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Defecting Cuban boxers denied entry
By Frank Bajak, Associated
Press Writer. February 21, 2007.
BOGOTA, Colombia - Three Olympic champion
Cuban boxers who defected and signed seven-figure
contracts with a German promoter have been
refused entry to the United States, their
manager said Wednesday.
Heavyweight Odlanier Solis, flyweight Yan
Bhartelemy and featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa
were to have made their pro debuts in Miami
on Friday night, but the fights were postponed
a week, said Antonio Gonzalez, the Miami-based
manager and attorney.
He said the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security approved entry for the three but
consular officials at the embassy in Colombia,
which the three entered from bordering Venezuela
in late December, wouldn't grant them visas.
"The State Department still sees it
as them wanting to stay in the States, which
at this point would be career suicide for
them," Gonzalez said by telephone from
Miami.
He said the Bogota embassy wants proof
the three boxers, who won gold medals in
the 2004 Athens Games, have permanent residence
but so far they lack German visas.
"They have bank accounts in Hamburg,
Germany. They have an actual address in
Hamburg where they'll be living," Gonzalez
said. "The first part of the contract
is their debut would be in Miami for obvious
reasons."
Embassy spokeswoman Suzanne Hall said the
State Department does not comment on individual
cases.
Gonzalez said each of the three fighters
had signed seven-figure, three-year contracts
with Hamburg-based First Artist and Arena
with an option for two more years. That
doesn't count purses.
All three were training with the Cuban
national team in Venezuela when they defected
to Colombia, which granted them temporary
visas, said Irichelle Duran, daughter of
the boxer Roberto Duran, who works with
Gonzalez.
Niece: Castro in 'stupendous' condition
By E. Eduardo Castillo,
Associated Press Writer, Feb 18, 2007.
HAVANA - Fidel Castro's niece said Sunday
he was recovering well from surgery and
would likely be "very active"
again in Cuba's government.
"Fidel is stupendous," said Mariela
Castro Espin, daughter of acting President
Raul Castro, who took over in July after
his older brother underwent surgery.
Fidel Castro, 80, has disappeared from
view since temporarily ceding power to his
younger brother, aside from occasional videotaped
meetings with foreign visitors.
The most recent showed a Jan. 29 meeting
with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in
which the Cuban leader seemed noticeably
stronger and less haggard than in earlier
images.
The videotape eased speculation fed by
a Jan. 16 report in the Spanish newspaper
El Pais that described Castro as being in
"very grave" condition after three
failed operations. Cuban officials have
not given details of his illness.
It has not been clear if Castro would eventually
return to power fully or would leave the
government in the hands of colleagues. There
have been no visible signs of unrest or
major policy changes since he stepped aside.
"One way or the other he is going
to be present and very active," said
Castro Espin, who attended the dedication
of a book of collected speeches and interviews
by her mother Vilma Espin, a veteran of
the revolution led by Castro.
Castro Espin, who heads the National Center
for Sex Education, said she had not seen
her uncle in recent days, but had spoken
with "many people to be able to have
information from different points of view"
about his condition.
"I know that he is very well, that
he is recovering very well," she said.
Castro "is recuperating as a man of
80 years should recuperate."
Cuban Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon
made similar comments for Sunday's edition
of the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
Alarcon was quoted as saying he had spoken
with Fidel Castro several times by phone
and that the Cuban leader was closely following
events.
"I'm confident that he will not only
continue leading, as he is now, on fundamental
topics, but that we will see him more closely,"
Alarcon said.
He added that "it would be natural
to expect that things would be like before"
but without Castro spending "so many
hours making appearances and visits."
U.S. expects change after Fidel's death
By George Gedda, Associated
Press Writer. February 17, 2007.
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration remains
hopeful that the death of Fidel Castro will
unleash grass-roots pressure among Cubans
for democratic change - but many analysts
see little threat to the regime under the
thus-far seamless succession of brother
Raul.
As U.S. officials see it, the seismic political
event for Cuba has yet to come.
"We don't feel that we've lost an
important moment, because quite frankly,
we don't see any significant possibility
of change of any kind until Fidel is gone,"
Tom Shannon, the top State Department aide
for Latin America, says.
Intestinal surgery last July led to the
transfer of power from Fidel, 80, to Raul,
75. U.S. intelligence agencies do not expect
the elder Castro to live long but his two
brothers, Raul and Ramon, insist he is recovering.
U.S. presidents have been waiting for decades
for Fidel to die and to take his communist
project to his grave.
President Bush, who has especially close
ties to the anti-Castro Cuban-American community,
has tried to hasten a democratic transition
by tightening the embargo against the island.
But many observers say the post-Fidel era
has begun - with Raul Castro clearly in
control.
Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, head of the Defense
Intelligence Agency, said last month that
Raul Castro has the "widespread respect
and support" of military commanders,
whose backing he believes will be crucial
in the succession process.
He said Raul Castro should be able to fend
off any move to depose him "at least
for the short term."
Brian Latell, a former top Cuba analyst
at the CIA, agrees and says Raul Castro
has been acting more boldly than expected,
encouraging debate among Cubans and calling
on university students to "fearlessly"
discuss the country's problems.
A majority of people in the U.S., 54 percent,
said it is unlikely that Fidel Castro's
regime will be replaced with a democracy
once he is gone, according to an AP-Ipsos
poll taken a couple of weeks ago.
There is little evidence of pro-democracy
ferment in Cuba. The answer to whether that
reflects fear or contentment on the island
depends on whom one asks. One visible indication
of unrest is the single word that appears
on occasional street signs: "Cambio"
("Change").
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (news, bio, voting
record), a Cuban-born Florida Republican,
says the calm under Raul is illusory.
"The regime of Fidel Castro is not
viable without Fidel Castro," he says.
"A transition to democracy in Cuba
is inevitable, but Fidel Castro needs to
die for the future of Cuba to begin."
Frank Calzon, executive director of the
Center for a Free Cuba, says there will
be "an explosion of expectations"
among Cubans for a better life once Fidel
dies. As the regime "is unable to meet
these aspirations, the likelihood of instability
will increase."
But Wayne Smith, a former diplomat and
an advocate of resuming ties with Cuba,
sees continuity in Havana under Raul Castro.
Myles Frechette, once dismissed by Cuba
as a "troglodyte" in his days
as a U.S. diplomat, offers the same assessment.
Raul, he says, possesses the necessary "ruthlessness"
to put down would-be foes.
The administration has elaborate plans
for food deliveries to Cuba and other emergency
relief in the event of unrest. Plans also
are in place to counter possible mass migration
from Cuba. A full-scale exercise, replete
with role-playing by mock migrants landing
on U.S. shores, is set for south Florida
next month.
A key element of the administration's regime
change strategy is to deny resources to
Cuba through travel restrictions and other
measures. A presidential report issued three
weeks before Castro fell ill says, "The
more financially stressed the system is,
the more difficult it will be for any leader
who follows Fidel Castro to preside over
a succession within the dictatorship."
But Raul Castro's ability to retain control
has been bolstered by steep discounts on
oil sales to Cuba by Venezuela's pro-Castro
President Hugo Chavez. The annual savings
for Cuba, according to U.S. estimates: $800
million. Julia Sweig of the Council on Foreign
Relations says the handoff from Fidel to
Raul has been "notably smooth and stable
- not one violent episode in Cuban streets."
The Bush administration is disappointed
that Latin American democracies have not
been pressing for democratic change in Cuba.
Many apparently are reluctant to be seen
as doing U.S. bidding. Cuba has also fostered
good relations with hemispheric neighbors
by sending countless doctors to work in
underserved communities.
Cuba, meanwhile, is keeping a wary eye
on Florida-based exile groups. Officials
warn of an attempt by Miami Cubans to reclaim
the homes they left behind, forcing current
occupants into the street.
They are also on guard against a possible
power grab by what it sees as an "annexationist"
U.S. administration. Bush has said, though,
that any new leadership for Cuba should
come from within the island, not from south
Florida.
On the Net:
CIA
World Factbook on Cuba
State
Department background on Cuba
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