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Official says U.S. willing to help Cuba
By Traci Carl, Associated
Press Writer. February 1, 2007.
MEXICO CITY - U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos
Gutierrez said Thursday that Washington
is willing to help Cuba make the transition
to a more open, democratic society.
Speaking to reporters during a one-day
visit to Mexico, Gutierrez said the U.S.
supports a "peaceful transition to
democracy."
Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro has been
seen only in government-released videos
and photos since ceded power to his brother
Raul in late July while he recovers from
intestinal surgery.
On Tuesday, Cuban state television released
images of a stronger-looking Castro meeting
with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a
close ally.
Gutierrez, who was born in Cuba, said the
United States does not plan to meddle in
Cuban politics but wants to see the country
make the transition to democracy.
"The future of Cuba is in Cuba,"
he said, but added that "if we can
be of help, we are ready to help in that
transition."
Gutierrez did not elaborate, but last September
he suggested that Cubans could work with
the Organization of American States and
other groups to hold a referendum on whether
they want to live in democracy.
Gutierrez also said Thursday that President
Bush's administration is working to pass
an immigration reform that would allow the
United States to protect its borders while
recognizing the millions of people who already
work illegally in the country.
"Unless we tackle the problem in a
comprehensive fashion, it is just going
to get worse," he said.
He said the U.S. must find a middle ground
between "amnesty" and "animosity"
and he spoke out against mass deportations,
saying: "That's not humane or moral."
Gutierrez also praised a recent anti-drug
crackdown launched by new President Felipe
Calderon and said he expects Calderon to
take action against Mexican industries that
have been accused of monopolistic practices,
such as telecommunications and television.
"We believe President Calderon is
off to a strong start, and he'll need time
to do what he needs to do," Gutierrez
said.
ANZ cuts business to Sudan, Cuba, Iran
AAP via Yahoo! Thursday
February 1, 2007.
ANZ Banking Group is curtailing financial
transactions with US-sanctioned countries
Sudan, Cuba and Iran to ensure compliance
with US regulations.
Following a review of its compliance with
US economic sanctions, ANZ said it would
upgrade its automated sanction filters and
introduce stricter controls on manual overrides
of transactions flagged by automated screening.
The main issue is trade financed in US
dollars or involving a US citizen with the
sanctioned countries.
The review covered more than 330,000 trade
finance transactions for Australia and international
clients between 2001 and 2006.
ANZ said of those transactions, only 42
involved parties from US-sanctioned countries
and they remained under review.
US has no idea on Castro health
WASHINGTON, 31 (AFP) - The United States
admitted it had no idea about Cuban President
Fidel Castro's state of health, hours after
Cuban television broadcast new pictures
of its ailing communist nemesis.
"We don't actually have any idea what
the status of his health is," State
Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said,
despite previous predictions by a senior
US official that Castro's days may be numbered.
"The Cuban regime is surprisingly
disinterested in providing the US government
with assessments of Fidel Castro's health,"
Casey told reporters.
"I can't tell you whether these new
images are significant or not and I think
it's rather speculative for anybody who
is not an intimate part of the regime to
try and give you one."
Latest footage broadcast Tuesday appeared
to support official claims that Castro's
recovery from surgery is going well, though
it remains unclear whether he will resume
the leadership he handed to his brother
Raul six months ago.
The 80-year-old communist leader, who has
ruled Cuba for five decades, was shown with
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, looking
healthier than in the previous footage broadcast
on October 28.
Earlier in January, US spy chief and nominee
for deputy secretary of state John Negroponte
said: "Fidel Castro's days or months
seem to be numbered."
In December, Negroponte was quoted by The
Washington Post as saying "everything
we see indicates it will not be much longer,
... months, not years" for the revolutionary
icon.
Casey added it was important that Cuba
give its people "the opportunity to
freely express their views and freely choose
their leaders, which is something that Fidel
Castro has denied them the entire time he's
been in office."
Cuba shelves turtle trade resumption
proposal, blowing Japan projects
Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News,
January 30, 2007.
(Kyodo) _ Cuba has decided to put off proposing
resumption of sea turtle trade at an international
meeting in June, meaning that the 875 million
yen the Japanese government has spent trying
to restart the trade has been wasted, a
conservation group said Wednesday.
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry
confirmed that Cuba has waived making the
proposal at the meeting of signatories to
the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora,
or the Washington Convention. The ministry
said it "will examine whether it is
appropriate" to continue funding the
projects.
According to the Japan Wildlife Conservation
Society, the ministry has been seeking the
resumption of the international trade in
hawksbills, calling the ban on trading in
the species a blow to domestic tortoise
shell product makers.
From 1991 to 2006, METI provided 735 million
yen in subsidies to the Japan Bekko Association
based in Nagasaki Prefecture to research
hawksbill resources in countries of the
turtle's origin such as Cuba, and 140 million
yen for its project to seek resumption of
the international trade in hawksbills and
ivory, the JWCS said.
The international trade in hawksbills is
currently banned under the Washington Convention
after the species was listed in the convention's
Appendix I in 1975. The World Conservation
Union classifies the species as critically
endangered.
But Japan has been aiming to have hawksbills
listed in the convention's Appendix II,
which would enable international trade in
the turtle with the permission of countries
of origin, according to the JWCS.
Kumi Togawa of the JWCS said moving the
turtle to Appendix II "has not been
proposed since it was rejected in the 2000
meeting, and there is almost no chance for
it being accepted."
"The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry
has said it will continue the subsidized
project for five years from fiscal 2007,
but it is nothing but a waste of tax money,"
she added.
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