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Three Cuban dissidents are rounded up,
jailed in Havana
HAVANA, 19 (AFP) - Three Cuban dissidents,
including one who was released from jail
in November after 15 months behind bars,
were rounded up and jailed, a rights organization
said.
Marcelo Lopez Banobre, vice president of
the outlawed Cuban Committee for Human Rights
and National Reconciliation, was being held
at a police station in Centro Habana, his
colleague and the group's president, Elizardo
Sanchez, told AFP.
Sanchez said that even as Lopez Banobre
was detained, two other dissidents, Anaika
Paneca and Luis Angel Medina, also were
arrested in Havana.
Lopez, 41, was one of the 75 dissidents
jailed in a roundup that started in March
2003 and then sentenced to lengthy prison
terms. President Fidel Castro's communist
government called them "mercenaries
in the pay of a foreign power," the
United States.
Lopez was the first of the dissidents jailed
after that major sweep to be let out on
parole and now rearrested.
Sanchez said the government recently had
boosted its repressive operations.
"There is an unprecedented police
deployment, both uniformed and plainclothes,
and there are thousands of them," Sanchez
said.
Last week Cuba's communist authorities
acted quickly to counter a rare protest
against Castro in central Havana in which
at least 10 people were arrested and government
supporters scuffled with opponents.
A Western diplomat, speaking privately,
said then: "It has been 11 years, since
clashes on August 5, 1994, that we have
not seen anything like that. It is a clear
sign of the government's nervousness as
the problems in Cuba have piled up."
Sanchez said there have been a growing
number of cases of civil disobedience across
the island nation of 11 million to show
"popular discontent" with Castro.
In May Cuban dissidents held a bold first
pro-democracy conference, defying Castro,
whose government expelled 13 would-be observers
from Europe.
Castro, 78, slammed the meeting, charging
the so-called National Congress -- the first
of its kind aimed at launching democratic
transition plans -- claiming it was funded
by the United States. He has been in power
since January 1959.
With Cuba in a crushing economic crisis,
Castro since March has been taking a big
cue from his Venezuelan ally Hugo Chavez,
boosting his personal media exposure, especially
on television, to justify the state of the
economy.
The summer has been hard for Cubans as
an energy crisis has led to lengthy power
outages and a lack of fresh food. The island
was also hit last week by Hurricane Dennis,
which left 16 people dead and destroyed
120,000 homes.
In Havana, huge posters with Castro's portrait
-- a novelty, as revolutionary slogans have
always been favored over Castro's image
-- now billow in the breeze, emblazoned
with the fresh slogan "We are doing
well."
Cuba Seeks Baseball's Return to Olympics
By Anne-Marie Garcia, Associated
Press Writer, July 14, 2005.
HAVANA - Cuba's top sports official said
Thursday he will work with the International
Baseball Federation to ensure that the sport
returns to the Olympics.
"We have to reflect, look for alternatives,"
National Institute of Sports president Humberto
Rodriguez told The Associated Press. "We
cannot give up the battle as lost."
Baseball and softball were dropped form
the 2012 London Games last week after an
IOC vote in Singapore. They are eligible
to apply in 2009 for re-entry in 2016.
On Wednesday, Rodriguez said he doubted
Cuba would participate in next year's World
Baseball Classic, calling the event commercialization
of the sport. He said a final decision will
be made by December.
While Japanese management has approved,
the Japanese players' association has not
made a decision.
Baseball's first World Cup-style tournament,
an 18-day, 16-nation event organized by
Major League Baseball and its players' association,
is to start March 3 and will be played in
the United States, Asia and Latin America.
Cuba objects to the event being managed
by Major League Baseball.
"They never have cared about the Olympic
program or the development of the discipline
in other countries," Rodriguez said.
"They are only interested in increasing
their profits with their show. If the competitive
system of international baseball has to
be improved, let's have those of us who
represent the discipline do it among ourselves."
In four Olympic baseball tournaments, Cuba
won the gold medal in 1992, '96 and 2004,
while the United States earned gold in 2000.
Professionals were allowed to participate
starting in 2000, but Major League Baseball
did not allow players on 40-man rosters
to go.
Cuba Blames U.S. for No Olympic Baseball
By Anne-Marie Garcia, Associated
Press Writer, July 8, 2005.
HAVANA - Cuba blamed the major leagues
Friday for the sport being dropped from
the 2012 Olympics.
Cuba has won three of the four gold medals
since baseball was first played at the Olympics
- in 1992, 1996 and 2004. The United States
won the gold in 2000, with Cuba getting
the silver.
"Those who bear most of the blame
are the owners of the professional leagues
who refuse to free up their ballplayers
to compete," Cuban Baseball Federation
president Carlos Rodriguez told The Associated
Press.
"It's a shame because this decision
will disappoint millions of young people
who practice and love this sport,"
Rodriguez added.
Softball also was dropped from the program
for the London Games during a meeting of
the International Olympic Committee in Singapore.
This was the first time the IOC eliminated
any sports from the Summer Games in 69 years.
Rodriguez said Cuba would continue to make
baseball a key part of its sports program
because "it is the national sport,
it is part of our culture."
Alexander Mayeta, the first baseman for
Havana's Industriales team, called the decision
to drop baseball "hard and unjust."
He added that for a Cuban player, "the
greatest pride is to be an Olympic champion."
"My dream has been to play in the
Olympic finals," added Mayeta, who
had 14 homers and hit .330 last season.
"I'm going to train even harder, do
everything possible to make sure Cuba gets
to the 2008 Games. That gold medal is more
important than ever. We cannot lose it."
Cuban Soccer Player in Immigration Process
By Donna Gordon Blankinship,
Associated Press Writer, July 13, 2005.
SEATTLE - A Cuban soccer player in town
for two CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer matches
has started the process to defect to the
United States, immigration officials said
Wednesday.
The Cuban team played in Seattle last weekend,
losing 4-1 to the United States on July
7, and 3-1 to Costa Rica on Saturday.
Forward Maikel Galindo was interviewed
Monday by immigration officials in Seattle,
who have placed him in immigration proceedings,
said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman from U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Laguna
Niguel, Calif.
"When he goes before the judge, he
will explain to the judge whether or not
he wants to stay in this country and what
the basis of his claim is," Kice said
Wednesday.
The judge at that hearing will determine
whether Galindo can stay in the United States.
If he is ordered deported, he can appeal
through the federal court system.
The other Cuban player who failed to suit
up Tuesday, backup goalkeeper Odelin Molina,
didn't approach immigration officials, Kice
said.
Galindo isn't being detained, she said.
She was unsure whether a date has been set
for his hearing before an immigration judge,
but a copy of his notice to appear has been
sent to the Executive Office for Immigration
Review, a division of the Justice Department
near Washington, D.C.
Galindo's name couldn't be found in the
Justice Department's database Wednesday,
said Elaine Komis, a spokeswoman for the
review office. That may be because the charging
document or notice to appear hadn't arrived
from the Northwest, she said.
Komis said she was familiar with the case
because she received an e-mail about the
Cuban soccer player earlier Wednesday.
"I don't know how long it will take
to schedule," she said, adding that
immigration cases that involve detention
get scheduled first.
Until his hearing, he is free to travel
anywhere in the United States, said Mike
Milne of the ICE in Seattle.
"I am not confirming or denying that
he has defected," Milne said.
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