify

Yahoo! News
• U.S. backs away from claims that Cuba has bioweapons program
• U.S.: Cuban Militant Shouldn't Be Deported

Imprisoned journalist on hunger strike
The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply worried about the health of imprisoned journalist Adolfo Fernández Saínz, who began a hunger strike last week to protest the mistreatment of another imprisoned dissident.
Committee to Protect Journalists.

August 23

FROM CUBA
Home of independent union leader raided by security agents
State security agents on Saturday raided the apartment of Maybell Padilla, assistant secretary general of the dissident Unitarian Council of Cuban Workers..
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Human rights activist says young communist leader beat him up
René Montes de Oca, president of the Pro Human Rights Party of Cuba, says Hassán Pérez Casabón, second secretary of the Union of Young Communists, kicked him in the head as he lay defenseless on the ground.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Santa Clara dissident beaten and detained
Martín Fraga said he was about to take his son to a nearby swimming pool when some 20 men came to his home and attacked for what he said was his opposition to President Fidel Castro. Martín Fraga is vice coordinator of the Christian.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
Independent journalists demand liberty for jailed colleague
Colleagues of Oscar Mario González Pérez, an independent journalist held by police for the past month, have issued a public appeal for his release.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Four dissidents imprisoned since 2003 have been hospitalized
Four dissidents imprisoned since the 2003 crackdown, including three independent journalists, have been transferred to the hospital at the "Combinado del Este" prison in Havana.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Post office in Ranchuelo has run out of envelopes
The post office in the town of Ranchuelo has been without envelopes for nearly two weeks, preventing residents from mailing their correspondence.
RANCHUELO
FROM CUBA
Government supporters taking repressive measures against dissidents
Members of the Democratic Christian Movement of Cuba in Santa Clara say supporters of the government have been taking repressive actions against them.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
Dissident threatened with eviction from his home
Dissident Reinier Rodríguez Salgado, a member of the Cuban Orthodox Renovation Party, has been threatened with eviction from his home, which the government says he has been occupying illegally.
SANTIAGO DE CUBA
FROM CUBA
Street vendors detained in Cienfuegos
The National Revolutionary Police detained and fined a group of street vendors who were selling fruits and vegetables at lower prices than those in state stores.
CIENFUEGOS
FROM CUBA
Father obliges daughter and son-in-law to leave family home
Independent journalist Niurvys Díaz Remond says her father insisted she and her husband leave the family home where they lived because authorities planned to arrest her..
SANTA CLARA

The Miami Herald
• Search continues for 31 Cubans
• Coast Guard searches for missing Cuban migrants
• Chávez slams U.S. in show with Castro
• U.S. sends 234 back home
• Blackouts in Cuba generate crisis
• When time stands still, call on master 'relojero'
• Deflated blimps limit broadcasts to Cuba
• Rumsfeld seeks views on Cuba, Venezuela

Yahoo! News
• Cuban crackdown brings arrests of 50 dissidents
• Cuba Confiscates Land Where Dissidents Met
• Cuba, Panama Restore Diplomatic Ties
• Washington worried by Venezuela, Cuban socialism
• Cuba to trade 17 million for US agro products from Nebraska
• Rumsfeld meets with Paraguayan president amid concerns over Cuba, Venezuela

Critical ill health of dentist, prisoner of conscience in Cuba
"Dr. Alfredo Manuel Pulido Lopez, was summarily tried and sentenced to serve 14 years in prison for defending in Cuba something as dignified as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
Coalition of Cuban-American Women.
Cuban bank to operate in Venezuela
Under a resolution published in the Official Gazette on Monday, the Cuban institution is to operate as a commercial bank and, therefore, its equity amounts to USD 7.4 million, as provided for under the Bank Law, article 88.
El Universal, Venezuela.
Rumsfeld meets with Paraguayan president amid concerns over Cuba, Venezuela
Ask 1,000 people when President George W. Bush's birthday is, and 999 probably will shrug. Ask 1,000 Cubans when President Fidel Castro's birthday is, and most likely 999 will know.
Houston Chronicle.
Cuba, Iran's Ahmadinejad stress closer ties
Jose Ramon Rodriguez, the outgoing Cuban Ambassador to Tehran met Saturday with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
La Nueva Cuba.
English puts Cuban on cigar roll
If you're looking to score a hand-rolled Cuban cigar, Guillermo "Willy" Carrazana is ready to talk business.
The Arizona Republic.
Cuba: an island of despair; Castro regime professes hope, but basic services are abysmal, many say
There are no signs of an exodus, the report said, but unhappiness with Fidel Castro's socialist government is growing. Tensions are mounting, Cuban dissidents agree.
Tracey Eaton, Dallas Morning News.

August 15

FROM CUBA
Province of Santiago de Cuba hit by unidentified virus
Special rooms have been set up in the Ambrosio Grillo y Clínico Quirúrgico hospitals to handle patients suffering from an outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea that has been affecting the province of Santiago de Cuba for the past two weeks.
SANTIAGO DE CUBA

FROM CUBA
A thief takes shortwave broadcasts off the air
Shortwave radio broadcasts to Venezuela and Central America were interrupted for two days this week when someone stole aluminum insulators from transmission towers.
HAVANA

FROM CUBA
Woman loses job after caught trying to flee country
Ileana Pérez Ramírez, who was returned to Cuba June 21 after being seized at sea by the U.S. Coast Guards, has lost her job as a helper in a restaurant.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Paramilitaries prevent dissidents from holding meeting
paramilitary group forcibly prevented 10 dissidents from holding a meeting this week. The dissidents, members of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba, had scheduled a Tuesday morning meeting in the municipality of Arroyo Naranajo.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Shortage of water prompts protest
Residents of the neighborhood known as Alturas de Ciudamar recently went into the streets with empty pails to protest a water shortage that has lasted more than 40 days.
SANTIAGO DE CUBA
FROM CUBA
Cubans on the brink of a panic attack
Six o'clock in the morning, Cuba. Felipe, 77 years old, leaves his house. He arrives at the corner cafeteria and waits for his first customer to arrive. A 20-year old mulato man approaches him. Felipe puts his hand in his pocket and takes out two cigarettes. The mulato pays him.
PINAR DEL RÍO

The Miami Herald
• Dissident meeting usurped
• Cuban torture suspect released from detention
• Nebraska trade group seeks deals in Cuba
• Dad's Cuba flight foiled
• Cruise terminal contract canceled
• Spy trial likely to start anew elsewhere
Bay of Pigs plotters predicted failure
Group seeks release of 5 accused spies
Court overturns spy verdicts
• U.S. withdraws subpoena for Posada interview tape
U.S. withdraws subpoena for Posada interview tape

Yahoo! News
• US governor touches down in Cuba on trade mission
• Cuba Marks Castro's 79th Birthday
• Castro urges US to free suspected Cuban spies
• Cuba's Menendez Sets World Javelin Record
• Castro reaches 79 still driving Cuba's revolution
• Castro supporters mob dissident homes
• Group in D.C. to Support Jailed Reporter

Another independent journalist arrested
Reporters Without Borders condemned the arrest of physician and independent journalist Florencio Cruz Cruz today in Aguado, in the central province of Cienfuegos. Cruz is the deputy editor of the Línea Sur Press independent agency. He also works for Nueva Prensa Cubana.
Reporters Without Borders.
Isle of Youth journalist faces trial on trumped-up charges
Reporters Without Borders voiced deep concern today on learning that independent journalist Lamasiel Gutiérrez Romero of the Nueva Prensa Cubana news agency is to be tried tomorrow for civil disobedience and resisting the authorities before a municipal court in Nueva Gerona, on the western Isle of Youth.
Reporters Without Borders.
Bay of Pigs secrets
Even in Washington, where official secrecy is a handy way to cover up mistakes and embarrassments, it's hard to believe that bureaucrats still are sitting on most of the CIA's own history of the Bay of Pigs.
The Miami Herald.
Iran and Cuba to issue joint stamp
Iran and the Republic of Cuba will issue a joint stamp in order to foster bilateral cooperation, the Iranian ambassador to Cuba announced on Monday, MNA said.
IranMania.com.
MEMO sending more to Cuba
Gary Cooper says he's amazed at how smart Cubans are at setting up medical equipment, relying on their brains rather than instruction manuals.
The Chronicle-Journal.
Cuba journal: Impressions from a road trip
Our Cuban driver needed to make a brief stop. Ten hours east of Havana, near Cuba's far eastern tip, he pulled over in this sleepy farm town and jogged up the broken tile steps of a ramshackle wooden house, tapping on his aunt's front door.
GJ Sentinel.
Castro's Cuba - Interview with Author Humberto Fontova
Humberto Fontova is the author of "The Helldiver's Rodeo" (chosen by the Publisher's Weekly as their Book of the Week in August 2001), "The Hellpig Hunt", and "Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant."
Global Politician, NY.

External links

Central Americans, young professionals displacing Cubans in Little Havana
Today Little Havana is a neighborhood in transition. A longtime haven for Cubans adjusting to life in the United States, the area is now home to many Central Americans. At the same time, the neighborhood is attracting young professionals, many of them returning Cuban-Americans eager to buy condominiums less pricey than those in the Brickell financial district.
Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Wheels Keep On Turning in U.S. for Cuban Cyclist
When cyclist Ivan Dominguez identifies a small opening during a race, he takes advantage of it, shooting through the aperture. The same can be said in life for Dominguez, 29, who defected from Cuba at one of the earliest opportunities he had.
LA Times.


August 9

FROM CUBA
Prisoner of conscience denied drugs for ailment
Authorities at the Kilometer 7 prison in Camagüey province have denied drugs to dissident prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez, according to his sister, Bertha Antúnez Pernet, president of the National Civic Resistance Movement.
PLACETAS

FROM CUBA
Anti-government slogans and drawings left on park benches
Colored strips of cardboard with caricatures and anti-government slogans were placed on benches in the Plaza de la Revolución.
CIENFUEGOS

FROM CUBA
State security agents detain blind dissident lawyer
Juan Carlos González Leiva, a blind lawyer and president of the Ciego de Avila chapter of the Cuban Foundation of Human Rights, was detained by state security agents last week while participating in a meeting of the chapter.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Shortage of doctors results in the closure of five clinics
A shortage of doctors caused mainly by the loan of doctors to Venezuela has resulted in the closure of four of five clinics in a Cienfuegoes district.
CIENFUEGOS
FROM CUBA
Sanitary facilities stolen at close of carnival
At the close of carnival celebrations last week, local residents dismantled and carted off some of the temporary sanitary facilities the municipality had installed for use of celebrants.
SANTA CLARA
FROM CUBA
No reply to suit against prohibition of Cuban guests in hotels
There has been no reply after five months to a lawsuit launched by independent journalist José Antonio Fornaris Ramos against the government asking that a ban on Cuban citizens staying in hotels used by foreigners be lifted.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Vignettes
A meeting. The group was assembled in the doorway of the house. They had been summoned there because it was considered the safest place. Then one of them realized they were being watched.
PINAR DEL RÍO
FROM CUBA
Ailing independent journalist returned to prison cell
Independent journalist Normando Hernández González, serving a 25-year sentence, was returned last week to prison from a hospital, where he was treated for stomach disorder.
CIEGO DE AVILA

The Miami Herald
• Post-Castro Cuba will be 'a big mess,' speaker says
• Castro's sister wins suit
• 1,524 Cubans interdicted since Jan.

Yahoo! News
• Cuban Agents to Get New Trial
• Cuban Trova Musician Noel Nicola Dies
• Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer dies at age 78
• Swimmers Find Sunken Ship Off Cuba Coast

Husbands for sale in Cuba
A wedding is a big occasion in any society, but in Cuba it can also be big business. Many Cuban women see a foreign husband as a ticket out of the country - a passport, possibly, to new prosperity.
Stephen Gibbs. BBC News.
Cuba's new crackdown
Once again, Cuba is detaining dissidents and charging them with crimes that don't exist in any free country on Earth.
The Miami Herald.
Dissidents' goal: A national dialogue
There are many myths about Cuba and speculation about its future. Yet its people have not had a chance to express themselves freely -- and now, for the first time in many years, citizens have to opportunity to offer their opinions about a democratic transition and to show the path to the future. This is the National Dialogue.
Stephen Gibbs. BBC News.

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