CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

Three Kings Day still alive for kids in 'atheist' nation

Children of imprisoned Cuban dissidents received gifts, paid for with a donation by the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation, for Three Kings Day.

By Nancy San Martin, nsanmartin@herald.com. Posted on Sun, Jan. 09, 2005.

Cuban children whose fathers have languished in prison for 21 months as part of a government crackdown against dissidents, gathered at a Havana home Saturday to receive toys as part of a Three Kings holiday tradition.

The quiet gathering, organized by the wives of the dissidents, also served as a subtle demonstration against the arrests of the 75 activists, most of whom remain behind bars serving lengthy prison terms.

''We distributed toys to the children and read them stories about the Three Kings,'' party host Laura Pollán said in a telephone interview. "We also talked about the expectation that next year, we won't need to do this because their fathers would be home to give them their gifts.''

THE EPIPHANY

Three Kings Day, or Dia de los Reyes Magos, is celebrated on Jan. 6 -- the day of the epiphany. It honors the three men -- Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar -- who followed the star to Bethlehem, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the baby Jesus.

In Cuba, it is one of the few holidays that remained alive, albeit discreetly, even after Fidel Castro declared the island an atheist nation and banned religious celebrations soon after he seized control in 1959.

Pollán, wife of jailed independent journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, said all 53 children of dissidents across the island received gifts paid for with a donation by the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation.

''The dissident movement inside Cuba deserves support from all of us in exile,'' said Alfredo Mesa, executive director of the foundation. "These children really don't understand why one of their parents is in jail for what the rest of the world knows is a just cause. This was about returning a little of the innocence that was stolen by Castro.''

The children's ages range from newborn to 12 years old. About a dozen who gathered at the Pollán home Saturday morning also were treated to cake and soda. The celebration was held Saturday instead of Thursday to accommodate those in school. A similar gift exchange was held last year.

''This year the gifts went all the way to Oriente province for the children of all 75 dissidents,'' said Pollán, part of a group of women known as ''Women in White,'' whose peaceful resistance has made some strides in the struggle for human rights on the island.

SOME RETURNED HOME

Only 14 of the 75 imprisoned dissidents have been allowed to return home on parole for medical reasons. The rest are serving sentences of as much as 28 years.

They were accused of working with U.S. diplomats in Havana to undermine Castro's government and convicted in swift trials. The dissidents and U.S. officials have denied the allegations.

Floor paintings reach to infinity

By Fabiola Santiago. fsantiago@herald.com. Posted on Fri, Jan. 07, 2005.

In a cluttered Hialeah Gardens apartment far from the glitz of South Florida's art hubs, Violeta Roque de Arana turns the Moorish tile floors of her Havana childhood into the backbone of her artwork.

Magnifying glass in one hand, paintbrush in another, Roque reproduces on canvas with stunning accuracy the most minute details -- the cracks on the tile, the rust around the drain on a floor. She incorporates the lifelike imperfections into pieces that are musical, mathematical and multidimensional.

''All my work reflects my preoccupation with infinity,'' says Roque, 40, a former champion chess player and illustrator of postage stamps who is one of the emerging Miami artists to be featured during Art Miami 2005, which opens today and runs through Monday at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Now in its 15th year, the fair is expected to attract thousands of art lovers to the 125 galleries from 24 countries exhibiting there.

Roque's Entender el infinito (Understanding Infinity) is showing at Miami art dealer Silvia Dorfsman's project booth No. 503.

''The degree of sophistication in her work is impressive,'' Dorfsman says.

Her paintings, a collection of artifacts suspended over the tile design, seem like aerials. The work is labor-intensive because Roque paints objects such as tarot cards and old photographs as painstakingly detailed as they appear in real life.

One painting can take up to three months to complete.

''People stand in front of my paintings and try to touch them to feel the objects because they think they must be a photograph or a collage,'' Roque says.

In En el principio: La melodía (In the Beginning, Music), an antique phonograph, a flowing scarf and a shell become the subjects through which she speaks of the "infinite existence of music.''

Her inspiration comes from her memory of the tiled floors in her parents' and grandparents' homes.

'Every room of my grandparents' house in El Cerro was tiled in a different design,'' Roque says.

To come up with new designs for her paintings, Roque collects photographs of Cuban tiles.

''I ask everyone I know who goes to Cuba to photograph floors for me,'' says Roque, who left the island in 1996 after she won a visa in the U.S. lottery. "I look at floors and I see things other people don't -- pentagrams, flowers, mathematical equations, music.''

CHESS CHAMPION

Although Roque studied at the San Alejandro Academy in Havana, where most of Cuba's top artists are trained, painting was not her first passion.

It was chess, and at 14, she won the title Campeona de Ajedrez de la Isla de la Juventud. She says she quit because she wanted access to better teachers and specialized texts.

''I got bored, and after I had been winning throughout the game, I started losing matches at the last minute because I became distracted and my thoughts started creatively drifting elsewhere,'' she says.

She decided on painting, a talent shared by her mother and maternal grandfather, "because my mother, a frustrated actress, said I should settle on something that I could do independently, and didn't depend on other people to come to fruition.''

Her first trilogies of floors won a student contest at San Alejandro Academy in 1983. She later became a teacher at San Alejandro and at the School of Design. She was an illustrator at the women's magazine Mújeres y Muchachas and art director of the state's postal operations. Among her designs is a series of stamps featuring antique carriages.

In the early '90s, she stunned everyone when she quit her state-sponsored jobs to devote her time to painting. But she made enough money at it that "when all of Cuba was starving in the '90s, I was making enough money to pay the outrageous price of a carton of eggs.''

Roque was able to buy food to use as models for her still lifes. And whatever she couldn't find, she imagined.

''I had a ball stand in for a tomato and a jar for a pineapple,'' she said.

In Miami, she has been able to live off her painting, although modestly.

BROUGHT PAINTINGS

She managed to whisk about a dozen of her paintings out of Cuba and lived off their sales until she could produce new works.

Many of Miami's Cuban-American collectors own pieces by Roque, whose work is priced between $2,000 and $15,000, but she doesn't make a better living because her pieces take so long to make.

''I have a list of people waiting for works,'' she says. "But I am obsessive about the details, and that takes time.''

She lives with her husband, Antonio Villamil, also an artist, in a small apartment that doubles as art studio. It's furnished with secondhand pieces and cluttered with items she collects to feature in her paintings.

''Living modestly is the price I pay for developing as an artist,'' Roque says, walking a visitor through a maze of faded buildings and a stark parking lot. "But it's a worthwhile price. I don't want to be doing anything else.''

A historic day for Martinez, exiles

Mel Martinez became the first Cuban American to hold a U.S. Senate seat when he was sworn in Tuesday

By Oscar Corral, Miami Herald. Posted on Wed, Jan. 05, 2005.

WASHINGTON - On the day he was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, Mel Martinez stood under the marble dome that symbolizes the nation's majesty and outlined his agenda in two languages -- English and Spanish.

Martinez, sworn in as Florida's newest senator at 12:35 p.m., fielded questions as easily from Telemundo as from The Washington Post, toggling freely between the languages of his homeland and his adopted country as Miami-Dade leaders have done for 30 years.

English-only reporters had to ask him to repeat answers he had given in Spanish. And Martinez even had to translate questions from Spanish to English.

His comfort with two languages in front of cameras in Washington is a testament not only to the rising political clout of Hispanics across the United States, but to the multicultural society that allowed a young immigrant to rise to the national political stage.

''I am ready to be Mel Martinez at the national level,'' he said when asked whether he would take bilingual politics national. "And Mel Martinez is bilingual and bicultural.''

To many of the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who also fled their homeland, he personifies the accomplishment of El Exilio.

''I think it's a historic event for our community,'' said Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, who celebrated with Martinez at a reception in the Capitol.

Martinez wasted no time before wielding his newfound political clout. Minutes after being sworn in, he entered a lunch meeting with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State nominee, who gave him a diplomatic message to send to the Israeli and Palestinian governments when he visits the Middle East later this week. Martinez declined to describe the nature of the message.

'MEL, WELCOME'

Only minutes earlier, Martinez had approached Vice President Dick Cheney to be sworn in. Former Sen. Paula Hawkins of Florida walked arm in arm with him as he approached the podium.

''Mel, welcome,'' said Cheney to the man who served as President Bush's housing secretary. During the ceremony, Martinez sat in the chamber with other political stars such as New York's Hillary Clinton, Arizona's John McCain and Illinois' Barack Obama.

He passed his finger pensively over a bronze plaque that bore his name on a wood desk.

''It was just, wow, it happened. And I was really humbled by it,'' he said. "I never dreamed this big. I promise you.''

Martinez, who was born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, fled Fidel Castro's government when he was 15 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, a massive airlift of thousands of Cuban children out of the island in the early 1960s. He settled in Orlando, where he met his wife, Kitty, and launched his political career.

Martinez says that having matured politically outside Miami's exile politics gave him a broader view of American issues and culture and enabled him to create a base of support outside South Florida.

He served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Bush, and was eventually recruited by the White House to run for Senate. During a divisive, nasty battle for the Senate against Democratic contender Betty Castor last year, Martinez was branded by some as a right-wing zealot, an image he thinks is unfair and wants to dispel.

''Judge me by my life's work, not by an intense eight months of personal destruction,'' he said.

'GREAT PROMISE'

Although he left Cuba without his parents, they eventually reunited with him. His mother, Gladys, was with him Tuesday. He said the two people he missed the most at his swearing-in were his late father, Melquiades, and Monsignor Brian Walsh, who coordinated Pedro Pan and became a father figure to thousands of exile children.

''He is a verification of the great promise of America, the land of opportunity,'' said Sen. George Allen, of Virginia, whom Martinez credited with recruiting him to run.

Leaders from across the political spectrum embraced and congratulated him. Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman clambered out of his seat to squeeze Martinez's arm and whisper something in his ear. And Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called Martinez a friend who would work across party lines. ''He's a moderate conservative, and my politics are moderate,'' Nelson said.

Attorney General John Ashcroft made a surprise speech at Martinez's reception, declaring "I love this man.''

GREETED EXILES

But the reception was not just about rubbing elbows with national figures. Martinez also made time to greet about 80 Cuban exiles from Sagua la Grande who took a 16-hour bus trip from Miami to watch him be sworn in.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, was at his side at the swearing-in and gave him a hug and kiss afterward. U.S. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, who supported one of Martinez's opponents in the GOP primary campaign, congratulated him in the halls of the Capitol, Martinez said.

He spent a good part of the day speaking in Spanish to reporters, supporters and family members, and even outlined some new opinions on certain issues.

For example, he said he wants the United States to directly aid dissidents in Cuba. The U.S. government now sends most of its money for promoting freedom and democracy in Cuba to exile and U.S.-based organizations.

''I think to the extent possible, any way that we can get money directly to dissidents within the island, I think that would be desirable, and I think it should be done,'' he said.

During a morning news conference, Martinez spent more than half the time speaking in Spanish in response to questions from Spanish-language media. However, most of the questions were not about Cuba, but about issues such as Social Security, Iraq and health care for the elderly.

PRIORITIES

He said his priorities are to make sure proper aid is reaching hurricane-ravaged parts of Florida and to try to stem the closure of military facilities in the state. But he also said he believes "we have got to see cuts in the defense budget in areas where we can because that's where the big dollars are.''

As a member of the influential Foreign Relations Committee, he also wants to play an active role in the Middle East peace process, increase ties with Latin America and help bring freedom and democracy to Cuba.

''I have a different perspective than the rest of the Senate,'' he said. "I think I can make a historic contribution to this country.''

Martinez goes into Senate an instant star

Mel Martinez, the U.S. Senate's first Cuban-American member, will be officially sworn in to his new office at noon today, instantly becoming a GOP star.

By Lesley Clark. lclark@herald.com. Posted on Tue, Jan. 04, 2005.

Mel Martinez takes the oath of office today in Washington, D.C., his ascension to the U.S. Senate a source of fierce pride for Miami's Cuban-American community.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, herself the first Cuban-American woman elected to Congress, will risk a late arrival to her own swearing-in to attend the Martinez ceremony at noon. And at least two busloads of Miamians who hail from Martinez's Cuban homeland were leaving Monday for the trip to Washington to see the one-time Cuban refugee sworn in as one of Florida's two U.S. senators -- the first ever Cuban American to serve in the Senate.

''Mel is the poster child for the Cuban exile success story,'' said Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican who campaigned for Martinez. "He epitomizes the great drive of the Cuban political community. He carries nostalgia for his native homeland, yet at same time he feels a great deal of gratitude to our adopted homeland that we'll never be able to repay. Mel's story says a lot about what great opportunities this country has for all of us who are political refugees.''

The Republican Martinez, a former member of President Bush's Cabinet, takes his seat as an instant national star in a party eager to court a burgeoning Hispanic population. Though Martinez ranks 98th in seniority -- other newly elected senators outrank him with congressional experience -- he's landed plum committee spots, thanks to his ties to the First Family and to Senate leaders who backed his bid. They spent more money in Florida than in any other state in a successful effort to widen Republican control of the Senate.

Senate assignments for the one-time head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development include the influential Foreign Relations Committee as well as seats on those that oversee banking, housing, energy and natural resources.

''Mel's going to be a leader in the Senate from Day One,'' said Sen. George Allen of Virginia, the outgoing chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who said he ''cajoled and recruited'' Martinez to run. "This is history.''

Martinez's office declined comment Monday, citing a crush of media inquiries. He has scheduled press interviews today with newspapers, television stations and a national radio conference call.

Former Sen. Paula Hawkins -- a Republican who held the seat before her defeat in 1986 by Bob Graham -- will participate as Martinez takes the oath of office on the Senate floor.

DIFFERENT STORY

The welcoming may be a bit more restrained for one of Florida's other newly elected members of Congress, former state Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was elected to the Fort Lauderdale area seat held by U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch. Deutsch, who left the seat to run for the U.S. Senate, lost in the Democratic primary to former state Education Commissioner Betty Castor, who in turn lost the election to Martinez.

Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, said she's not daunted by the prospect of serving as a minority member of Congress. Twelve years in Tallahassee -- including eight as a member of the minority party -- was good training, she said.

''I had eight years where I had to find a way to be effective and break through even in the minority party,'' Wasserman Schultz said. "It's all about building relationships and getting to know people.''

President Bush on Monday met with the newly elected members of Congress and, according to an Associated Press report, urged them to ''achieve big things,'' beginning with helping the countries devastated by last week's tsunamis.

PERSONAL WORDS

Wasserman Schultz said the president had personal words for the new members as well.

''He asked me whether I was the girl who gives his little brother Jeb a hard time,'' she said. 'I said, 'Maybe, just a little.' ''

Cuba thawing frozen ties with 8 European nations

Cuba said it was re-establishing formal contacts with several European nations in an attempt to normalize ties long frozen.

Posted on Tue, Jan. 04, 2005 in The Miami Herald.

HAVANA - (AP) -- Cuba announced Monday it had re-established formal contacts with European nations including France, Germany and Britain in a quest to normalize relations after a nearly two-year freeze.

Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque said the decision was made after a European Union commission recommended that member states work to improve relations with Cuba's communist government, in part by ending the practice of inviting dissidents to national holiday celebrations at their embassies in Havana.

''Due to these pronouncements, Cuba has made the decision to re-establish formal contacts with a group of countries from the European Union,'' Roque said at a news conference.

Roque said Cuban authorities would immediately start meeting with ambassadors from eight European countries: France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Greece, Portugal and Sweden.

Relations between Cuba and Europe chilled after Cuba cracked down on the island's opposition in March 2003, rounding up and sentencing 75 dissidents to long prison terms.

European nations were also troubled by the firing-squad executions of three men who had attempted to hijack a ferry to the United States.

EU members responded by unanimously agreeing to reduce high-level governmental visits and participation in cultural events in Cuba and to invite dissidents to embassy gatherings.

But some European nations, led by Spain's new Socialist government, say the EU sanctions have had little effect. In mid-December, an EU commission recommended member states work out a new policy encouraging the Caribbean island to open up.

Martha Beatriz Roque, one of 14 dissidents from the original group of 75 released from prison last year, said she was disappointed by the latest developments.

''We are going to continue working to achieve democracy in Cuba, despite the European Union turning its back on us and supporting the Cuban government,'' Roque said in a telephone interview.

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