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Drug Traffickers in Cuba Get More Saavy
By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated
Press Writer. January 20, 2005.
HAVANA - International drug traffickers
coming through Cuba have become more sophisticated
in the way they transport cocaine and marijuana,
customs officials said Thursday.
The drugs are showing up in shoes, toothpaste
and electronic goods in the country's airports
and ports, Jose Otano, the second-in-command
of Cuba's customs agency, told reporters.
Suitcases made of cocaine and thin travelers
whose figures have been filled out with
packets of drugs have also become more common,
he said.
Cuba's drug market is a young one, generated
in the mid-1990s by renewed tourism to the
island. Communist officials have said drugs
are a vice of capitalism and not a serious
problem in Cuba but have launched a campaign
to fight the market.
"We don't want drugs here in small
or in large quantities," Otano said
while giving a tour of a cruise ship terminal
and training facility.
Since 2000, the customs agency has seized
some 350 pounds of drugs, foiled 82 trafficking
plans and halted 706 attempts to bring in
personal doses of drugs to the island, Otano
said.
The number of people detained in these
operations was not provided.
The efforts are part of a larger campaign
called "People Shield," or "Coraza
Popular," launched in January 2003.
Since the campaign was launched and through
the end of July 2004, Cuba has seized more
than 8 tons of drugs, primarily cocaine
and marijuana.
Elegant, obese dancers shatter stereotypes
HAVANA, 19 Cuba (AP) -- Cuban ballet dancers
in white glide across the floor, executing
an airy blend of pirouettes and back stretches.
Within seconds, spectators are captivated,
quickly forgetting what at first they couldn't
overlook -- most of the dancers weigh more
than 200 pounds.
Six dancers between the ages of 23 and
41 make up the island's Voluminous Dance
group, which has presented about 20 works
and is preparing its current show, "Una
muerte dulce," or "A Sweet Death,"
for the spring.
"It's incredible how they utilize
their roundness," Mirta Castro, a tourist
from Costa Rica, said as she watched the
dancers rehearsing in Havana. "It breaks
free of the belief that dance is only for
slender people."
That is exactly the taboo Juan Miguel Mas,
the group's director, wanted to shatter
when he created Voluminous Dance in 1996.
He called together dozens of overweight
people in Havana to a formal dance audition
where he looked for inner spark, eagerness
and motivation.
"We obese people also need to express
ourselves with our bodies," said Mas,
who is also a dancer in the group. "We
feel (our bodies), we command them and we
enjoy them just like any other human being."
While obesity is not a major problem in
Cuba, where fast-food restaurants are almost
nonexistent, the country is beginning to
face some of the same health challenges
confronting most of the world.
In the late 1990s, the government began
urging Cubans to get more exercise and eat
more fruits and vegetables in addition to
their typical diet of rice, beans and meat.
Last year, the island's sports institute,
which manages Cuba's elite athletes, launched
a campaign to encourage exercise and sports
among the general population.
Mas, who weighs more than 300 pounds, first
appeared on stage with Cuba's Contemporary
Dance troupe as a giant baby in the lead
role of a 1989 production called "Absurdo,"
or "Absurd." He is the only member
of Voluminous Dance, or Danza Voluminosa,
who danced professionally before the group's
creation.
Dancers in the group have come and gone
over the years, Mas said. Money is scarce,
and as an independent project, the group
often scrambles to find rehearsal space
and generate interest in their performances.
The group is not officially recognized
by Cuba's cultural ministry, so none of
the dancers receive full salaries from the
socialist state; instead, they earn some
money for each contract. Mas said he thinks
the reason there's been no formal endorsement
for the group is that most of the dancers
have not received dance training from the
state.
"We desperately need support,"
said Mas, who added the group is the only
one of its kind in Cuba and, he believes,
in the region. "Ours is a project that
could reach thousands of people all over
the country."
In a studio in Havana's Teatro Nacional,
the dancers move with grace and sensitivity,
surprising onlookers with their elasticity.
Their leaps are limited, but arm motions
are expansive and elegant.
The room becomes electric when the dancers
suddenly drop to the floor and begin to
roll over each other, as if part of a wave.
The task appears effortless despite intense,
passion-filled expressions on their faces.
"Our work is not just art, it also
has a social aspect," Mas said. "We
approach obese people to help them find
a physical and emotional equilibrium and
rescue their self-esteem."
Barbara Paula Valdes, 27, said she feels
transformed after two years with Voluminous
Dance.
"I changed how I walk, how I talk,
the way I relate to people," said Valdes,
who weighs 275 pounds. "I had an artist
hidden inside me and didn't realize it."
Exiled Cuban Artist Pens a Compelling
Autobiographical Novel -- A Story of Love,
Separation, and the Struggle of a Nation
ENGLEWOOD, N.J., Jan. 19, 2005 (PRIMEZONE)
-- In his new book Back to Cuba: The Return
of the Butterflies, exiled Cuban artist
Elio F. Beltran proves he is as adept with
the pen as with the brush. He creates a
painting of vivid memories tracing his childhood
in an impoverished town, his youth and his
turbulent years as a student during the
revolution. When the award-winning artist
was able to set foot in his homeland forty-two
years later, his novel, initially inspired
by nostalgic childhood memories remembered
during his exile, developed into a story
of a land and a people gripped by a tyrannical
rule.
As a student activist, Beltran had a brief
and revealing encounter with then student
leader Fidel Castro. Looking back at the
dramatic aftermath of that fateful meeting,
Beltran gives provocative insights on the
contemporary history of Cuba before and
after the revolution. Even as the United
States government tries to reinstate policies
that isolate Cuba, Beltran reveals the true
purpose behind Fidel Castro's reign of terror.
Furthermore, he shows us what the United
States government could still do to render
Castro's regime totally ineffective in its
attempts to discredit America, by focusing
on policies that would go beyond the local
political agenda in South Florida-new initiatives
and policies that could ultimately contribute
to the regime's demise.
Like his paintings, Back to Cuba captures
the happy and unforgettable memories of
his childhood, as well as the experience
of separation from his home country. His
story goes beyond the scope of just one
man, touching on themes with which all of
us are familiar: the loss of a friend, disillusionment
and ultimately, hope. As Beltran says, his
story is about love and passions, the kind
that divide family and friends.
About the Author
The author was born in the colorful town
of Regla, across the bay from Havana, in
1929. His childhood was filled with images
of urban and countryside landscapes enmeshed
with the interesting people he grew up around
in the peaceful innocent years in the aftermath
of the depression.
He lived the experiences of his formative
years as a student in pre-revolutionary
Cuba during times of political uncertainties
where gangs were used as a crucible for
future political power without regard for
life or death in the process. In that environment
he had a brief uneventful but revealing
encounter where he confronted the then emerging
student leader Fidel Castro.
After living through the initial revolutionary
process he left Cuba for exile in 1960 and
became an American Citizen in 1965.
Elio Beltran's recreation of childhood
memories in painting served as a refuge
while the sad agony of his country lingers
without a return to freedom and democracy.
His paintings, some of which are part of
the illustration of his book are also part
and important private and museum collections
in the U.S. and abroad. His book entitled
Back to Cuba: The Return of the Butterflies
is a revealing account of more than forty-two
years of exile after which he decides to
go back to visit Cuba, and return with a
new assessment about a suffering people
and, with it, he is able to place under
the spot light what he sees as the lack
of appropriate policies in the part of the
exile leadership as well as that of the
U.S. government to deal successfully against
Castro while, at the same time, giving true
support and solidarity to the oppressed
Cuban people.
In 1996 Beltran started to write the memories
of his childhood years, memories that through
the years as an exile had given way to many
of his celebrated paintings; he could not
stop writing since then and it became a
book beyond the innocent and happy childhood
years. Over all, his book gives provocative
insights on the contemporary history of
Cuba before and after the revolution. The
author recently said about his book: "There
are revelations inside the book dialogues
that should demonstrate the evidence of
failures and need for a change of the policies
used in dealing with Castro after forty-six
years and ten administrations in the USA.
It is time for an intelligent evaluation
of the policies and for the American government
to make a declaration of principles in favor
of the oppressed Cuban people on the island
and move towards the implementation of really
effective policies to help bring about a
democratic system in the island that all
lovers of freedom desire. The time is right
for it.''
Even now, as the United States government
tries to reinstate policies that isolate
Cuba, Beltran in Back to Cuba reveals the
true purpose behind Fidel Castro's reign
of terror, and what the U.S. government
can still do to render his regime ineffective
in its ways to discredit America, by focusing
on policies that would go beyond the local
political agenda in South Florida and contribute
decisively to the regime's own demise.
Cuban-American author and artist Elio F.
Beltran have received many awards during
his career, among them from the N.J. State
Council on the Arts, The Institute of International
Education, Cintas Award and more recently
after writing his book, he was the recipient
of the silver medal award from the French
academy of Arts Sciences and Letters in
Paris. He continues to pursuit his career
endeavors in Andalusia, Spain and in the
United States where he lives with his Spanish-American
wife since 1994. He has been participating
in occasional lectures about his book since
July 2004 when he did the first presentation
of Back to Cuba in Omaha, Nebraska.
Back to Cuba by Elio F.
Beltran
The Return of the Butterflies
Publication Date: October 15, 2004
Trade Paperback; $22.99; 352 pages; 1-4010-9167-9
Cloth Hardback; $32.99; 352 pages; 1-4010-9168-7
To request a complimentary
paperback review copy, contact the publisher
at (888) 795-4274 x. 486. Tearsheets may
be sent by regular or electronic mail to
Carmi Domingo. To purchase copies of the
book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (215)
599-0114 or call (888) 795-4274 x. 876.
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