CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

Cuba's 'Ladies in White' wins prestigious prize

Cuba's ''Ladies in White,'' a group of wives of jailed dissidents, won the European parliament's 2005 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

By Frances Robles. frobles@herald.com. Posted on Thu, Oct. 27, 2005.

The ladies wear white and march in protest down Havana's Fifth Avenue, flowers in hand.

Sometimes, bystanders hurl insults at these women who dare to defy. They are the ''Ladies in White,'' formed two years ago to demand the release of their husbands, political prisoners in a country where speaking out against the government is a subversive act worth 25 years in prison.

On Wednesday, Cuba's Damas de Blanco were one of three winners of the European Union's 2005 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, considered one of Europe's most prestigious human rights awards. The prize underscores the emerging international significance of a group of ladies -- housewives -- who take to the street every Sunday after church. They are reminiscent of Argentina's Madres de Plaza de Mayo, who started quiet marches in downtown Buenos Aires looking for their missing kids and wound up a major human rights organization.

''Let me say that we're not an organization, but women, wives, mothers and sisters who united,'' said Gisela Delgado, whose husband Héctor Palacios is serving a 25-year sentence. "It's the first time in 47 years that women in Cuba go out to the street to protest against unjust imprisonment.''

The Ladies in White formed in March 2003 after the Cuban government launched a sudden sweep against dissidents nationwide. Seventy-five people were arrested for crimes such as independent journalism and running private libraries.

The wives had nowhere to turn, so they turned to each other. They gathered on Sundays at St. Rita church to discuss brief, sporadic jailhouse visits and the appalling conditions their husbands faced. Soon those weekly meetings developed into regular peaceful protests on Fifth Avenue.

Their homes were ransacked. They were threatened. On Palm Sunday last year, the pro-government Federation of Cuban Women heckled them.

''The ladies in white continue to campaign despite attempts to silence them,'' the European Parliament said in a statement on its web site. "International support for their cause has been extensive.''

The European parliament passed a resolution in support of the imprisoned men last year and approved sanctions against Cuba. The measures were lifted in January, but relations between the EU and Cuba are still strained.

The Cuban government had no immediate public reaction to the prize.

The Sakharov award, named after a Soviet dissident, has special political significance for nations that enjoy relations with the EU, said Lucie Morrillon, U.S. spokeswoman for Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, an international press freedom group that also won Wednesday.

''I'm glad we won, and I'm also glad we have to share it,'' she said. "We dedicate this to the 110 jailed journalists throughout the world.''

Of them, 23 are in Cuba, she said.

''It's an honor, not for us, but for our husbands,'' said Lady in White Elsa González Padrón, whose husband, Víctor Rolando Arroyo, is one of the jailed journalists. "Ladies in White was a spontaneous movement by women who united in pain, a situation the government provoked by jailing our husbands.''

Cuban women have always played an important role in political history, said Uva de Aragón, assistant director of Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute.

They shaved their heads to protest Spanish colonization and fought against presidents Gerardo Machado and Fulgencio Batista. But never, de Aragón said, did women gather in groups and fight back against Fidel Castro -- especially in public -- before now. ''I think they are counting on the international community and that this is a machista regime that respects women,'' she said. "These are women, dressed in white, with a flower in their hands. It's a powerful statement which is difficult for the regime to deal with.''

The women will split $50,000 euros ($60,290) with Reporters Without Borders and Nigerian lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim, who represents women who face being stoned to death for adultery.

From afar, Orishas carry Cuba's new vibe

By Enrique Fernandez, efernandez@herald.com. Posted on Fri, Oct. 28, 2005.

Europe-based but not exiles, Cuban hip hoppers Orishas, insist you don't have to live in the island to rap about Cuba.

Not your father's Buena Vista geezers, Orishas, Cuba's star hip-hoppers, will perform their own concert in Miami on Sunday (they were scheduled to play the Soulfrito Festival, now moved to Nov. 20).

In 1999, Orishas surprised the already internationalized hip-hop world with their debut CD, A lo cubano, moving the popularity of Cuban music into the genre that was taking over the world. A year later, it was released in the States to great critical acclaim. In the meantime, the Orishas trio -- Roldán, Yotuel and Ruzzo -- was touring all over the world.

Miami, always an enthusiastic -- though politically difficult -- venue for Cuban nationals, saw Orishas perform five years ago at the now defunct Starfish, a South Beach club that booked acts from the island.

Then Soulfrito founder Melissa Giles tried to get them in 2002, but the usual post-9/11 visa problems prevented it. This time, Giles managed to book the group for her festival.

One reason for their overcoming visa obstacles: Orishas don't reside in Cuba, but in Europe. They belong to that curious breed of Cubans in the arts (e.g. jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who lives in Coral Springs), the expatriates who live abroad for career reasons but are not exiles. On the contrary, they retain their ties with the island and spend time there.

However, Cuba's most famous hip-hoppers have never had a concert in Cuba, according to Orishas member Yotuel, speaking on the phone from Portugal. When pressed as to why, all he says is "our objective is to perform abroad.''

Yotuel also says that, though they get recordings from Cuba's rap scene, they have ''no direct contact whatsoever'' with musicians there. A strained tone creeps into his voice, common among Cubans who walk the expat tightrope. But it's likely that their alienation from their homeland's rap scene is more esthetic than political -- the group has gone on the record as being ''pro-Castro,'' though such politically correct declarations must be taken with a grain of salt.

In his groundbreaking 2004 book on Cuban hip-hop, Last Dance in Havana, Washington Post columnist/editor Eugene Robinson wrote that the island's beleaguered and co-opted artists (the Cuban government has set up a department to manage the hip-hop scene) mistrusted Orishas' international success. In hip-hop terms, their expatriation and their running in elite hip-hop circles meant they had no street cred.

Yotuel denies this vehemently. "You don't need direct contact to do rap, never mind to talk about Cuba. The music is there, you understand? And what we do is try to represent what we want.''

To underscore that they've paid their dues, he adds, ''we are not looking for experiences since we have already lived plenty of them.'' His voice is full of defiance.

Of course, defiance and boast are quintessential rap attitudes. In fact, one of the tracks in their first -- and biggest -- CD, A lo cubano, is called Represent. The lyrics are in English, French and mostly Cuban Spanish, but the word ''represent'' is always in English:

Represent, represent / Cuba, Orishas are from over there in Havana / Represent, represent / Cuba, hey, my music. . . / I represent my ancestors / all the mix / don't miss it, bro'. . . / You will learn that the essence is in the rumba / that my guagancó is tasty / and has a fine mix.

The 29-year old Yotuel (the others are in their 30s) is furthering his international career by acting in Spanish films and TV and spending time in Los Angeles studying English and auditioning for films. ''I've already had some important offers,'' he says.

Ironically, though they claim to have nothing to do with Cuban rappers, their new CD, El Kilo (Cuban slang for a penny coin), includes a collaboration with Miami's own Cuban-American rapper Pitbull. ''We are good friends,'' says Yotuel.

Orishas and Pitbull will perform together Sunday and at the rescheduled Soulfrito, a festival that founder Giles says is aimed at second-generation Latinos with its mix of salsa, merengue, reggaeton, Latin hip-hop and mainstream hip-hop. ''That is the urban Latino lifestyle,'' says Giles, who distinguishes her audience from that of rock en español, a genre she says "catered to newly arrived South Americans, not to Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.''

A mix of Latin and urban music is custom-made for Orishas, whose music, according to Giles, ''incorporates the old Cuban music with hip-hop,'' i.e. the rumba ''essence'' and the ''tasty'' guagancó from their lyrics. And Yotuel explains how their format allows them to perform with anything from a big band to just a DJ and a Cuban percussionist -- the setup for their Miami gig.

''Orishas is playing tonight for 50,000 people,'' Yotuel says from Portugal. The fates -- or the real orishas, the Yoruba deities of santería after whom they're named -- in the form of a hurricane have determined that the audience for their Miami audience will come not for salsa or merengue or even other hip-hoppers, but just for them.

Yotuel says that they don't expect any opposition from exiles. It's interesting to note that Robinson has subtitled his book The Last Days of Fidel and the Start of the New Cuban Revolution, by which he meant the emergence of a powerful black youth culture that could overrun a system that, after all, is run by old whites.

Young Cuban Americans and other Miami Latinos might be ready to get behind that revolution.

Book offers look at Raúl-Fidel alliance

By Marifeli Perez-Stable, marifeli@starpower.net. Posted on Thu, Oct. 27, 2005.

We'll be talking about him long after he's gone. He doesn't know when to let go and we, in turn, can't let go of him. I try my darnest not to mention him -- that's really the most stinging dart -- but, sometimes, Fidel Castro must be named.

After Fidel is Brian Latell's newly published book on Castro. A 35-year CIA veteran, Latell-- now retired -- knows el Comandante well, and it shows, page after page. The book is excellent: for the author's sometimes disarming honesty, always crisp prose and judicious psychological profile of his subject. Actually, subjects: Fidel and Raúl Castro are the protagonists, albeit the elder is ever dominant.

Latell's central claim -- that, from the start, Raúl was as indispensable as Fidel -- may not be so controversial. But, if Raúl outlives his brother, the regime might not necessarily go poof! after the wake. Succession could be a reality, for a while. What kind of leader would Raúl be? Cruel and implacable? Forgiving and generous? Latell gives the ''gentler'' Raúl slightly better than even chances of prevailing. After Fidel is full of instances of Raúl's two sides, one of the reasons it is a must read.

The Castro brothers were outsiders. In the early 20th century, Oriente -- their birthplace -- was Cuba's frontier. Patriarch Angel Castro towered over his brood, fathering Fidel and six other children with Lina Ruz before marrying her. Violent and unpredictable, Angel favored Fidel and scorned Raúl who, perhaps, was not even his son.

Outsiderdom left different marks on Fidel and Raúl: in one, supreme self-confidence, merciless imperiousness and chilly detachment; in the other, an awareness of his limitations, for which he compensated by often ruthless order, Spartan discipline and un flinching submission to Fidel in public while nurturing caring relations in his private life. Mirror images, the brothers.

That they are orientales highlights the long-standing tensions between Oriente and Havana. The East defied Spain as the West wavered. Later, habaneros prospered while orientales languished. After 1959, the gaping differences narrowed but have glaringly reemerged in the past 15 years. Havana's policemen -- disproportionately orientales -- are known as palestinos, a term meant to denigrate. Just last week, youths from Oriente descended on Havana gas stations in a tragicomic attempt to stanch the black-market flow. After Fidel, who knows how regional dynamics might play out?

The Castro brothers are also the product of a violent Cuban past. The War of 1895 -- the second against Spain to wrest independence -- was a most brutal affair. The Liberation Army handily dispensed ''justice'' against real or imagined traitors and collaborators. During the war, deaths -- from combat, disease, hunger and Spanish concentration camps -- were higher relative to population than in the U.S. Civil War.

In 1912, the army crushed a black uprising in Oriente by going on a murderous rampage that took the lives of some 5,000 blacks. Today we'd call it ethnic cleansing. Political violence flourished from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Nothing justifies the violence of the past 47 years. Yet, if Cuba's future is to bring peace, we must come to terms with our past. Soviet tanks didn't bring us the revolution: Fidel and Raúl are ours. Cuban history also has strands of civility, compromise and democracy that we must rescue and enthrone. The Constitution of 1940 is our shining moment of political inclusion.

Today's opposition offers light and courage against a regime that needs darkness and fear. Many within official Cuba will eventually step out into the sunshine to broker a transition. That's the road map if we want a truly new Cuba.

Fidel is certain that history will absolve him. I'm not -- and still we'll be talking about him. Raúl is another story. Might he not be the first to sigh in relief upon his brother's passing?

Having lived in his shadow, might he not seize the opportunity to go down in history independently? Just a possibility, I know, but if Raúl does set the stage for a peaceful transition, history would not totally damn him. Sibling justice, if you will, for Raúl would then have helped us all to let go of Fidel.

Marifeli Pérez-Stable is vice president for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C.

Cuban poet's words deftly touch audience

Posted on Thu, Oct. 27, 2005.

Cuban dissident poet Raúl Rivero read his poems filled with memories Oct. 13 at the Chapman Center of Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus. An audience of about 400 listened to the presentation hosted by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts.

Rivero's appearance at MDC was among his first in the United States since he was released from prison in Cuba. At a press conference before his lecture, he spoke about the Cuban government, saying because there is no freedom of speech, people learn to show their sorrow with humor.

During his presentation, Rivero read from his most recent book of poems, Corazón sin furia (Heart Without Fury). He talked about his love for poetry and said he prefers intimate gatherings, such as the back porch of a friend's house, than loud public events. But he expressed his appreciation to the audience, saying he came to share some of his life experiences written before, during and after his time in jail.

He read poems filled with emotion, using phrases such as ''I have perfected my ways of staring at the sea'' and "I have learned to live and get old with the days of the week.''

In his poetry, Rivero also explored the concept of fear as a tactic for salvation, as an element for personal defense, and stressed his belief that the purpose of communism is to deactivate freedom from the time of birth.

''With his poetry he brought together journalists, politicians, students and Miami residents to share and enjoy this presentation,'' said 22-year-old MDC student Hilda Méndez.

Norma Goonen, MDC provost for education, recognized Rivero, 59, with a presidential medal from the college, describing him as "a man who represents two angular stones: the fight for the teaching of truth and the right of free expression.''

Following his presentation, many people gathered to have their books autographed by Rivero and praised the college for sponsoring events like this.

''Rivero is a man to admire, truly audacious,'' said Aida Levitan, president of Hispanic Events. "I like how Miami Dade is always at the forefront with inspiring events for the community.''

Artist Xavier Cortada was also captivated by Rivero's presentation.

''This is an incredible homecoming for someone who has never been here, but has,'' Cortada said. "With his verses, he allowed me to enter into his most obscure and remote place, his jail, and I willingly accepted.''

Author and New York Times writer Mirta Ojita described Rivero as ''a man of incredible sensibility with an outstanding sense of humor,'' adding, "I don't feel he has any kind of rancor in his heart despite having been in jail.''

Two years ago, Cuban authorities sentenced Rivero to 20 years in prison for writing and publishing anti-Castro dispatches in defense of 75 dissidents jailed in Cuba. In November 2004, international human rights organizations negotiated his freedom with the Cuban government. He lives in Spain with his wife, Blanca Reyes de Rivero.

Strict U.S. policy on Cuba tears families apart

By Ana Menendez, amenendez@herald.com. Posted on Sat, Oct. 22, 2005 in The Miami Herald.

It takes a dubious kind of skill to descend into the moral dungeon with a dictator. But that is just where the United States, chest puffed with good intentions, seems headed with its Cuba policy.

The report ''Families Torn Apart'' released by Human Rights Watch this week makes for 68 pages of sorrowful reading.

Its most shocking conclusion is not that Fidel Castro's government is ruthless -- we already knew that.

What hurts most is the mirror it holds up to us.

No, we are not jailing dissidents. But we have fashioned a policy that, in its mean-spiritedness, not to mention utter ineffectiveness, has brought us into the company of those outcasts from history who put ideas above people.

DEFINITION OF FAMILY

It used to be that those with family in Cuba could legally visit once a year. But last year the Bush Administration changed that to once every three years and narrowed the definition of family to exclude cousins, aunts, uncles and others.

Overnight, the Cuban family that prides itself on unity suffered another blow from politics.

Arlene Garcia, who left her native Camaguey in 1968 without her parents, was one. Like many of the Cuban Americans profiled in the Rights report, Garcia often traveled to Cuba to take care of a sick relative, in this case her father who is ill with lung cancer.

Not eligible to travel to Cuba legally again until 2007, Garcia, 51, is contemplating going through a third country.

"If it's a situation where I know I won't see my father again otherwise, I will go. I cannot live whatever years I have left thinking that I could have given him one last chance to smile.''

Carlos Lazo, also profiled in the report, was finally reunited with his children Friday only after they were flown to Miami.

The government he was fighting for in Iraq refused to let him go to Cuba.

A., a 47-year old woman in West Dade, whose mother was dying of Alzheimer's in Cuba, had no choice but to travel illegally to see her in February.

''I was uncomfortable,'' she said. "If you're a delinquent, it's not a big deal. But for a person not used to doing anything against the law, what you feel is panic.''

A., identified as 'Nohelia Guerrero' in the report, did not want The Herald to use her real name because she feared reprisals for her illegal travel.

''We're very grateful to this country,'' she said. "But an old woman with Alzheimer's is not at fault for Cuba making people miserable or for people here playing politics with our feelings.''

A.'s mother died in August. The February trip was the last time the women saw each other.

FAILED POLICIES

The U.S. embargo against Cuba is a failure. Castro -- a hobbled old man prone to falling off stages and mumbling idiocies in front of numbed crowds -- seems only to get new life with every fresh attack from Miami. He's a case for scientific study: The man who turned the hatred of his enemies into a magical elixir for longevity.

This week, in lieu of new ideas, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen issued a predictable statement on the Human Rights Watch report.

''There is no moral equivalence in comparing our policies with that of the Castro regime's,'' she said. "Our goal is simple and honorable: Freedom and democracy for the 11 million Cubans who live at the whim of a madman.''

That may be enough for those among her constituents who live in that exalted state called ''Exile'' where the purity of suffering renders the plight of others an abstraction.

But it's not enough for the thousands of recent Cuban arrivals who left families behind.

And those are the voters who, in the coming years, will force a reckoning over the failed policies of two governments who seemed to hate each other more than they could ever love their own people.

After floods, saltwater a concern in Cuba

Salt from the sea that flooded Havana is bound to damage an already precarious housing stock, some experts fear.

By Frances Robles. frobles@herald.com. Posted on Wed, Oct. 26, 2005.

The crashing waves that flooded Havana's coast Monday brought another destructive element besides water: salt.

The sea salt will contaminate and corrode hundreds of already precarious buildings, some older than 100 years, experts said. It's a risk the city's housing stock, already strained from massive overcrowding and years of neglect, can hardly endure.

''The floods will make everything worse,'' said Florida International University professor Nicolás Quintana, a former city planner in Cuba.

"Will the floods ruin the buildings? These buildings are already ruined.

"I don't think half the people will be able to go back to their homes, and they don't have anywhere to go.''

Hurricane Wilma blew past Cuba Sunday night with an average downpour of nine inches of rain in two days. But the most surprising destruction that tore down hotel windows and shredded roads was not caused by rain; it came from the sea.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Monday at the malecón , the capital's seawall captured in countless postcards where sweethearts gather to smooch and stare at the sea, began coming apart.

The storm surge crashed over the seaside highway, rushing water three feet deep and five blocks back.

Basement apartments in already crumbling buildings were ruined, and civil defense officers had to don scuba gear to rescue the stranded.

Not since a 1993 storm dubbed the ''Storm of the Century'' had anything like that happened, experts said.

Havana's elevated grand old promenade, the Paseo del Prado, was so inundated that only the lion statues poked through the water.

''That is something I have never seen before,'' said 70-year-old Mario Coyula, a well-known Cuban architect, by phone from Havana.

Romans used salt to finish off their enemies' vegetation, Coyula said, and the sea just dumped a bunch all over the city.

Coyula said three studies showed Cuba needs underwater breakers to soften the waves' blow, but cost estimates in the millions make the project prohibitive.

But while the images of waves thrashing against the Cuban Foreign Ministry were dramatic, Coyula said storm surge is just one part of an ongoing problem.

''The waves were more spectacular, but it's the daily problem of sea salt that damages the brick, steel and paint,'' Coyula said.

"It's a very serious price for the privilege of living by the sea. The flood just aggravates the situation.''

He said heavy rainfall is actually much worse for the buildings, but the older ones tend to stand up to it more than those built between 1910 and 1940. A survey of the damage will be done today, now that the water has receded, he said.

Quintana said 70 percent of Havana's housing stock is in precarious condition, meaning in the United States, they would be condemned.

He said almost all the buildings are in urgent need of repair, and the regular onslaught of storms doesn't help.

The 500-year-old Cuban capital holds the world's largest collection of Spanish colonial buildings, but many are so deteriorated that they regularly crumble under heavy rainfall.

About 1,400 buildings must be abandoned each year for fear of collapsing.

The Cuban government said Wilma damaged 2,000 homes.

''There have been serious damages, because there were many hours of storm surge and strong waves,'' Humberto Camilo Torres, president of the Municipal Defense Council, told Granma, Cuba's official government newspaper.

He said 3,000 people fled their homes, adding to the 120,887 people in Havana who had evacuated.

''I have lived here for 18 years,'' Jesús Pérez Cabrera, who lives along Playa Avenue, told Cuban newspaper Granma on Monday.

'And no other hurricane, not even the 'storm of the century' in 1993 had so much penetration from the sea.''

Crashing waves bring more trouble for Cuba

By Frances Robles. frobles@herald.com. Posted on Tue, Oct. 25, 2005.

Crashing waves bring more trouble for Cuba

The crashing waves that flooded Havana's coast Monday brought another destructive element besides water: salt.

The sea salt will contaminate and corrode hundreds of already precarious buildings, some older than 100 years, experts said. It's a risk the city's housing stock, already strained from massive overcrowding and years of neglect, can hardly endure.

''The floods will make everything worse,'' said Florida International University professor Nicolás Quintana, a former city planner in Cuba. "Will the floods ruin the buildings? These buildings are already ruined.

"I don't think half the people will be able to go back to their homes, and they don't have anywhere to go.''

Hurricane Wilma blew past Cuba Sunday night with an average downpour of nine inches of rain in two days. But the most surprising destruction that tore down hotel windows and shredded roads was not caused by rain; it came from the sea.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Monday, the capital's seawall captured in countless postcards, the malecón where sweethearts gather to smooch and stare at the sea, began coming apart.

The storm surge crashed over the seaside highway, rushing water three feet deep and five blocks back. Basement apartments in already crumbling buildings were ruined, and civil defense officers had to don scuba gear to rescue the stranded.

Not since a 1993 storm dubbed the ''Storm of the Century'' had anything like that happened, experts said. Havana's elevated grand old promenade, the Paseo del Prado, was so inundated that only the lion statues poked through the water.

''That is something I have never seen before,'' said 70-year-old Mario Coyula, a well-known Cuban architect, by phone from Havana.

Romans used salt to finish off their enemies' vegetation, Coyula said, and the sea just dumped a bunch all over the city.

Coyula said three studies showed Cuba needs underwater breakers to soften the waves' blow, but cost estimates in the millions make the project prohibitive.

But while the images of waves thrashing against the Cuban Foreign Ministry were dramatic, Coyula said storm surge is just one part of an ongoing problem.

''The waves were more spectacular, but it's the daily problem of sea salt that damages the brick, steel and paint,'' Coyula said. "It's a very serious price for the privilege of living by the sea. The flood just aggravates the situation.''

He said heavy rainfall is actually much worse for the buildings, but the older ones tend to stand up to it more than those built between 1910 and 1940. A survey of the damages will be done today, now that the water has receded, he said.

Quintana said 70 percent of Havana's housing stock is in precarious condition, meaning in the United States, they would be condemned.

He said almost all the buildings are in urgent need of repair, and the regular onslaught of storms doesn't help. The 500-year-old Cuban capital holds the world's largest collection of Spanish colonial buildings, but many are so deteriorated that they regularly crumble under heavy rainfall.

About 1,400 buildings must be abandoned each year for fear of collapsing.

The Cuban government said Wilma damaged 2,000 homes.

''There have been serious damages, because there were many hours of storm surge and strong waves,'' Humberto Camilo Torres, president of the Municipal Defense Council, told Granma, Cuba's official government newspaper.

He said 3,000 people fled their homes, adding to the 120,887 people in Havana who had evacuated.

''I have lived here for 18 years,'' Jesús Pérez Cabrera, who lives along Playa Avenue, told Granma on Monday. 'And no other hurricane, not even the 'storm of the century' in 1993 had so much penetration from the sea.''

Havana streets flooded by Wilma

By Frances Robles. frobles@herald.com. Posted on Tue, Oct. 25, 2005.

Waters poured over Havana's famed seawall Monday, flooding several city blocks as Hurricane Wilma dumped up to 22 inches of rain on other parts of Cuba, the government reported.

Wilma coincided with high tide, causing a surprising storm surge, several independent journalists in Havana told The Herald. Massive waves caused flooding -- three feet deep at some points -- that reached Línea Avenue, five blocks from the malecón, the seawall, journalist Angel Pablo Polanco said.

''Coastal areas of Havana sometimes flood for one or two blocks -- but all the way to Avenue G or Línea? I have never seen floods like that, ever,'' said Polanco, director of the independent news agency, Noticuba.

Polanco stressed that the flooding was not so much from heavy rain, but from the rising sea.

The containment wall at the Hotel Riviera collapsed, and water poured in over the pool, another journalist said. The Herald was unable to reach anyone at the hotel to confirm the damage.

Military divers used inflatable rafts to rescue hundreds of people from inundated homes, the Associated Press reported, describing submerged cars and streets so flooded only the brightblue tops of public phone booths peeked out.

''The ocean is furious, as if it wants to take back the land,'' Rodrigo Cubal, 42, told the AP as he and his family joined scores of other Havana residents gathering to watch the crashing waves, some lapping at the front door of the Foreign Ministry.

Plate glass windows were shattered, old wooden shutters were torn away and doors ripped off their hinges, the agency said. Huge chunks of the concrete sea wall were pulled loose and thrown in the highway.

A city-wide blackout continued as authorities rushed to evacuate dwellers of aging, crumbling buildings who were not among the nation's 650,000 evacuees.

A village called Guanimar south of Havana was under water, the journalists said.

The western Cuban province Pinar del Río took the brunt of heavy rainfall. A third of the residents were evacuated and only four out of 14 cities had power, the government said.

In Mantua, 23 inches of rain fell, the government reported. Guane saw nearly 15 inches and Matahambre, 13.

Cuba's government-controlled press stressed its successful evacuation and well-equipped shelters, distinguishing Cuba's response from the United States' failure in Katrina.

Fidel Castro took to the airwaves Sunday night to praise the efforts of Cuban doctors in disasters around the world -- from Guatemala to Pakistan -- but gave no situation report on western Cuba, government websites show.

''Fidel contrasted the peacefulness, discipline and the organization shown by our people before the blow by this dangerous phenomenon, with the scenes of looting of stores and markets seen in the United States during Katrina and now in the Yucatán, Mexico,'' the state news agency reported.

"This is the great difference between capitalism, which promotes irrational consumerism, selfishness and craziness . . . and our socialist society where there's an enormous effort for equality, solidarity and justice, our commander said.''

Also in the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Alpha left three people missing and presumed dead in the Dominican Republic, where rivers rose over their banks, sweeping away a 14-year-old boy and two men.

The record-breaking 22nd storm of the season caused heavy flooding, particularly in southwest Dominican Republic and eastern Haiti.

Tens of thousands were forced from their homes in south Dominican Republic, where a swelling dam put towns, particularly Jaquimeyes, at risk.

''They have no choice but to leave,'' Maj. Luis A. Luna Paulina, of the nation's civil defense agency told the newspaper Hoy.

The 4,000 people forced from their homes in Haiti returned Monday, said Havik Hans of the International Federation of the Red Cross. Some two dozen homes were washed away in Carrefour, where one person was electrocuted, the Associated Press reported.

''I've lost everything,'' a sobbing Rolande Bruno told the AP as she pointed to the lone standing wall of her home, which dangled over a ravine. "No one had warned us of anything, but we're not stupid. When the water started rising fast, we left for safety.''

The storm dissipated once Hurricane Wilma approached, the National Hurricane Center said.

Diego Alejandro Romero contributed to this report.

Family reunion is political affair

Cuban war vet faces a new battle - the right to see his family

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@herald.com. October 22, 2005.

Standing behind the glass at the customs exit Friday, decorated Iraq veteran Carlos Lazo spotted his sons as they exited into the waiting area at Miami International Airport. He ran and embraced them both in his arms, crying on their shoulders.

His sons, who left behind their mother in Havana, practically picked their father up off the floor.

''This is the biggest emotion of my entire life,'' 17-year-old Carlos Rafael said. "I just want to be with my dad and hug him and spend time with him.''

The tearful embrace was more than a family reunion -- it was also a major public relations blow to the U.S. travel policy to Cuba.

The U.S. government ultimately refused to let Lazo travel to Cuba to see his two teenage sons, even though he fought for America in Iraq as a National Guard sergeant and survived the bloody battle of Fallujah.

Lazo, a Cuban immigrant, entered the Armed Forces after arriving in the United States in 1992, but his family remained in Cuba.

The boys, Carlos Rafael, 17, and Carlos Manuel, 19, were allowed to come to the United States on a three-month visa under an agreement with the State Department and the Cuban government.

''I'm so happy to have my kids here,'' said an emotional Lazo, one arm around each son. "All I want is for other Cubans who are here to be able to do the same. These cruel laws that separate families should be repealed.''

The reunion at Terminal E was the climactic end to an epic political fight Lazo has waged for a year and a half to get around strict travel restrictions imposed by the Bush administration in 2004. Those restrictions mostly limit Cubans and Cuban Americans to one trip to the island every three years.

The rules were meant to punish the government of Fidel Castro and hasten a democratic transition on the island. But Lazo argued that since he risked his life for his adopted country, he should have been allowed to visit his sons.

The Lazo family's plight has drawn national media attention and prompted lawmakers from both parties to complain about the strict limits imposed on travel to Cuba by the Bush administration.

Lazo's sons had never been to the United States. The last time they saw their father was more than two years ago when he visited them in Cuba.

''I was worried about my dad because I heard about all the bombs and fighting in Iraq,'' Carlos Manuel said. "What I want the most is to be here with him.''

Lazo, who lives in Washington state, has become the poster child for groups and politicians opposed to the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba. He showed up at the airport with Sarah Stephens, a representative with the Center for International Policy which advocates against the travel restrictions.

And just this week, Lazo's case was anecdoted by Human Rights Watch, which scolded both Cuba and the United States in a report for ripping families apart under travel policies that violate civil rights.

''By keeping him from his sons, the travel restrictions have produced an acute dilemma for Sergeant Lazo,'' the HRW report said. "He is very proud of his service in the U.S. army and worried that, if he were to violate the travel ban, he might jeopardize his military career.''

Human Rights Watch also slammed the Cuban government for refusing to allow many Cubans to leave the island, even though they have been given visas by the United States.

In his quest to visit Cuba, Lazo met with several lawmakers in Washington. He told The Herald that he had a private meeting with Sen. Mel Martinez and had a phone conversation with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

He said it was Martinez, along with a couple of other elected officials, who suggested that his sons come here instead.

''Mel Martinez was very human and listened to me, and for that I'm grateful,'' Lazo said.

Lazo also met with aides of Reps. Lincoln and Mario Díaz-Balart but said that within five minutes, he knew they would not help him get to Cuba because they wanted to see all travel there banned.

Stephens acknowledged that the Cuban government probably viewed the reunion in Miami as a public relations victory in their quest to have travel restrictions eased.

''In some respects, this is a propaganda victory for the Cuban government,'' she said in a written statement. "Nevertheless, it is an important victory for the principle of free travel.''

Lazo served for seven months as a combat medic in Iraq and decided that he wanted to see his sons one more time before returning to the front lines, thinking he may never see them again if he was killed.

But he was turned away from a flight to Cuba at MIA in 2004 and returned to Iraq without seeing his sons. There, he provided backup for the U.S. Marines in Fallujah. The new restrictions were put into place by the Bush administration in the summer of 2004, just weeks before the presidential elections. Critics said Bush was pandering to conservative Cuban exile voters, who welcomed the new restrictions.

The boys are scheduled to fly back to Washington state with their father early next week.

Cubans charged with smuggle attempt

Two Cuban immigrants from Miami-Dade County face immigrant smuggling charges after the boat they allegedly captained capsized Oct. 13 in the Florida Straits. A 6-year-old boy drowned during the trip.

By Jay Weaver And Jennifer Babson. jweaver@herald.com. Posted on Sat, Oct. 22, 2005.

Authorities charged two Cuban immigrants with conspiring to smuggle a boatload of Cubans to the United States, but stopped short -- for now -- of charging them with the drowning of a 6-year-old boy during the trip.

The criminal complaint against Alexander Gil Rodriguez and Luis Manuel Taboada-Cabrera, now in the custody of federal immigration officials, capped a sad week for the parents of Julian Villasuso. The boy was buried Monday in Miami-Dade County after a funeral Mass in Little Havana.

Prosecutors still could charge Rodriguez and Taboada-Cabrera with causing Julian's death, but they are not expected to seek the death penalty against them.

If convicted, the two men could face up to six years in prison.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred Oct. 13 when Coast Guard officials tracked down a Florida-registered speedboat, carrying 29 Cuban migrants aboard, about 52 miles south of Key West. After fleeing the Coast Guard, the boat flipped over in the Florida Straits.

Authorities discovered the boy beneath the 33-foot boat after rescuers pulled to safety the other passengers, including the boy's parents and alleged smugglers.

Julian's relatives, still in shock over their loss, were trying to help the boy's parents, Julian Villasuso and Maizy Hurtado, adapt to their new lives in the United States.

Mari Villasuso, the boy's aunt, said the boy's parents spent much of Friday filling out government paperwork.

''We don't want to forget this because we can never forget, but we want to move forward,'' Mari Villasuso said.

HOPING FOR JUSTICE

Mari Villasuso said she and other relatives were hopeful the smugglers would be brought to justice. ''This country is based on that,'' she said.

The parents could be key witnesses in the prosecution of the smugglers. They had been aboard the boat and were brought to Key West the day after the incident because immigration authorities deemed it was in "substantial public interest.''

Meanwhile, the 25 other Cuban migrants who survived the capsizing remained Friday aboard a Coast Guard cutter off Florida as federal investigators sorted through evidence and interviewed witnesses.

''There has been no repatriation [to Cuba] within the past 24 hours,'' Coast Guard spokesman Luis R. Diaz said. The 25 migrants intercepted at sea are likely to be returned to their homeland because of the U.S. wet-foot/dry-foot immigration policy. Under the policy, Cubans who reach the United States, even illegally, are allowed to remain, while those stopped at sea are usually returned.

Some of the migrants could be brought to South Florida as witnesses if they provide valuable information for the prosecution of the two alleged smugglers.

One other passenger on the go-fast boat was also brought into the Keys on Oct. 14 after showing signs of appendicitis.

Investigators reviewing a videotape of the incident noted that one of the suspected smugglers, clad in a black shirt intended as dark camouflage, peeled it off in the moments after the boat capsized to try to blend in with other bare-chested male passengers.

SEVERAL IN CUSTODY

In addition to the two men who captained the boat on Oct. 13, investigators have several other men in custody who were caught on separate suspected smuggling runs the same night and who may be connected to this case.

According to court papers, the Coast Guard received information several hours before the incident about a boat that left Cuba, heading north to the United States. The Coast Guard cutter Dauntless located the 33-foot Donzi fishing vessel, which was traveling without navigation lights.

The cutter launched an inflatable boat to intercept the speedboat, according to a criminal affidavit by ICE agent Jeffrey Barber.

CHASE ENSUES

''The boarding crew verbally and visually signaled the go-fast vessel to stop,'' Barber said. 'However . . . the crew of the go-fast vessel disregarded all signals to stop and attempted to elude [the inflatable boat] by traveling at a high rate of speed in a 'zigzag' motion.''

The chase continued, as the Coast Guard crew deployed an ''entangling device'' in front of the speedboat. It tried to maneuver around the device.

Finally, the vessel came to a stop.

Then numerous people stood up on board and someone threw an object into the ocean, according to Barber.

''Water immediately began to flow into the stern of the vessel, due to the shift in weight and the excess amount of individuals on board,'' he said, causing the boat to capsize and the passengers to fall overboard.

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