CUBA NEWS
La Tienda de Cubanet

November 2006

November 29

FROM CUBA
Independent news agency inaugurated
Several independent journalists in Sancti Spíritus province announced they have organized themselves into a news agency they call Yayabo Press. The announcement was made November 17.
SANTA CLARA, Guillermo Fariñas

FROM CUBA
Two new Cuban films to debut
Two Cuban films will debut at the upcoming New Latin American Films Festival in December.
HAVANA, Lucas Garve
FROM CUBA
Patients protest firing of medical specialist
Patients in Moa municipality, Holguín province, protested the Public Health authorities' decision to fire the only angiography specialist in the local hospital.
HOLGUIN, Jesús Almaguer Pérez
FROM CUBA
Dengue death reported in Eastern Cuba
A 36-year-old woman in Mayarí died of dengue fever November 12. News of her death spread fear among the residents.
HOLGUIN, Jesús Almaguer Pérez
FROM CUBA
Electric blackouts on the increase in Havana
Electric blackouts have become more frequent in Havana during the last week, according to an official of the Electric Power company in the city.
HAVANA, Juan Carlos Linares
The Miami Herald
• Cuban dissidents ask U.S. to lift travel, aid limits
• U.S. selects Cuba 'mission manager'
• Exile seeks return of $1.5M he says was for anti-Castro plot
• Castro victims awarded $91M
• Dual economy could trouble Cuba's future
• Congressmen want inquiry on U.S. aid to dissidents
• Foreign banks in Cuba feel heat of U.S. regulations
Yahoo News
• Amid uncertainty over Castro Cuba dusts off military show
• Venezuela's Chavez: Castro to begin 'second mandate' in Cuba
• Report cites flaws in Cuba aid program
• Cuba won't abandon socialism just yet
• American government officials say Castro believed to have terminal cancer
• Young Cubans yearn for more material comforts, less propaganda
• Former Black Panther dies in Cuba at 75
• 'Buena Vista' copyright battle ends with Cuban victory
• Cuba patents new treatment for cervical cancer
• Cuban-American takes over Republican Party
Journalist González is freed after 16 months in jail
The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Cuban journalist Oscar Mario González, who had been jailed for 16 months without charge.
Committee to Protect Journalists.
Cuba-embargo foes see hope in new Democratic-controlled Congress
For the past three years, Wendy Alonso has felt trapped by strict U.S. travel restrictions that have kept her from visiting her father, grandmothers and other relatives in Cuba.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Outside View: Cuba on the eve of change
Having spent two weeks in Havana, I saw for myself what seemed quite obvious: after Fidel's departure, which is not far off, Cuba is in for serious change.
Pyotr Romanov, UPI

November 10

FROM CUBA
Independent journalist sentenced to two years of house arrest
Independent journalist Guillermo Espinosa, who had been held in isolation since his arrest two weeks ago, was sentenced by a tribunal in Santiago to two years of house arrest for "social dangerousness."
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Virgilio Delat

FROM CUBA
New CAT scanner out of order "until further notice"
A new Siemens CAT scanner installed scarcely six months ago in the Arnaldo Milián Castro provincial hospital here is out of order "until further notice" according to Dr. Ismelys Iglesias.
SANTA CLARA, Guillermo Fariñas
FROM CUBA
Expanded broadcasting activities in central Cuba
The Cuban government has expanded the range of radio and TV broadcasting activities in central Villa Clara province by adding two transmitters and 10 correspondents.
SANTA CLARA, Yoel Espinosa Medrano
FROM CUBA
Independent journalist arrested in Santiago
Agents of the Department of State Security arrested independent journalist Guillermo Espinosa 12 days ago and have neither released him or charged him.
HAVANA, Juan González Febles
FROM CUBA
Journalist and two dissidents arrested
Police here arrested independent journalist Roberto Santana and civil rights activists Luis Enrique Rodríguez and Edgard López November 2 after they had visited the office of the U. S. diplomatic mission in Havana.
HAVANA. Juan Carlos Linares Balmaseda
FROM CUBA
Respiratory distress overwhelming hospital
The Ciego de Ávila provincial hospital, the Antonio Luaces Iraola, is overwhelmed by an influx of patients, mostly children, with respiratory problems, said sources in the city.
CIEGO DE AVILA, Kallan Poe
The Miami Herald
• End Cuban embargo, U.N. urges U.S.
• Foreign banks in Cuba feel heat of U.S. regulations
• Military leader envisions aiding Cuba in the future
• Date of Castro's return up in the air
• A little-known tragedy is revisited
• Castro video shows illness is serious
• Cuba by the book: A coffee-table tome raises the genre to a new level
Yahoo News
• Lawsuit claims Cuba forced citizens to work at Curacao shipyard
• Not Just Tourists bring more than luggage to Cuba
• India opposes economic embargo against Cuba
• Cuba Activist Tries To Rally Support For Prisoner Release
• Twelve National Organizations Urge Sen. Baucus and Rep. Rangel to Open Cuba to Travel and Trade
A real slice of Cuba in Tampa?
A park in Ybor City belongs to the island nation, but Tampa residents manage it.
Alexandra Zayas , St. Petersburg Times.
Cuba: Who's to Blame for Corruption?
What if the corruption problem lies not in the moral failings of individuals, but in some aspect of the system itself?
Philip Peters. Latin Business Chronicle.
Mayor says UK can learn from Cuba
The UK can learn from Cuba's Olympic achievements, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has said. Mr Livingstone, who on a tour of a Latin America, said he wanted to find out how the Caribbean island "engaged their young people in sport".
BBC, UK.

November 2

FROM CUBA
Primary-school-age children take part in repudiating mob
Students from the Sierra Maestra primary and the Centro middle schools participated, along with their teachers and other school employees, in an "act of repudiation" directed against two dissidents.
CIEGO DE AVILA, Tania Maceda Guerra

FROM CUBA
Independent journalist warned about "counter-revolutionary activities"
Independent journalist Shelyn Rojas was questioned by state security agents for an hour last week and told to stop "counter-revolutionary activities" in her writing and using "European diplomatic missions" for transmission of her articles and those of colelagues.
HAVANA, Luis Cino
FROM CUBA
Rafters released after five months awaiting trial
Four men who were apprehended trying to leave the island by sea were freed after waiting in prison for a trial date. The four had been held at the Melena Dos prison in Havana province.
HAVANA, Amarilis C. Rey
FROM CUBA
Opposition cleric freed after 15 months of prison
The vicar general of the Roman Catholic Orthodox Byzantine Church of Cuba, Ricardo Santiago Medina Salabarría, was freed last week after 15 months in prison and told to ask the U.S. Interests Section for a visa to go into exile in the United States.
HAVANA, Shelyn Rojas
FROM CUBA
Water situation critical in Mayarí community
A settlement in Mayarí municipality that goes by the name of Guatemala has gone from bad to worse, as far as its water supply goes.
HOLGUIN, Jesús Almaguer Pérez
FROM CUBA
Human rights activist attacked by mob
A human rights activist here charged the mob that attacked him as he left his home October 27 was directed by the political police.
HAVANA, Juan Carlos Linares
FROM CUBA
Prisoners fumigated while they slept
Sleeping inmates were sprayed while they slept when the chief of Internal Order at the El Pitirre prison ordered spraying against mosquitos to proceed at six in the morning.
HAVANA, Roberto Santana
FROM CUBA
Sentencing set for fishermen
Fifteen fishermen accused of pilfering government property will be sentenced by the Havana provincial tribunal on November 7.
HAVANA, Richard Roselló
FROM CUBA
Necessity is the great equalizer
Although imposed equality is the law of the land in Cuba's Communist society, we all know life is a seesaw; somedays you are up, somedays you're not.
HAVANA, Marilyn Díaz Fernández
FROM CUBA
Government crackdown against street vendors
Military units have been raiding homes and searching people in public in a crackdown on street merchants in Bolondrón, according to Julio Sierra Silva, representative of the Alternative Option Independence Movement.
MATANZAS, Oscar Sánchez Madan
FROM CUBA
Government official runs down dissidents with his car
Nelson Suárez, an official of a government agricultural agency, ran down three dissidents in his car, according to Juan Francisco Sigler Amaya, a member of the Alternative Option Independence Movement.
MATANZAS, Oscar Sánchez Madan
FROM CUBA
Anti-Castro poster put up in pre-university institute
A poster reading "Down with Fidel" was found on a wall of the José Carlos Mariátegui Institute, a pre-university center on the Isle of Youth, according to Gerlys Pérez la Rosa, a member of the dissident Youth Movement for Democracy.
HAVANA, Roberto Santana
The Miami Herald
• Rights group calls Cuba on 75 arrests, 3 deaths
• OAS agency blasts Cuba for rights violations
• Sports agent charged with smuggling Cuban ballplayers
• Raúl Castro takes his own path
• OAS human rights branch condemns Cub
• Cuba accused of slavelike labor deal
• Cuba examining socialism for flaws
• Radio and TV Martí begin aircraft broadcasts
• U.N. will slam trade embargo, Cuban predicts
Yahoo News
• Cuba's 2006 nickel output may not meet forecast
• New photos show Castro standing, talking
• Cuba: Trade Fair 'Proof' Embargo Fails
• Brother says Fidel Castro doing well
• Cubans Are Urged to Be More Active
• Canada hosts Cuban band shut out of U.S.
Cuba: We're forced to 'finance' the Internet
A government official in the Cuba's Commission of Electronic Commerce, on Wednesday assailed the U.S. government's economic embargo and argued that, as a result, poorer countries are "financing" the Internet. Fernandez's only problem was that a longtime Internet engineer and researcher was present and challenged those claims.
ZDNet News.
Pirates try to sign defector from Cuba
The Pirates are trying to sign a right-handed pitcher who defected from Cuba along with two other players who recently signed contracts with major-league teams.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Some won't prod Cuba to change
The day ailing Cuban president-for-life Fidel Castro dies, whenever that happens, several Latin American countries will express their deepest condolences, and at the same time ask for a political opening on the island.
Andres Oppenheimer, The Miami Herald.
Prof's memoir of life in Cuba is city's 'One Book' selection'Waiting for Snow in Havana' is at libraries
This year's selection for the annual "One Book, One Philadelphia" program reaches far from the city to a tropical land with its own link to the struggle for liberty.
Philadelphia Daily News.

October 23

CubaNet founder Rosa Berre passed away October 19
Overcoming the illness that consumed her, Berre did not quit her post until the very end. As late as last week, she was still at her desk, sorting, editing, and organizing articles and dispatches, despite her increasing frailty and laborious breathing.
MIAMI

FROM CUBA
Holguín pediatric hospital in critical condition
A member of a women's movement here has drawn attention to what she called the precarious condition of the Holguín pediatric hospital.
CIEGO DE AVILA, Luis Esteban Espinosa
FROM CUBA
Authorities refuse to issue exit permit for daughter of political prisoner
Cuban migratory authorities have refused to issue an exit visa for a 12-year-old daughter of a political prisoner who wanted to go live with an aunt in Perú.
CIEGO DE AVILA, Abel Escobar Ramírez
FROM CUBA
Authorities cover up dengue deaths
Municipal authorities in Mayarí, Holguín province, have covered up the dengue-caused deaths of a woman and her daughter, according to medical sources who refused to be identified.
HOLGUIN, Jesús Almaguer Pérez
FROM CUBA
State Security threatens dissident
Dissident activist Alberto Sigler, 45, said State Security officer Terencio Camejo visited him at home October 8 and threatened to throw him in prison if he didn't give up his work on behalf of human rights.
MATANZAS, Oscar Sánchez Madan
FROM CUBA
Unemployed threatened with prison
Cuban dissident Yuniel Columbié said police have threatened to throw him in prison for not having a steady job and for visiting the home of his uncle Julio, a delegate to the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights.
HAVANA
FROM CUBA
Police search home on suspicion of illegal enrichment
Police in Batabanó searched the home of Héctor Ruiz October 12 for what they said was suspicion of illegal enrichment.
HAVANA, Richard Roselló
FROM CUBA
Two in prison complain of medical neglect
Two imprisoned independent journalists complain prison authorities have ignored their need for medical attention, putting their health in danger.
Abel Escobar and Roberto Santana
FROM CUBA
Two exceed sentence while awaiting trial
Two men presumably implicated in acts of vandalism have spent two years and eight months in jail awaiting trial. In preliminary documents in the case, the prosecution was asking the court to impose a two year sentence.
CIEGO DE AVILA, Abel Escobar Ramírez
The Miami Herald
• Cuba's grip on Web is sophisticated
• Cuban author Amir Valle: I'm not defecting
• Bebo Valdés' piano power enrapturing
• Turncoat analyst an effective spy for Cuba, book says
• Workers scam cash to cover basic costs
• Top politicians, exiles plan for life after Fidel
• Casamayor enjoying new reign as champion
Yahoo News
• Cuba Replaces Transportation Minister
• China, Cuba to launch biotech venture in China
• US diplomat gives Castro's post-operative Cuba poor prognosis
Cuba quietly waits for change in leadership
The communist island quietly carries on in the wake of a change in leadership - but its fate is far from clear.
Houston Chronicle.
Many hope to strike it rich with Cuba's oil
Cuba has become the latest country drawn into the frenzied hunt for oil, hoping that a gusher in its Caribbean fields will ease its energy dependence and revive its economy.
The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Cuba to go back to standard time
three years of following the summer time schedule to save on scarce electricity, Cuba's National Electrical Union has decided to go back to the standard time schedule from October-end, having ensured the generation of the energy needed for the country.
New Kerala.
Independent Florida candidate for U.S. Senate visits Cuba
Independent candidate Brian Moore traveled to Cuba on Monday to underscore his opposition to U.S. trade sanctions against the communist-run island after he was shut out of a debate between top Democratic and Republican candidates for one of the two Florida Senate seats.
IHT

October 13

FROM CUBA
To be a street vendor in Cuba
"Agua" is the cry that warns street vendors that a policeman or inspector just hove into view. And being nabbed by one of these usually entails the loss of one's goods and money, and a fine that can go as high as 1500 pesos.
HAVANA, Roberto Santana Rodríguez

FROM CUBA
Free education; a signal achievement of the Revolution
On September 4, the first day of the school year, a casual observer could easily tell to what grade the incoming students were going. Not by their apparent ages, but by the state of their uniforms. Here's the code.
HOLGUIN, Karell Infante Mantilla
FROM CUBA
More than 30 days without running water
Residents of the Mantilla neighborhood in Havana have gone 30 days without running water in their homes. Water authorities blame the breakdown of a motor that cut down pumping capacity, although they said whoever was in charge of opening the valves shared the blame.
HAVANA, Amarilis C. Rey
The Miami Herald
• Cuban exiles, dissidents sign plan
• New task force to target Cuba ban offenders
• Cuba waging war against dengue fever
• Batista's widow dies at 82, 33 years after her husband
Yahoo News
• Cuba's oldest man dies at age 126
• Biltmore Hosts Gov., Cuban Democracy Summit
• Biltmore Hosts Gov., Cuban Democracy Summit
• Japan names ambassadors to Finland, Ethiopia, Hungary, Cuba
• China, Cuba to cooperate in meteorology
• Cuba's Fidel not dying: Raul Castro
Castro Reported to Have Cancer
U.S. intelligence reports now say the Cuban leader's condition appears terminal, government officials tell TIME.
TIME.

October 5

FROM CUBA
Health workers threatened if outbreak information leaks
Workers at the Morón General Hospital in Ciego de Ávila province say they have been warned that should any of them leak any information about the current outbreak of dengue fever they will lose their jobs without any right to appeal.
MORON, Abel Escobar

FROM CUBA
Human Rights Activist Harassed
Cuban human rights activist William Cepero spent a night in jail September 15 after being harassed by agents of the Department of State Security.
HAVANA, Ahmed Rodríguez
FROM CUBA
Headaches with the start of a school year
For Adela, a housewife in the Cacocún municipality of Holguín province, the fact that her two girls started school has become a headache: her low salary does not stretch to buy everything they need.
HOLGUIN, Marcelo Jiménez
FROM CUBA
Townspeople irked by housing decision
In spite of a grass roots campaign by the people of Ranchuelo to have housing authorities assign a house to a woman who has a mental disorder, the house was granted to an entity of the municipal government, irking the population.
RANCHUELO, Félix Reyes
FROM CUBA
Transportation worsens in Santa Clara
Hundreds of would-be passengers waiting for the few available buses and horse-drawn carriages filling in attest to the worsening crisis in transportation in Santa Clara.
SANTA CLARA, Alain Ramón Gómez
FROM CUBA
Independent journalist says firing was reprisal
Independent journalist Julio Aleaga Pesant, who was recently fired from his job charges the firing was in reprisal for an article he wrote September 8 denouncing a near epidemic of dengue fever in Cuba.
HAVANA, Roberto Santana
FROM CUBA
Resources scarce in hospitals
Cuban hospitals have become decrepit places with leaks and peeling paint and so few resources that patients take their own from home. Typically, patients take sheets, towels, eating utensils and a bucket for water.
CAMAGÜEY, Marilyn Díaz
FROM CUBA
Mother arrested after complaining at pharmacy
María Rosales was arrested, held for 24 hours, and fined 400 pesos after protesting at a pharmacy that couldn't supply the insulin her 6-year-old daughter needs to treat her diabetes.
MORON, Tico Morales
FROM CUBA
Trains haven't run in a month
The trains serving the route between Morón and Santa Clara and points in between have not run since August after the rains washed away some of the track.
MORON, Tico Morales
The Miami Herald
• Minister says Castro will return to power
• Newsroom philosophies differ
• Cruz's 'Sisters' gets loving performance
• Poll shows support for travel restrictions to Cuba
• Cuban official: Embargo losses are more than $4 billion
• Miami Cubans: Fidel era over
• Herald publisher resigns
• Cuban national's widow is granted U.S. residency
Yahoo News
• US opposes release of anti-Castro militant
• B.C. girl forced to stay in Cuba, mom charged by police says
• Namibia: Namibians to Study in Cuba
Putting the pinch on tyrants' finances
In the U.S. legal system, compensation for loss of life takes precedence over property claims. In cases like Mr. Ray's and Mr. Anderson's, in which tyrants commit heinous abuses, the higher principle is clear.
The Miami Herald.
Human rights still under siege
The Cuban government is nothing if not consistent. Faced once again with a report in the U.N. Human Rights Council condemning the way Cuba treats its citizens, the government responded by denouncing Christine Chanet, the French lawyer who prepared the report.
The Miami Herald.

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