CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

New Congress emboldens Cuban Democrats

A new generation of Democrats is working to lure Cuban Americans away from the Republican Party they have supported for decades.

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Jan. 30, 2007

By her own account, Susana Betancourt earned her anti-Castro cred by helping to represent Bacardi in its trademark fight over Havana Club Rum against the Cuban government -- and winning.

At 37, she's a successful and politically active Gen-Xer, a rising star in Miami's contentious political scene, working to lure Cuban Americans away from the Republican Party.

With Democrats in control of Congress and Raúl Castro running Cuba the past six months as his brother Fidel remains ailing, some believe change is on the horizon. Last week, a bipartisan group, including Arizona Republican Rep. Jeff Flake, and New York Democrat Charles Rangel, once again introduced a bill in the U.S. House to allow travel to Cuba.

If Democrats act as a catalyst for change, Cuban Americans from their party will be in a position that could present both opportunity and political peril.

'There is this ongoing presumption that if you're Cuban you're automatically a Republican, and when you tell people you're Democrat, it's almost like the old guard looks at you and says, 'I didn't realize you're a communist,' '' said Betancourt, president of the Miami-Dade Democratic Hispanic Caucus.

Betancourt is counting on disillusionment with President Bush's Cuba policy to attract younger Cuban-American voters, in particular, to the Democratic camp. ''You've had a Republican president and you've had a Republican-controlled Congress,'' she said. "What changes have we seen?''

SOLD OUT?

Joe Garcia, vice president of the New Democrat Network, said the Bush administration hobbled the Republican Party by "selling itself out to the ultra-right.''

''What I think you are going to find from Democrats is they are going to look to engage the Cuban-American community for the solution,'' Garcia said.

Republicans point out that Cuban-American voters tend to be more conservative on Cuba policy than more recently arrived exiles, who may favor easing restrictions on travel and remittances.

State. Rep. David Rivera, a Republican who led a group three years ago that lobbied the Bush administration to tighten the embargo, said Democrats have to tread carefully.

''Any Democratic presidential candidate that tries to embrace a more liberal approach toward Cuba policy does so at their own peril,'' Rivera said. "Because they are trying to appeal to a group of individuals who are not as relevant to the political process as they may be led to believe.''

Seventy-two percent of Cuban-American voters are registered Republicans, according to a recent poll conducted by Bendixen & Associates, a polling firm closely aligned with the Democrats. Only 11 percent are registered Democrats.

Those statistics don't discourage a group outnumbered almost 7-1. They recall how Democrat Bill Clinton made inroads when seeking reelection in 1996, garnering 40 percent of the vote in predominantly Cuban-American precincts.

This younger generation of Democrats is carrying on a torch kindled decades ago by former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, former Florida state Rep. Annie Betancourt (no relation to Susana Betancourt) and others. Many exiles say U.S. policy toward Cuba is too harsh.

GENERATION GAP

Conducted several weeks after Fidel Castro ceded power to Raúl, the poll found that Cubans who arrived from the island before 1980 toed a harder line on sanctions than those who arrived afterward. That makes sanctions -- such as limiting travel to visit family in Cuba to once every three years -- a potential wedge issue.

Bendixen's poll showed that 49 percent of Cuban Americans favored the 2004 sanctions and 45 percent opposed them. Cuban exiles who arrived after 1980 opposed sanctions 55 percent to 41 percent; those who came before 1980 favored restrictions 63 percent to 29 percent.

A similar poll conducted in September for U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart found Cuban Americans in his district backed current sanctions, although younger voters were less likely to support the embargo. In that poll, 80 percent of the Cuban Americans interviewed arrived before the Mariel boatlift.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said softening the embargo will not help bring democracy to Cuba. ''I would hope that regardless of how the Cuban Democrats approach the overarching policy, that we agree on the end goal, which is helping the Cuban people to establish freedom,'' she said. "We disagree on how best to get there.''

Like Republicans, Democrats don't have a consensus on Cuba. Some Democrats, such as New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, back sanctions. Some pro-trade Republicans have joined liberal Democrats to push for U.S. travel to Cuba and increased contacts they believe can help lead to democratic reform.

Key Democrats say they won't press to change U.S. policy while Castro is likely on his deathbed; they're waiting to see what leadership emerges.

BIDING THEIR TIME

Democrats likely won't get enough votes to overturn a veto, which Bush has promised for any bill that attempts to soften the embargo and travel ban.

Nevertheless, Cuban-American Democrats see a chance to move the debate -- and, eventually, the White House -- in another direction.

Coral Gables City Attorney Elizabeth Hernandez, a Democrat, said Cuban Americans are split over the embargo.

''I always believe in destiny, and it's very ironic that the Democrats are in power the year we are hoping with sufficient amount of prayer that Fidel will meet his maker,'' Hernandez said. "I am hoping that the Democratic Party, which is the one that really planned for the reentry of Cuban exiles into Cuba when this first happened, will be at the helm when, hopefully, we are back in Cuba.''

When Castro dies, the party's on

The city of Miami plans to respond to Fidel Castro's death -- whenever that may be -- with a celebration at the Orange Bowl.

By Michael Vasquez, mrvasquez@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Mon, Jan. 29, 2007

One day, very possibly one day soon, ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro will die -- and a nascent committee sponsored by the city of Miami wants to be ready.

So it's planning a party.

The event, still in the very early planning stage, would be held in Little Havana's Orange Bowl stadium -- and might include commemorative T-shirts, a catchy slogan and bands that will make your hips shake.

The stadium is a bittersweet landmark in South Florida's Cuban-American experience. After the 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco, more than 35,000 exiles gathered there to hear President John F. Kennedy promise a free Cuba.

Decades later, the bowl served as a camp for Mariel refugees.

City Commissioner Tomás Regalado, a Cuban American, came up with the idea of using the venue for an event timed to Castro's demise.

''He represents everything bad that has happened to the people of Cuba for 48 years,'' Regalado said of Castro. "There is something to celebrate, regardless of what happens next. . . . We get rid of the guy.''

Despite that statement, Regalado, along with other organizers, prefers to think of it as a celebration of the end of communism -- whether or not that is triggered by Castro's death -- as opposed to a large-scale tap-dancing session on someone's grave. Regalado compares it to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The city created the citizens committee that is planning the event earlier this month. When the still-unnamed panel met for the first time last week, Castro's death was nowhere to be found on the meeting agenda. The meeting was officially -- and ambiguously -- advertised under the title, "Committee Meeting for an Event at the Orange Bowl.''

Its purpose, according to the city's website: "Discuss an event at the Orange Bowl in case expected events occur in Cuba.''

EVENT'S THEME

At that meeting, committee member and former state Rep. Luis Morse stressed the need for an uplifting, forward-looking theme for the party -- one not preoccupied with a human being's passing. The committee discussed including such a theme on T-shirts that would be made by private vendors for the event.

Plenty of details have to be sorted out: What musicians would perform? The city hopes entertainers will donate their services. How long will the event last? Hours? Days? And how much will it cost?

Performance stages require time to be set up, and a security guard company has already told Miami officials it requires 24 hours' notice before being able to work the stadium. A gap of a day or two between Castro's death and the Orange Bowl event is possible.

And before printing themed T-shirts, Miami has to actually decide what the theme is. It's still working on that one.

''That has to be done with a lot of sensitivity,'' Morse said. "Somebody needs to be a very good wordsmith.''

The stadium plan, though in its infancy, already has drawn criticism from callers on Spanish-language radio who complain Miami is dictating to Cuban Americans where they should experience one of the most intensely dramatic moments of their lives.

Regalado stresses that folks will still be free to spend their time on Calle Ocho -- the cultural heart of Little Havana and a location viewed more fondly by many exiles -- or anywhere else for that matter.

''This is not a mandatory site,'' he said of the Orange Bowl. "Just a place for people to gather.''

Ramón Saúl Sánchez, leader of the Miami-based Democracy Movement organization, worries about how a party would be perceived by those outside the exile community. He stressed that Castro's death will prompt a whole range of emotions among Cubans -- not just joy.

CRITIC OF PARTY

''The notion of a big party, I think, should be removed from all this,'' Sánchez said. "Although everybody will be very happy that the dictator cannot continue to oppress us himself, I think everybody is still very sad because there are still prisons full of prisoners, many people executed, and families divided.''

Rather than partying, Sánchez would rather see the post-Castro focus be on improving conditions for those still on the island. If an Orange Bowl event must happen, Sánchez would like to see it in the form of a ''protest concert'' heavy on positive messages.

Regalado, meanwhile, envisions the stadium -- as opposed to Versailles restaurant or some other tried-and-true landmark -- becoming the operations hub for the hordes of media expected to descend upon Miami: images of a thumping, pulsating, euphoric Orange Bowl beamed to televisions across the globe.

''It's helping a community celebrate,'' he said. "We can't stop the celebrations. We just want to help.''

Frozen Cuban funds running out

Havana is reportedly alarmed at the rapid depletion of funds held in U.S. accounts and being doled out as compensation to claimants in U.S. courts.

By Wilfredo Cancio Isla, El Nuevo Herald. Posted on Mon, Jan. 29, 2007

U.S. lawsuits seeking monetary compensation from Cuba face discouraging prospects: The Cuban funds frozen in U.S. accounts now are estimated at only around $70 million and are expected to run out soon.

The depletion of the Cuban assets held in U.S. banks has alarmed Havana, which has accused the U.S. government of stealing $170.2 million of its money over the past five years.

Cuba's accusation was contained in a note from the Ministry of Foreign Relations earlier this month, after a court ruling in Miami awarded $400 million to the survivors of Robert Fuller, a U.S. citizen executed by firing squad in Cuba in 1960. The compensation in that case has not been collected.

''Cuba will never renounce its right to demand that the U.S. government take full responsibility for the theft of the funds that are legitimately ours, to the last cent,'' the ministry's note said.

In reprisal for the first disbursement -- a $96 million award to the survivors of the Brothers to the Rescue members killed over the Straits of Florida -- Havana cut off direct U.S.-Cuba telephone communications in 2000. But Cuba analysts believe the current complaint has a different purpose because Raúl Castro has ''temporarily'' replaced his brother Fidel as the island's leader.

''These funds could be a subject for negotiation with Washington,'' said Jaime Suchlicki, director of the Center for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami. "The new clique of Raúl Castro, [Central Bank President] Francisco Soberón and company, is interested in those accounts, with a pragmatic vision.''

Cuba faces 5,911 claims from corporations and individuals for the confiscation of their properties and other assets on the island after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959. But it was not until the U.S. Congress passed a law in 2000 that claimants in U.S. courts could hope to collect any court awards from the frozen Cuban funds.

Although the amount of Cuban money frozen in U.S. accounts is inexact and ever-changing, an article that appeared in the Granma newspaper after the foreign ministry complaint said that barely $76 million remain, and that two of its accounts at the JPMorgan Chase bank ran out after an award granted by a New York judge in November 2006.

That award, totaling almost $91 million, benefited the survivors of Howard Anderson ($67 million) and Thomas Willard Ray ($23.9 million), U.S. citizens who participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion and were captured and executed in Cuba in 1961. The ministry maintained that only $72.1 million of that amount could be transferred to the plaintiffs before those accounts ran out.

The assets blocked by the Cuban Assets Control Regulations established in 1963 consist of three major accounts in the JPMorgan Chase bank: one belonging to the National Bank of Cuba (BNC) and two belonging to the Telecommunications Company of Cuba (EMTELCUBA). A significant percentage of the accumulated funds consists of long-distance telephone charges due to Cuba.

According to the Granma report, the BNC account and one of the EMTELCUBA accounts are already depleted. The second EMTELCUBA account contains only $6 million. About $58 million belonging to individual citizens and about $12 million in small accounts belonging to private and public institutions is all that remains of the frozen funds.

The latest U.S. Treasury Department report on the frozen assets of terrorism-linked nations placed the Cuban amount by the end of 2005 at $268.3 million. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) declined to comment on the Cuban government's $76 million figure but did not challenge it.

''Because we do not physically possess the assets, our information depends on the figures given to us by the financial institutions,'' said spokeswoman Molly Millerwise. "There are several requirements the financial institutions must meet when they report the frozen assets, and these [requirements] change frequently, making it impossible to get precise figures.''

Claimants also have had problems locating the frozen money because the U.S. banks refuse to reveal information, so as to prevent claims on their funds.

''A fundamental problem that emerged from the beginning in the quest to receive awards from the frozen funds was that there was no mechanism to collect the awards, even after a judge ruled favorably,'' said attorney Frank Angones, who represented the relatives of the Brothers to the Rescue victims in their 1997 claim for Cuban assets.

Wellness, longevity take varied paths in U.S., Cuba

U.S. healthcare costs more than Cuba's and may not have an edge in helping people live longer, but Cubans often lack prescription drugs and over-the-counter remedies.

By John Dorschner. jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sun, Jan. 28, 2007

The average Cuban lives slightly longer than the average American, but the American's healthcare costs $5,711 a year while the Cuban's costs $251.

Those are the figures of the World Health Organization. Some experts question the accuracy of the Cuban numbers, but no one doubts the underlying revelation: There is little relationship between the cost of your healthcare and how long you'll live.

''Medical care is responsible for only a small portion of the variation in life expectancy,'' says Gerard Anderson, a Johns Hopkins professor specializing in health policy. "Behavioral factors such as diet and exercise are much more important. The U.S., which spends much more than any other industrialized country on healthcare, is getting little value for much of the spending.''

These factors have moved to the forefront of the American political discussion as leaders in both major parties work toward solving what almost everyone agrees is a ''healthcare crisis,'' with soaring costs threatening to increase the numbers of the uninsured, which already include 46 million Americans.

In such a discussion, Cuba serves as the starkest possible contrast, a completely government-controlled system in which ailing leader Fidel Castro benefits from the best possible care, including consultations with a Madrid surgeon, while many Cubans struggle to get basic treatment.

Here are the numbers: The average American has a life expectancy of 77.8 years, as of 2006. The average Cuban lives 78.3 years. Even if the Cuban figure is inflated, no one disputes the statistics from European countries, where people tend to live a year or two longer than in the United States -- at about half the healthcare costs per capita.

At its highest level, most people agree, the United States has top-quality care. The country offers the latest magnetic resonance imaging, robotic-arm surgeries and drugs to deal with cholesterol, acid reflux and arthritis pain.

Americans want the biotech drug to target tumor cells, but many don't get basic preventive screening tests. That's particularly true for the uninsured, who often avoid treatment until their condition sends them to the emergency room.

Cuba offers universal healthcare and has twice as many doctors per capita as the United States. The Cuban government did not respond to The Miami Herald's request for comment via telephone or e-mail, but its publications have boasted that the country is one of the world's leaders in healthcare. Ann C. Seror, a professor at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, says Cuba has "achieved a remarkable level of healthcare quality of life for its citizenry.''

But six Cuban doctors The Miami Herald interviewed -- two dissidents still on the island, four now in Miami -- say many prescription drugs and even over-the-counter remedies are nearly impossible to get, and patients sometimes have long waits in clinics unless they pay bribes.

One irony is that poverty has forced Cubans into a healthier lifestyle. Juan A. Asensio, a University of Miami trauma surgeon and a Cuban American who is certainly no friend of the Castro regime, put it this way: "No McDonald's, and Cubans walk everywhere or ride bikes because they can't afford cars.''

About one in 10 Cubans are obese, according to the Pan American Health Organization. In the United States, one in three are obese, ''increasing risks of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease and osteoarthritis,'' according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Still, the aging American, no matter his weight, can lay claim to a more comfortable life, with access to everything from Advil to Pepto-Bismol and Viagra -- products virtually nonexistent in Cuba.

As Nestor Viamonte, a physician who left Cuba in 2003, puts it: "There's a difference between a 75-year-old with quality of life and a 75-year-old without quality of life.''

Cuban migrants land on Key West naval property

A Navy commander in Key West discovered 15 Cuban migrants in his yard this week.

By Cammy Clark, cclark@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Fri, Jan. 26, 2007

KEY WEST - The U.S. Navy's new top commander in Key West got up one morning this week to a front-door taste of life in South Florida: Calmly sitting in his yard near a hedge were 15 Cuban migrants, fresh off a crossing of the Florida Straits in a rickety homemade boat.

An off-duty officer, jogging in the predawn darkness, spotted the group around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday and knocked on the front door belonging to Capt. James R. Brown of the Key West Naval Air Station.

'He said, 'Hey, skipper, I need your help,' '' Brown said Thursday. "I grabbed my phone and shouted to my wife, Lorie, that we had extra guests in our front yard. . . . What a sight to behold. Fifteen people were sitting calmly, sipping the little water they had left.''

Four of the migrants had gone for help and eventually returned to the group, sitting under a streetlight so they could be found, Brown said.

Under the United States government's ''wet-foot/dry-foot'' policy, the Cubans -- 12 men, five women and two children -- are almost certain to be allowed to stay because they reached U.S. soil.

Brown lives on military property at Truman Annex, near the big tourist buoy that marks the southernmost spot in the continental United States, only 90 miles from Cuba.

Brown said he cannot discuss the security measures in place around the Navy's property, although he did say there are markers along the shore that say: "Do Not Enter. Military property.''

''But the Cubans land apparently just about anywhere,'' he said, adding that migrants have previously come ashore on military property in Key West. "Statistically, it's going to happen.''

The site of the Cubans' landing this week also is only about a mile from the Coast Guard base in Key West and even closer to a Virginia-based Coast Guard cutter that was docked at Truman Annex to unload $57 million of cocaine seized from a Honduras fishing vessel.

'ROBUST PRESENCE'

Although the Key West Coast Guard station is without eight 123-foot patrol boats that were dry-docked indefinitely last month to fix structural problems, there is still a ''robust and aggressive'' presence in the Florida Straits, said Coast Guard spokesman Chris O'Neil.

'We're out there, but it's a big ocean and you can't throw a wall around the maritime border and seal it off and say 'We have 100 percent protection,' '' O'Neil said. 'It's not achievable.' ''

Coast Guard Capt. Scott A. Buschman, the Key West area commander, said he is getting needed resources from other areas of the Coast Guard to make up for the loss of the patrol boats.

He said the Coast Guard also will soon implement a plan called ''multi-crewing,'' in which 110-foot patrol boats will be operated about twice as many hours on the seas -- using two crews and a revamped maintenance plan.

PLANNING AHEAD

Shortly after he took command in Key West in July, Brown said, he reviewed a number of contingency plans. Among them was this: "Let's pretend I wake up one morning and find extra guests in my yard. What do we do?''

The plan worked well Wednesday, Brown said, with teams from the Navy's base security and the Key West police and fire departments responding. Brown said his first concern was for the health of the migrants, especially two very young children.

Brown said all seemed fine "but appeared very thankful they were out of that rocky boat.''

The migrants were given food, and the children also got stuffed animals. They all were taken to the Monroe County Detention Center, where they were processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Cuba spotlights friendship with Chávez

A high-profile Cuban delegation visited Caracas this week in a prominent demonstration of solidarity with Venezuela.

By Frances Robles And Phil Gunson. frobles@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Fri, Jan. 26, 2007

CARACAS - A delegation of Cuba's most influential Cabinet members flew to Venezuela this week to sign 16 deals worth more than $1 billion, highlighting the close relations between Caracas and Havana.

Perhaps even more significant than the accords to dig for oil or host low-income Venezuelan tourists in Cuba were the officials who showed up for the signing ceremony: 10 Cuban ministers and Vice President Carlos Lage.

The Cuban officials were on hand Wednesday as President Hugo Chávez heralded the growing economic bond between the two nations. The Cuban delegation also was met by a formal military reception at the Miraflores presidential palace.

The visit was significant because many Cuba-watchers often speculate that relations between Chávez and Cuba's interim President Raúl Castro are at best icy.

MUTUAL MESSAGE

But as Fidel Castro convalesces, Chávez continues to pour more than $2 billion a year to Cuba to prop its economy, leaving Raúl dependent. While Raúl's friendship with Chávez may not be as warm as his brother's, experts say sending such a high-profile delegation was a clear sign that Raúl is eager to extend cozy bilateral relations.

''We think it's a way of each country telling each other: we need each other,'' said Jorge Piñon, who tracks Venezuelan oil deals with Cuba for the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. "That was Raúl Castro telling Chávez: 'I need you economically. I cannot survive without you, and therefore I am . . . sending my most senior representatives to visit you.'''

Lage was accompanied by Foreign Investment Minister Marta Lumas, Basic Industries Minister Yadira García and Ramiro Valdés, minister of information and telecommunications. Also present were Transportation Minister Jorge Luis Sierra, Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero and the ministers of agriculture, María Pérez, and finance, Giorgina Barreiro. The chairman of the central bank and the industries minister also attended.

The arrival of the delegation on Wednesday was not announced in advance, and took even the presidential palace press corps by surprise. It was the first visit by such high Cuban officials since Fidel Castro fell ill in July.

In all, the two governments signed more than a dozen agreements, in areas as diverse as tourism, telecommunications and energy.

Cuba is to advise Venezuela on tourism projects, including the development of the island of La Tortuga. Venezuela, in turn, plans to send 100,000 low-income tourists to Cuba, drawn in part from the beneficiaries of Cuban-aided social welfare missions in Venezuela.

A joint telecommunications company -- one of a dozen to be established under the new agreements -- will set up a 932-mile fiber optic link between the two countries. The project is scheduled for completion in two years.

FARMS AND FACTORY

Other projects include the cultivation of rice in Venezuela for export to Cuba, the establishment of a stainless steel plant using Venezuelan iron and Cuban nickel, and joint oil exploration in both countries. The oil and nickel agreements are worth about $500 million each, Piñon said, but are not likely to take off for two to three years.

Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolás Maduro said the agreements marked "a giant step forward in the process of union between the peoples of Venezuela and Cuba.''

Chávez reiterated the two nations' solidarity, and added that even if President Bush didn't mention Venezuela in his State of the Union speech this week, he did mention Cuba.

''Maybe he doesn't know, or let's remind him in case he has forgotten,'' Chávez said, "that when he threatens Cuba, he threatens Venezuela, too.''

''There has been kind of a conventional wisdom that Raúl and Chávez won't get along . . . the way Fidel and Hugo did; the Cuban government wants to dispel that impression,'' said InterAmerican Dialogue analyst Daniel Erikson. "Sending such a high-level delegation is important. At the end of the day, the Venezuela connection is going to be even more important for Raúl than for Fidel.''

The Miami Herald's Frances Robles reported from Miami.

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