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July 28, 2006

Castro chides U.S. on health programs

Fidel Castro marked the anniversary of his revolution by touting Cuba's healthcare and rejecting a U.S. plan for post-Castro health aid.

By Frances Robles. frobles@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Thu, Jul. 27, 2006.

Cuban President Fidel Castro celebrated the 53rd anniversary of the beginning of his revolution with an invitation Wednesday: President Bush should visit his communist island and see for himself what a real national healthcare plan looks like.

During a two-hour rally attended by an estimated 100,000 people, Castro mocked the recent report of the Bush administration's Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, which offered health, education and other aid for a democratic Cuba.

Citing an endless list of accomplishments, Castro said Cuba doesn't need a U.S.-designed social development plan. Cuba, he boasted, has an infant mortality rate of 5.56 per 1,000 births and more than 7,000 TV sets in Granma province elementary schools alone, according to Cuban government news websites.

The life expectancy rate in Cuba has reached 77 years, he added.

WORKING AT 100?

''I think there are I don't know how many thousands of citizens of this nation that have even reached their 100th birthday,'' he said. "But our little northern neighbors shouldn't get scared: I'm not thinking of working at that age.''

Castro turns 80 next month, and his mortality has been the focus of much speculation, as even the Cuban government has been making announcements about a post-Castro future. After 47 years in power, Castro is reshuffling the Communist Party while the Cuban media boost the image of his long-designated successor, his brother and defense minister, Raúl Castro.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration made its own plans to pour millions of dollars into hastening a transition to democracy.

''You'd have to tell Mr. Bush and others who are promoting this program to come to Granma to see what a true health, education and culture program looks like,'' Castro said.

Castro gathered flag-waving masses dressed in red in the eastern city of Bayamo, the capital of Granma province about 500 miles east of Havana, to celebrate July 26, Cuba's most important national holiday. It commemorates the day Castro, his brother and a group of other guerrillas attacked the Moncada army barracks in the eastern city of Santiago in an attempt to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista.

The attack was a resounding failure; many men were killed and the Castro brothers jailed.

To commemorate that moment, the Castro government built a new Plaza of the Fatherland in Bayamo and gathered the nation's top leaders.

According to the government news agency AIN, the dignitaries included National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón, relatives of the five Cuban men convicted in federal court in Miami for spying, and "Juan Miguel González and his family.''

González was the tourist park worker who fought a seven-month battle to get his son Elián back from Miami relatives.

To Castro, the failed Moncada attack marked the start of what would become a 47-year reign, marked from his perspective not by its political prisoners, but by advances in education and health.

MEDICAL CLINICS

Castro has long thumbed his nose at the United States because Cuba, despite a low-tech healthcare system plagued by a lack of medicine, offers benefits such as 165 round-the-clock medical clinics.

''We have what more than 40 million Americans don't have,'' he said, referring to healthcare coverage.

He focused his speech on the advances seen in Granma province, saying it has three times as many university students as in 1959. No detail was small enough for Castro to mention, from the number of operating rooms in the province's new clinics (10) to the number of its fine-arts students (171).

Fidel Castro celebrates revolution's anniversary

By Frances Robles. , frobles@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Wed, Jul. 26, 2006.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro celebrated the 53rd anniversary of the start of his revolution with an invitation Wednesday: President Bush should visit his communist island and see for himself what a real national health care plan looks like.

Castro also mocked the Bush administration's recently released Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba report, which offered infusions of health, education and vaccination programs for a democratic Cuba.

Citing an endless list of accomplishments - including the number of TV sets available in one province's schools - Castro also said his nemesis up north shouldn't worry: he doesn't plan on remaining in power until he's 100.

Castro turns 80 in August. ''You'd have to tell Mr. Bush and others who are promoting this program to come to Granma to see what a true health, education and culture program looks like,'' Castro said, according to government news web sites.

Castro gathered what organizers said was 100,000 flag-waving people dressed in red in the eastern city of Bayamo, part of Granma province, to celebrate July 26, Cuba's most important national holiday. It commemorates the day Castro, his brother, and a group of other guerrillas attacked the Moncada army barracks in the eastern city of Santiago in an attempt to topple dictator Fulgencio Batista.

The attack was a resounding failure; many men were killed and the Castro brothers jailed.

To commemorate that moment in history, the government built a new Plaza of the Fatherland in Bayamo and gathered the nation's top leaders.

According to the government AIN news agency, the dignitaries included ''Juan Miguel González and his family.'' González was the tourist park worker who held a seven-month battle to get his son Elián back from Miami relatives.

Castro spent much of the 7 a.m. gathering listing health statistics.

''We have what more than 40 million Americans don't have,'' he said, referring to health care coverage.

Cuban regime feeling heat from Czechs

The Czechs are stepping up their efforts to aid the Cuban dissident movement, triggering an angry response from Havana.

By Pablo Bachelet, pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Mon, Jul. 24, 2006.

WASHINGTON - Czech diplomats will say only that the two 30-foot radio antennas looming behind their embassy in the lush Rock Creek Park neighborhood are used primarily to communicate with Cuba.

But it's unlikely that they are used to contact the Cuban government.

Once a subservient member of the Soviet bloc, the Czech Republic is now one of Fidel Castro's top foreign tormentors, providing material and moral support to dissidents, leading efforts to condemn the island's human-rights record in U.N. bodies and pushing a reluctant European Union to take a tougher stance on Castro.

Such actions have earned the tiny nation of 10 million vitriolic condemnations by the Castro government, the harassment of its diplomats in Havana and the gratitude of the Cuban-American community.

''The Czech Republic is at the heart of the U.S. efforts to secure multilateral support for precipitating a transition for democracy in Cuba,'' says Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. "They've stuck to their principles every step of the way. Thank the Lord for the Czech Republic.''

SENSE OF KINSHIP

And lately the Central European nation seems to be devoting more resources to the cause. Besides the antennas, believed to be beaming pro-democracy broadcasts to Cuba, the embassy has a full-time Cuba desk officer and is distributing pro-democracy literature on the island, said Czech Ambassador Petr Kolar.

The 44-year-old Kolar, who worked as janitor in the 1980s after he was ejected from a university for refusing to join the Communist Party, and more recently oversaw a human-rights division in the foreign ministry, said Czechs have a sense of kinship with the Cuban opposition.

''After the fall of communism, it became our natural duty to help people in countries where they have authoritarian or totalitarian regimes,'' he told The Miami Herald. "We remember how important it was to be supported from outside.''

That history gives unique legitimacy to the Czech efforts on Cuba, as well as a sense of what might work best to undermine a communist government.

To mark the anniversary of a harsh 2003 crackdown on dissidents, a nongovernment group set up a mock Cuban prison cell in Prague's central Wenceslas Square in March. Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda donned a striped prison uniform and spent a brief spell in the cell to highlight the dissidents' plight.

UNFLATTERING PHOTOS

More recently, Czech supermodel Helena Houdova slipped into the island and took photos of Cuban slums. Police detained her for 11 hours, but she managed to smuggle out the camera's memory card in her bra -- creating a media stir in Prague and later displaying the photos in an exhibit.

''The revolution's watchmen rose up because I was taking pictures of something they do not like,'' the 1999 Miss Czech Republic told journalists.

Vaclav Havel, the former playwright who became president after the collapse of communism, has continued a high-profile push for more international condemnation of Cuba after leaving the presidency in 2003.

To protest the 2003 crackdown, he founded the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, whose members include the Czech-born former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Chilean President Patricio Aylwin and former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar.

Havel also is a partner in the Czech democracy-promotion group, People in Need, which receives support from the foreign ministry, as well as U.S. groups funded partly by the U.S. government. Since its creation in 1992, the group has provided medical and office supplies to Cuban dissidents.

The Czechs also are working to disseminate information to the Cubans, echoing similar U.S. efforts, that include literature on their own transition to democracy after the so-called Velvet Revolution, a peaceful uprising of street protests that brought down communism in 1990, Kolar notes.

''From that point of view, our country and some other countries from our part of the world are a very bad message for Mr. Castro,'' Kolar said.

Czech diplomats also have been active in attacking Cuba's human-rights record before the United Nations. In 1999, they won passage of condemnation of Havana at the U.N. Human Rights Commission, reversing a U.S. failure to pass a similar resolution the year before.

And shortly after joining the European Union in 2004, the Czechs defeated a Spanish effort to bar European embassies in Havana from inviting dissidents to their national-day cocktail parties.

Kolar said his government also will push the EU to create more effective instruments to support democracy in Cuba.

CASTRO: 'U.S. PUPPETS'

Castro has called Czech government officials ''toadies'' and ''U.S. lackeys.'' A May 9 editorial in the Communist party newspaper Granma called them "salaried puppets of the imperial circles of power in the United States and of the anti-Cuban Miami terrorist mafia.''

In 2001, two Czech Parliament members, Ivan Pilip and Jan Bubenek, spent 25 days in a Cuban jail before they were expelled. And last year a Czech senator and other EU officials were expelled after they tried to attend a dissidents' convention.

Kolar said Czech diplomats in Havana are under constant surveillance. Electricity and water to the mission were cut for a few days last month, mirroring a similar measure against the U.S. diplomatic mission to Havana.

Cuban officials have confiscated Czech-provided laptops and other materials destined for dissident groups, Kolar says, and in October barred the Czech Embassy from celebrating its national day in a hotel, because it had invited dissidents.

DIPLOMAT EXPELLED

In April, Cuba ousted Stanislav Kazécky, a diplomat, on accusations of spying.

Dan Erikson, a Cuba expert with the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank, said the Czech policies on Cuba can be explained in part by the country's own history of a dissident movement that successfully opposed communism.

''Every country in Europe tends to see the Cuban experience through their historical lens,'' said Erikson.

LONELY VOICE IN EU

But he added that other countries, especially in Western Europe, don't share the Czechs' passion for what happens in Cuba and mostly view the U.S. embargo on Cuba as wrong.

The Czechs do not condemn the embargo publicly but vote against the sanctions at the United Nations.

Still, the Czechs have made Cuba a ''much more contentious issue'' within the EU, says Erikson, making the union more likely to support dissidents on the island.

Kolar also argued that a small nation such as the Czech Republic, formerly part of Czechoslovakia, which was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 and overrun by Soviet troops at the end of World War II, has to have an activist foreign policy.

''We have to be active in international affairs,'' Kolar said, "because when we were not, we were swallowed by big powers.''

Castro visits home of Che Guevara

Fidel Castro's visit to the home of leftist revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara surprised residents of the Argentine town near Córdoba.

By Debora Rey, Associated Press. Posted on Sun, Jul. 23, 2006.

ALTA GRACIA, Argentina - Cuban President Fidel Castro took Venezuelan ally Hugo Chávez on an emotional pilgrimage Saturday to the boyhood home of the guerilla Ernesto ''Che'' Guevara, who had been Castro's comrade.

''Fidel! Fidel!'' and ''Hugo! Hugo!'' the crowd of about 2,000 chanted as Castro, wearing his trademark green military fatigues, got out of his limousine. Chávez was right by Castro's side as they entered the house amid a crush of security agents who kept bystanders back.

''I'm sure Fidel will be touched because he knew Che so well,'' local tour guide Lauren González said.

Castro, who first visited Argentina in 1959 after the Cuban revolution and returned last week to attend a summit that inducted Venezuela into the Mercosur trade bloc, had never before visited the home of the guerrilla who is revered in Cuba.

Guevara spent most of his childhood in the central Argentine province, where his family hoped a mild climate would ease his severe asthma. Neither Castro nor Chávez had visited before.

Guevara's family later moved to Buenos Aires, where he enrolled in medical school before launching the famous motorcycle trip around South America that inspired him to give up medicine for leftist revolution.

He was killed in 1967 while directing a guerrilla movement in Bolivia. Three decades later, his remains were taken to Cuba, where they are entombed under a monument.

On Saturday, blackuniformed police with guard dogs contained the crowd for hours as bystanders jammed the space outside the green-painted, brick-and-tile middle class home where Guevara once lived -- now a local attraction.

The house on Saturday bore the famous iconic photograph taken in 1960 that shows the legendary ''Che'' wearing his classic beret. A bronze statue out front also depicted Guevara as a young boy.

The house is typical of many on narrow streets of Alta Gracia, a community 35 miles west of the city of Córdoba where Castro, Chávez and six other Latin American presidents attended a regional trade summit Friday.

González, the tour guide, said Cubans are today among favorite pilgrims to the house in Alta Gracia, but it also draws admirers of the leftist figure from around the world -- along with tourists drawn to central Argentina's bucolic hill country.

Guevara was 7 years old when he came to Alta Gracia. The house now is owned by the Alta Gracia city government. Guevara lived in the house for two stretches, first from 1935-1937 and then again from 1939-43.

Ana Ledesma, a 50-year-old housewife, said the visit had caused a real fuss in the quiet community of Alta Gracia.

''The truth is we are all surprised by Castro's visit,'' she said. "This has thrown the whole city into a state of shock.''

Castro pays surprise visit to Americas trade summit

In his first trip abroad in seven months, Cuban leader Fidel Castro traveled to Argentina to sign deals with members of the trade bloc Mercosur.

By Mei-Ling Hopgood And Roberto Battaglino, Special to The Miami Herald. Posted on Fri, Jul. 21, 2006.

CORDOBA, Argentina - In a rare trip abroad, Cuban leader Fidel Castro arrived in Argentina's second-largest city Thursday to join a summit of heads of state, boost his island's trade with South America and visit the childhood home of revolutionary hero Ernesto ''Che'' Guevara.

The landing of Castro's plane about 8:20 p.m. was broadcast live on many local news channels, and hundreds of curious people waited around the city to catch a glimpse of the 79-year-old who has ruled Cuba since the revolution in 1959.

His surprise arrival -- his visit was officially announced only Thursday morning -- at the meeting of heads of state from the trade group known as Mercosur eclipsed many of the other agenda items and events scheduled for the summit, including the formal entrance of Venezuela into the bloc.

Today, Castro is expected to sign trade agreements with the Mercosur nations -- Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela -- visit Guevara's home and perhaps attend a rally with his top South American ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Chile and Bolivia are associate members of Mercosur, and their presidents, Michele Bachelet and Evo Morales, respectively, are also expected to attend the summit.

Castro's last international trip was in December, when he visited Barbados. This is his fourth official visit to Argentina, the last one coming during the inauguration of President Néstor Kirchner in 2003. Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage and Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque also joined Castro on this trip, according to the Cuban news service.

Castro arrived about one hour after Chávez, a fiery leftist and nearly constant critic of President Bush.

''The presence of Fidel at the Mercosur is very positive,'' Chávez said at the airport in Córdoba. He said the trade alliance would be stronger with the addition of Venezuela, the world's eighth-largest oil producer, and the new relations with Cuba.

''We are entering a new phase of the Mercosur,'' with greater cooperation and a social conscience, he said.

EXPANDING TRADE

Mercosur leaders are expected to discuss how to expand the region's exports and talk about trade issues and agreements among member countries and with Cuba as well as Pakistan.

Among some of the more contentious items on the agenda are Chile's recent declaration that it would cut its reliance on Argentine natural gas, and Argentina and Uruguay's disagreement over the installation of two pulp mills on Uruguayan shores near Argentina.

Castro's arrival, as his movements often are, was cloaked in secrecy up until Thursday morning, when Argentine and Cuban officials confirmed he would be attending the summit.

After his Cuban airliner landed in Córdoba, he exited the jet in his traditional green uniform and waved to the media and distant crowds with his left hand. He briefly greeted Argentine dignitaries before entering an official car and heading to a state dinner at the Ferreyra Palace.

He was expected to stay with the other presidents at the Córdoba Holiday Inn. An estimated 4,500 law enforcement officials swarmed the streets of Córdoba, about 450 miles northwest of the capital city of Buenos Aires, as the presidents began to arrive Thursday evening.

Today, the final day of the two-day meeting, Castro is expected to sign trade accords with Mercosur and individual countries. Brazilian newspaper O Estado reported that Mercosur would allow manufactured items such as electric appliances, vehicles (mainly buses) and farm equipment from South America to be exchanged for Cuban products, principally medicines, cigars and rum.

Venezuela and Cuba announced a separate trade agreement that aims to smooth the processing of imports through their respective customs.

PROTEST RALLY

Castro's attendance at the summit boosted speculation that he will join Chávez and Morales at a rally with supporters, who will be protesting U.S. sanctions on Cuba and efforts to forge a Free Trade Area of the Americas, among other issues.

A Cuban delegation inspected the Guevara home-turned-museum in the village of Alta Gracia, about 22 miles from Córdoba, for security concerns this week, La Voz del Interior newspaper reported.

Thursday, reporters and TV crews flocked to the place where Guevara lived from age 4 to 16, trying to confirm that Castro would visit. The museum houses Guevara artifacts such as photos, letters, books and the car his mother drove.

Museum manager Ada Ventre said she could not confirm Castro's visit, but added it would be "a historic event, because [Castro] has been a close friend of Che's.''

Miami Herald special correspondent Mei-Ling Hopgood reported from Buenos Aires. Roberto Battaglino, an editor with La Voz del Interior, contributed from Córdoba.

Migrants' reunions bittersweet

After days on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, 28 Cuban migrants were allowed into Miami -- as witnesses in a case involving three men accused in a fatal smuggling operation.

By Luisa Yanez And Jay Weaver. jweaver@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Fri, Jul. 21, 2006.

Making it to freedom Thursday meant little to the Cuban man whose wife died of head injuries during a voyage to the United States -- the trip's only casualty during a Coast Guard chase of a fast boat that federal officials say was involved in a smuggling operation.

''Happy to make it to land? I would rather be dead,'' said Agustin Uralde, 24, as he left the federal courthouse in Miami with relatives.

Uralde's mood was significantly darker than those of the other 27 Cuban migrants who reunited with their families after being detained at sea on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter since July 8.

Uralde lost the love of his life, relatives said. Amay Machado González, 24, one of the migrants, died after being tossed about the smugglers' speeding boat two weeks ago, authorities say.

''This was too high a price to pay,'' Uralde said.

In bittersweet irony, her death allowed the others fleeing the communist island to finally reach U.S. shores.

In a rare move, the migrants were brought ashore to serve as material witnesses in the criminal case that charges three men with attempted smuggling that caused González's death. The high-speed chase ended when a Coast Guard officer fired two shots at the vessel's engine to disable it.

Odalys Conde was the first Cuban migrant to taste freedom at the courthouse as she hugged and kissed her two teenage daughters, Yarenis Carpio Conde, 14, and Yamila Carpio Conde, 16, who had been released earlier in the day to relatives.

''I am so happy to be here,'' said Conde, who quickly took off a government-issued khaki top she was wearing over a T-shirt. "I didn't want you girls to see me this way.''

Conde and the other migrants teared up, waved and blew kisses to relatives who jammed into a courtroom in their first encounter since the Cubans were intercepted.

WILL TESTIFY

The migrants were brought to court under exceptional legal circumstances: They must now testify against the three men charged with illegally attempting to bring them to Florida and causing González's death.

The migrants' first U.S. experience must have seemed surreal: A magistrate judge granted them a $25,000 personal surety bond and assigned them lawyers after peppering them with procedural questions about their financial status -- questions that would not apply to Cubans leaving a society where private ownership is nonexistent.

Do you own a home or other property? Do you have money in the bank? Can you afford an attorney?

One man answered that he had "300 Cuban pesos, about 12 American dollars.''

Magistrate Judge Lurana Snow gave the Cubans, now allowed to stay because they touched U.S. soil, until Monday to provide cosigners for their bond, contact numbers and addresses.

''That way, we can find you and you won't get in trouble with the U.S. government,'' she said. "And you don't want to be in trouble with the government.''

The migrants' testimony before the grand jury or at trial is considered vital to the U.S. government's prosecution of the three defendants, who are being held without bond.

INDICTMENT SOON

A federal grand jury in Key West could return an indictment against the three men -- Rolando González Delgado, Heinrich Castillo Díaz and Yamil González Rodríguez -- as early as today. The indictment is expected to include new charges, including attempting to smuggle the migrants into the United States for profit.

''This decision is the result of the unique circumstances of this specific criminal matter,'' said interim U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta. "[It] is a reflection of our determination to engage in a complete investigation and a vigorous prosecution of all individuals associated with this incident using all prosecutorial tools at our disposal.''

As they were processed and freed Thursday night, the migrants were reluctant to talk about the case, most brushing aside questions about their deadly voyage.

''We would not have wanted this tragedy, but I don't want to talk about it,'' Morelia Croes, 34, said as she hugged her twin, Rebeca, who had become an outspoken supporter of the group in Miami.

Asked if the mission had been financed, Croes said: ''No, I did not pay to come here.'' She said she would be ''happy'' to testify in the criminal case if asked by federal prosecutors.

Relatives of the three alleged smugglers claim the men were fishing and found the original group of migrants in a sinking boat in the Florida Straits. They further claim the three men were related to some of the migrants -- the pregnant wife of González Delgado was among those on board the speed boat. Those relatives assert that it was a not-for-profit smuggling operation.

The three defendants, first charged by criminal complaint on July 10, are scheduled to enter pleas Monday. If convicted, they could face up to life in prison.

The Monroe County medical examiner said González's death was caused by head and other injuries that are consistent with someone tossed about inside a boat.

''Smugglers often treat migrants as if they were human cargo, with blatant disregard for individual life and safety,'' Acosta said. "This must stop.''

'WET FOOT/DRY FOOT'

Bringing the migrants to the United States means they can stay in the country. Under the U.S. ''wet foot/dry foot'' policy, most Cubans who reach U.S. soil are permitted to remain while those interdicted at sea are returned home.

The Bush administration has made other recent exceptions to the ''wet foot/dry foot'' policy, including bringing in the parents of a 6-year-old Cuban boy who died during a smuggling attempt in October 2005. Most of the 29 survivors in that case were returned to Cuba.

Indeed, it is unusual for an entire group to be brought ashore to provide evidence in a criminal smuggling case.

In 2001, immigration authorities allowed in Cubans rescued at sea after a migrant smuggling tragedy, departing from a then-six-year policy of repatriating migrants picked up offshore. A total of six migrants, including three children, died in the crossing, according to authorities.

The exception was made for the 20 survivors to help U.S. authorities investigate and prosecute growing migrant-smuggling operations. They were allowed in as material witnesses in the investigation against two suspected smugglers, who were among those rescued.

Ramón Saúl Sánchez, head of Cuban exile group Democracy Movement, described the emotion Thursday morning when family members learned that the 28 migrants were being allowed to stay.

''They were very happy, screaming and yelling, in the Cuban style,'' he said.

Miami Herald staff writer Andrea Torres and Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS4 contributed to this report.

Twenty-eight Cuban migrants set free after hearing

By Jay Weaver And Luisa Yanez. jweaver@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Thu, Jul. 20, 2006.

Cuban migrant Odalys Conde was the first of 28 Cuban migrants to hug her South Florida family Thursday after a federal court hearing in an alleged smuggling case involving the death of a 24-year-old woman during a high-speed chase.

Conde's teenage daughters, who had also made the trip but were released earlier today, welcomed her with kisses and hugs at the federal courthouse tonight.

''I am so happy to be here,'' said a teary-eyed Conde, 40, who received countless hugs from a handful of relatives. Once free, Conde quickly took off her government-issued Kakhi top covering her T-shirt, slacks and flip-flops over white socks.

''I didn't want you girls to see me this way,'' she said apologizing for her haggard appearance. Her relieved parents and brother could not hide their emotion.

The Coast Guard brought the 28 Cuban migrants ashore after detaining them off shore since July 8. The migrants will be material witnesses in the alleged smuggling case in which Anei Machado Gonzalez suffered fatal head injuries during a high-speed chase to reach Florida.

The migrants were allowed to stay so they can testify directly against three men charged with the smuggling attempt that caused the 24-year-old woman's death.

Their go-fast boat was apprehended by authorities on July 8 after the chase, which ended when a Coast Guard officer fired two shots at the vessel's engine to disable it.

The migrants' live testimony before the grand jury or at trial is considered vital to the U.S. government's prosecution of the three defendants, who are being held without bond.

A federal grand jury in Key West could return an indictment against the three men -- Rolando Gonzalez-Delgado, Heinrich Castillo-Diaz and Yamil Gonzalez-Rodriguez -- as early as Friday. The indictment is expected to include new charges, including attempting to smuggle the migrants into the United States for profit.

Relatives of the three alleged smugglers claim the men were fishing and found the original group of migrants in a sinking boat in the Florida Straits. They further claim the threesome were related to some of the migrants. Those relatives assert that it was a not-for-profit smuggling operation.

The three defendants, first charged by criminal complaint on July 10, are scheduled to enter pleas Monday. If convicted, they could face up to life in prison.

The 28 migrants were brought to Key West late Wednesday and transferred to Customs and Border Protection officials at the Port of Miami, where the two teen-age girls, Yarenis Carpio Conde, 14, and Yamila Carpio Conde, 16, were reunited with local relatives.

The migrants were aboard a speedboat on the early morning of July 8 when it was intercepted by the Coast Guard about four miles south of Boca Chica in the Florida Keys. Gonzalez died after hitting her head when the boat ignored orders to stop and attempted to ram a Coast Guard vessel, authorities said. The Monroe County medical examiner said her death was caused by head and other injuries that are consistent with someone tossed about inside a boat.

''Smugglers often treat migrants as if they were human cargo, with blatant disregard for individual life and safety,'' Acosta said. "This must stop.''

After one year, the 28 will be eligible to become permanent legal residents and later could apply for citizenship.

Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the Cuban exile group Democracy Movement, described an emotional reunion early Thursday morning when family members learned that the migrants were being allowed to stay.

''They were very happy, screaming and yelling, in the Cuban style,'' he said.

The Bush administration has made other recent exceptions to the ''wet foot/dry foot'' policy, including bringing in the parents of a 6-year-old Cuban boy who died during a smuggling attempt in October. Most of the 29 survivors in that case were returned to Cuba.

Indeed, it is unusual for an entire group to be brought ashore to provide evidence in a criminal smuggling case.

In 2001, immigration authorities allowed Cubans rescued at sea after a migrant smuggling tragedy into the United States, departing from a then-six-year policy of repatriating migrants picked up offshore.

A total of six migrants, including three children, died in the crossing, according to authorities.

The exception was made for the 20 survivors to help U.S. authorities investigate and prosecute growing migrant smuggling operations. They were allowed in as material witnesses in the investigation against two suspected smugglers, who were among those rescued.

Cubans using Honduras as exit route

Honduran authorities are seeking to halt the increasing flow of Cubans using their shores as a way to get to the United States.

By Nancy San Martin, nsanmartin@MiamiHerald.com. Miami Herald Staff. Posted on Mon, Jul. 17, 2006.

Honduran authorities are devising a plan to halt what they say is an organized smuggling operation, fearing an ''avalanche'' of illegal landings by Cuban migrants who are using Honduras as a gateway to the United States.

''What we are witnessing is the trafficking of human beings,'' Germán Espinal, Honduran director general of international migration, told The Miami Herald. "We need to find a mechanism that will distance us from being accomplices to human trafficking.''

A record number of Cubans have landed on Honduran beaches this year: at least 380 over the past six months, compared to 179 in all of 2005 and 47 in 2002. Soon after arrival, the Cubans usually leave Honduras by land to make their way to the U.S.-Mexico border and become beneficiaries of the U.S. wet-foot/dry-foot policy upon stepping on U.S. soil.

The number of Cuban migrants illegally entering the United States across the U.S.-Mexico border also reflects the trend. For the first time in recent memory, Cubans now rank among the most often apprehended along the border, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Honduran authorities say they hope to reach some kind of accord with the U.S. and Cuban governments that will dissuade those trying to flee the island from using the Central American nation as a stopover to El Norte.

'CHAOTIC SITUATION'

''We are concerned about an avalanche,'' Espinal said in telephone interview from Honduras. "We don't have the resources to deal with this. It creates a very chaotic situation.''

Honduras has become a magnet for Cuban migrants because, unlike most nations in the region, it has no deportation accord with Cuba. That allows those who make it there to stay just long enough to then slip out of the country, make their way by land across Guatemala and Mexico and finally slip into the United States.

Authorities are convinced the numbers point to an organized smuggling ring because larger groups of 20 to 30 migrants are now being dropped off by go-fast boats after a stopover in the Cayman Islands or Jamaica. Some of the loads also include other nationalities, such as Chinese and South American migrants.

Cuban migrants have told authorities the ride costs $15,000 to $18,000 per passenger, Espinal said, adding that the smuggling suspicion is boosted by the fact that travelers "come in good shape, not as if they've had a lot of exposure to the sun.''

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Dana Warr said the situation is "typical of what an organized smuggling organization would look like.''

''We know that the Cuban migration is going in other directions besides the United States,'' Warr said. "Around the Cuban community, there is a growing trend of illegal migration. They are going through foreign countries, but they're coming to the United States.''

Espinal said preliminary plans call for separating Cuban migrants into three distinct groups: those with valid claims for political asylum, humanitarian cases and those fleeing only for economic reasons. Although Honduran laws prohibit deporting Cubans to their homeland, "we can return them to the country where they departed from.''

Those kinds of options has raised concern among some activists. Honduran Human Rights Commissioner Ramón Custodio said repatriation could violate terms of an international convention on refugees signed by Honduras in 1992.

''All we care about is the care of any human being who seeks refuge in any country,'' Custodio said. "If they arrive on our shores, we must treat them as humanely as possible.''

Some Cubans who have made the 700-mile journey from the island's southeastern coast to Honduras deny that there's any organized people-smuggling.

'NO TRAFFICKING'

''That is a lie. Cubans are building their own boats . . . There is no trafficking . . . '' said René Crespo, who made the illegal trip to Honduras 18 months ago and now lives in Miami. His wife was in a group of 22 Cubans rescued by Honduran fisherman earlier this month. All of them are expected in Miami.

Crespo said that if Honduras closes its borders to Cubans, "things are going to get ugly. Cubans will find a way to get out. They see that those of us who make it and work can have decent lives.''

Regime readies path for Raúl Castro's rise

Fidel Castro's younger brother Raúl is taking on a more public persona in what experts say is a clear effort aimed at ensuring a smooth transition in leadership.

By Frances Robles. frobles@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Fri, Jul. 14, 2006.

A recent string of Cuban media reports highlighting Defense Minister Raúl Castro has U.S. analysts saying that Havana is preparing the way for life after Fidel and suggesting that his younger brother already has begun taking on more governance responsibilities.

Raúl, long designated as successor to his 79-year old brother, was the subject of a fawning 6,300-word profile on his 75th birthday, and the government media has reported on his visits to military bases and comments on the island's politics.

While a database search showed the number of media mentions of Raúl has remained constant, one expert Cuba-watcher said the scope and depth of the coverage has changed dramatically -- from close-cropped photos of him at official functions, for example, to wide-angle ''almost heroic'' shots of him reviewing troops in the field.

When the Granma newspaper announced a high-level shake-up of the Communist Party last week, Raúl's quotes were prominently featured. And a speech he gave last month is still posted on Granma's website (www.granma.cu), in what Cuba-watchers view as another sign of Raúl's sudden importance.

Some Cuba experts say Raúl may be offering himself as the face of the future -- perhaps to detract contenders keen on taking that spot when Fidel is no longer in power.

''They are preparing the process. Fidel is in control and directing this process of change. As Fidel slowly becomes more debilitated, you'll see Raúl and [National Assembly President Ricardo] Alarcón becoming more visible,'' said Tony Rivera, editor of the online Cuba news site, La Nueva Cuba.

At a recent military celebration, Raúl addressed the issue of succession. His job as first vice president of the ruling Council of State makes him first in line to succeed Fidel under the constitution, and Raúl also is No. 2 to Fidel as second secretary of the Cuban Communist Party.

''Only the Communist Party -- as the institution that brings together the revolutionary vanguard and will always guarantee the unity of Cubans -- can be the worthy heir of the trust deposited by the people in their leader,'' he said earlier this month at a ceremony observing the 45th anniversary of the Western Army. "Anything more is pure speculation.''

But the Castro brothers themselves have suggested that a newer and younger generation of leaders need to be tapped. In an interview published recently by French writer Ignacio Ramonet, Fidel quipped that at 75, his brother isn't getting younger.

Cuba watchers say that comment did not go unnoticed, and that it's no coincidence that it was followed by a swell of positive media coverage.

''The propaganda media of today's capitalist world has tried for many years to paint a picture of Raúl as an extremist, sullen and gruff in his human relations, lacking in sense of humor and devoid of sensitivity. The enemy does it like that because it knows very well what Raúl represents for the Revolution, for our people and for the future of our nation,'' Granma wrote in the June 2 story marking his birthday the next day. The story also described him as "tireless, systematic, intelligent and decisive.''

That softer persona reflected in the story, titled Proximity of Raúl, is meant to ease fears of the Cuban people and convince the international community, experts said.

''Raúl has never been a person people really like. He's not so popular. Now they need to protect their leader,'' said Rivera, editor of the online Cuba news site.

JAILED AND EXILED

Five years younger than his brother Fidel, Raúl was also educated at Jesuit schools in Havana and helped plan and execute the failed attack on Moncada military barracks on July 26, 1953. Along with Fidel, he was jailed and exiled to Mexico but returned in 1956 to incite the revolution that ultimately toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista.

He assumed command of military operations in Oriente province in the east, and one of his first acts was the summary execution of 100 Batista soldiers. Raúl spent the next 47 years as minister of defense and head of the army, where he developed a reputation as a pragmatic, solid leader who lacks the charisma and fiery oratory of Fidel.

He has been described as a brusque heavy drinker, but one more open to economic reform and negotiations with the United States.

In 1993, The Miami Herald reported that federal prosecutors in Miami were preparing to charge Raúl and 14 other top Cubans with smuggling Colombian cocaine through Cuba to the United States, but the indictment was never brought before a grand jury.

As head of the military, Raúl today oversees a military force of up to 55,000 people, significantly smaller than 15 years ago, when Cuba enjoyed hefty Soviet subsidies. But while his forces may have shrunk, his position as head of the military took on increasing importance in the 1990s, as the armed forces started taking over profitable chunks of the Cuban economy.

Top positions running the island's tourism industry, ports, transportation and other key sectors are now held by generals.

''There is no other force in Cuba right now that is so organized or powerful,'' Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a dissident economist and journalist in Cuba, said in a telephone interview. "Raúl is an important figure. He doesn't have the charisma with the people, but within the army he does have a lot of prestige. I'm a dissident, but I'm not a fool or unobjective: Raúl is esteemed.''

Brian Latell, a former top CIA analyst and Raúl biographer who now works at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, said the media blitz shows a ''probable acceleration of succession planning.'' The reporting is, more importantly, trying to distinguish him from Fidel.

'Proximity of Raúl could be saying, 'Get ready, the change could be coming,' '' said Latell, author of the book After Fidel. "His role in decision-making has been expanding. When you start seeing Raúl playing a prominent role in foreign policy -- Fidel's bailiwick -- that will be an unmistakable signal that Raúl is playing a very central role.''

LAGE'S ROLE GROWS

As an aging Fidel -- who is believed by the CIA to suffer from Parkinson's disease, a progressive condition that causes stiffness, shaking and problems with balance -- takes fewer trips abroad, Vice President Carlos Lage has been taking on the role as intercontinental emissary. This suggests the government is also grooming him for a future position of power, Frank Mora, a Cuba expert at the National War College in Washington, said in a phone interview.

''What has been happening in the last month is that forces are coalescing to let it be known the party is doing its job and is ready to assume responsibilities when the time comes,'' Mora said. 'I'm intrigued by this bolstering of Raúl's image, letting people know: 'We are in good hands. We have nothing to fear when Fidel goes.' ''

Bush plan decried as land grab

President Bush's Cuba plan, which has earmarked $80 million in anti-Castro propaganda, was called an attempt to control and annex Cuba by critics

By Frances Robles.frobles@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Thu, Jul. 13, 2006.

The Bush administration's updated plan to speed up and support a shift toward democracy in Cuba means three things for the island: terrorism, assassinations and the use of force, Havana said in an official statement Wednesday.

The Cuban government blasted a 95-page report released Monday in Washington by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, a multiagency panel created in 2003 to outline the administration's plans to hasten democracy in Cuba.

This year's report -- an update of a 2004 document -- is controversial because it calls for $80 million in increased funding for anti-Castro activities, such as Radio and TV Martí.

The Cuban government condemned the increased funding as an outright violation of international law, and particularly attacked the report's classified annex, which they allege may include plans to murder Fidel Castro.

'ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE'

''What do they hide for 'national security reasons'?'' National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón wrote in a column published in the Cuban media last week. "More terrorist attacks? New assassination attempts against Fidel? Military aggression? With Bush and his cronies, anything is possible.''

Alarcón spoke out against the report at an event Tuesday honoring five Cubans imprisoned in the United States on charges of being Castro agents, the official government news site said.

An article in Wednesday's international edition of the Communist Party daily Granma noted that the U.S. report uses the word ''regime'' 145 times.

'It's a true gift to those in Miami who advocate terror and annexation. . . . The text, which shows an abysmal ignorance of the Cuban reality, affirms that the 'regime' does not attend to the 'basic human necessities' of the people,'' the article said.

"The entire document reflects the will to sooner or later annex the island of Cuba.''

U.S. OFFICIAL RESPONDS

The State Department's Cuba transition coordinator, Caleb McCarry, declined to comment specifically on the Cuban allegations. He said the Bush administration is committed to helping Cubans who want to democratically elect their leaders.

''The report is clear that the United States has a great deal of respect for the sovereignty of the people of Cuba,'' McCarry said from Miami Wednesday. "It is they who define the future.''

McCarry defended the commission's recommendation to earmark part of the so-called Cuba Fund for a Democratic Future to assist opposition groups in Cuba, despite resistance from even some dissidents who believe such money would make them more vulnerable to not just criticism but arrest.

''It is our duty to accompany them,'' McCarry said. "We cannot abandon them. The time is now.''

The commission proposed earmarking $24 million for ''efforts to break the information blockade,'' $31 million to support ''independent civil society'' groups on the island, $10 million for educational exchanges and $15 million to support "international efforts at strengthening civil society and transition planning.''

McCarry will meet today with Cuban exile groups, some of which have received U.S. anti-Castro funds.

Castro at odds with Kirchner

By Mei-Ling Hopgood, Special to The Miami Herald. Posted on Tue, Jul. 25, 2006.

BUENOS AIRES - The Argentine media is making much ado about the friction between Argentine President Néstor Kirchner and Fidel Castro last week over a dissident doctor who wants to leave Cuba.

Kirchner took the opportunity to ask the Cuban leader, who was a guest at a meeting of the trade bloc Mercosur, to allow surgeon Hilda Molina, a one-time Castro ally, to leave Cuba to be with her children and grandchildren already in Argentina.

According to the media covering the South American trade-bloc meeting, Castro was not pleased, and relations between the two leaders became chilly. Kirchner did not appeal to Castro face-to-face even though they were in the same room. Instead, the Argentine president had a letter, barely three paragraphs, passed through the two countries' foreign ministers.

Clarín, the largest newspaper in Argentina, reported that Castro was ''uncomfortable'' because Kirchner surprised him with such a request after rolling out the red carpet for the 79-year old Castro, who has led Cuba since 1959.

Argentina's La Nación went further to say that Castro was bothered. One columnist, Joaquín Morales Solá, gave this more detailed account from someone ''close'' to Kirchner. Solá reported that when Argentine diplomats warned Cuban diplomats that Kirchner wanted to speak to Castro about the Molina case, Castro was in flight to Argentina and almost ordered that the plane return to Cuba.

''Things went more or less like this: The government of Argentina let the Cubans know that Kirchner would talk about the Molina case in a private meeting,'' Solá wrote in a column. "No. Castro did not accept this plan.''

Solá continued: "He is traveling to Argentina to meet with the Mercosur, not to speak about Hilda Molina. . . . So Kirchner said he would deliver a letter instead. But Castro again said no.''

Finally, according to Solá, Kirchner threatened to speak about Molina in front of the entire meeting -- and not sign the Mercosur trade pact with Cuba. Castro coldly accepted the letter, he reported.

''One should recognize that Kirchner this time backed his discourse about human rights,'' said Solá. La Nación frequently criticizes Kirchner.

Foreign ministry officials this week expressed optimism over the Molina case. Still, the exposure is apparently making Molina a bit nervous.

She said in a radio interview broadcast in Buenos Aires that she was ''paranoid'' about how Cuban officials would react.

''I know that God repays all good action, and the Argentine people, the press and the government will receive the grace of God,'' she said.

Banned books ordered back on shelves

A series of children's books banned last month by the Dade School Board must remain in libraries while the district fights a lawsuit filed by the ACLU.

By Matthew I. Pinzur, mpinzur@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Jul. 25, 2006.

A federal judge on Monday ordered all copies of Vamos a Cuba and 23 other children's books returned to Miami-Dade school libraries, hobbling the School Board's attempt to ban the controversial books.

In a sometimes scathing 89-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Alan Gold said the School Board "abused its discretion in a manner that violated the transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment.''

His ruling was not final, but the preliminary injunction will apply while the American Civil Liberties Union and Student Government Association continue their lawsuit against the School Board. Depending on the board's response, that could be weeks or years.

''What the board did was so clearly wrong, factually and legally,'' said Randall Marshall, legal director for the ACLU of Florida, referring to the board's June vote to remove the 24 titles from all school libraries.

Gold said the books must be on shelves by Monday. District spokesman Joseph Garcia said most would be returned today and the rest by the end of this week.

Because Gold's ruling so strongly embraced the ACLU's arguments, the group's director urged the district to drop its defense and stop fighting for the ban.

''They can end this failed crusade,'' Executive Director Howard Simon said. "Any further pennies spent by the [district] would be irresponsible.''

School Board members will likely meet with their attorneys later this week in closed session to decide whether to appeal the injunction.

''Although we're disappointed in the result, we feel our best effort was made in putting forth the School Board's position and explaining their legitimate basis for having done what they felt was the correct action to take in this matter,'' said board attorney JulieAnn Rico.

The board previously approved spending up to $25,000 on outside lawyers for the case. Experts have suggested it could cost $250,000 or more if the board pursues appeals and a full trial.

The case originated early this year when Juan Amador Rodriguez, a former Cuban political prisoner, saw that his daughter had borrowed Vamos a Cuba from the library at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary, 11901 SW Second St. He filed a formal complaint, saying the book was ''untruthful'' and "portrays a life in Cuba that does not exist.''

Two review committees voted to keep the book on shelves, and Superintendent Rudy Crew reaffirmed that decision. Amador Rodriguez appealed to the School Board, which voted 6-3 to remove the book amid a political firestorm.

PUSH FORWARD

Board member Frank Bolaños, who sponsored much of the legislation against the book, said he will urge the board to appeal the injunction and push forward with the trial.

''I think the board needs to be very assertive in defending its position, including being assertive in the appeals process,'' said Bolaños, for whom the book has become a central issue in his campaign to unseat fellow Republican Alex Villalobos from the state Senate in the fall.

Rico had previously warned board members against the ban, which she said violated district rules because only the books about Cuba were formally challenged or examined by review committees. That question about due process, along with the broader First Amendment argument, formed the basis of the ACLU's case.

In his opinion, Gold rejected nearly every aspect of the district's defense. Quoting from transcripts of recent School Board meetings, he said the board members were more concerned with politics than pedagogy.

''The quintessential right of freedom of speech may not be sacrificed on the altar of beliefs no matter how firmly those beliefs are held,'' he wrote. "In this nation, we do not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because some in the community find it offensive or disagreeable.''

Most of the six board members who voted to remove the books said inaccuracies, not ideology, drove their decision. One line of text they objected to reads: "People in Cuba eat, work and go to school like you do.''

Board members said that statement ignores food shortages, forced labor and educational indoctrination.

Gold, however, rejected that explanation. 'I conclude that the School Board's claim on 'inaccuracies' is a guise and pretext for 'political orthodoxy,' '' he wrote.

MORE TO PRESENT

Bolaños said the district still has additional ''information and witnesses'' it can bring forth.

''The issue that is still before the court is whether a parent has a right to ask that his student be taught the truth about this or any other subject and whether a school board has a right to protect taxpayer dollars and not misuse them on a book that is clear propaganda,'' he said.

For its part, the ACLU could ask Gold to summarily find in its favor. JoNel Newman, a University of Miami law professor leading the case with Marshall, said such a motion could come in the next few weeks.

But the broader issue of appropriate library books is likely to linger -- two complaints were filed last week about another book, Cuban Kids. If that book moves through the appeals process at the same speed Vamos a Cuba did, it would reach the School Board this fall, just weeks before some board members face reelection.

Simon said the board should adopt a policy of responding to controversial material by purchasing other material with different viewpoints, instead of imposing bans.

''This is a simple solution,'' he said. "Buy more books.''

CANF's fight for free Cuba turns 25

The Cuban American National Foundation is celebrating its 25th anniversary amid a shifting political landscape and criticism that it has lost its vitality.

By Casey Woods, cwoods@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sat, Jul. 22, 2006

The Cuban American National Foundation was still in its infancy when it accomplished what would have been unthinkable two years before: A sitting U.S. president flew to Miami for an event that highlighted the fledgling organization's dream for a free Cuba.

''There had been no coherent message given in Washington about the aspirations of the Cuban exile community until Jorge Mas Canosa opened the foundation office in 1981,'' said former Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich, who as an administrator in the State Department joined President Ronald Reagan on the 1983 trip.

"As someone who's spent my entire career in Washington, I can say that it's remarkable that in just two years an organization could persuade the political office of the White House to take a risk on an organization that was so young.''

This weekend, the organization that pushed the Cuban exile cause to national prominence celebrates its 25th anniversary with great fanfare during its annual conference -- one scheduled to include national and international speakers such as Nicaraguan presidential candidate José Rizo and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat eyeing a bid for the presidency in 2008.

''This represents a quarter century of victories and sacrifice by so many men and women who worked toward the common goal of liberty in Cuba,'' said Jorge Mas Santos, current CANF chairman and son of Mas Canosa, who died in 1997. "It reflects on the vision of the founders, who left us their vision to make sure that every Cuban on the island knows that they are not alone.''

Highlighting the foundation's current focus on providing financial and other support to dissidents still living in Cuba, Mas and his mother Irma Mas Santos announced a $1 million donation to the foundation to mark the quarter century milestone.

But there are those who say the anniversary rings hollow.

''That organization does not have the vitality it once had, and it doesn't do half of what it once did,'' said former CANF spokeswoman Ninoska Pérez Castellón, now an outspoken critic. 'It's really sad.''

Pérez and a prominent group of dissenters left the organization to found the Cuban Liberty Council in 2001 because of disagreements over Mas Santos' leadership.

The rift between the members of CANF and the council has widened as Mas has taken more moderate stances on issues. For instance, CANF officials have been open to meeting with lower-level Cuban government officials -- a view the council vehemently opposed.

CANF also has reached out to Democrats in Congress at a time that the White House has looked to the Liberty Council and other more conservative groups for political advice on Cuba.

Florida International University international relations professor Antonio Jorge said the disagreements are indicative of a larger phenomenon.

''The division in the groups is a reflection of the divisions in the Cuban community,'' said Jorge, who has made efforts in the past to create a common platform among the different exile groups.

"We have a shared vision of the ultimate outcome, which is the freedom for Cuba, but it hasn't been possible to agree on a common strategy.''

Miami Herald staff writer Oscar Corral contributed to this report.

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