WASHINGTON, D.C., April 30

    CUBA, AGAIN, APPEARS ON U.S. BLACKLIST OF COUNTRIES ACCUSED OF SPONSORING TERRORISM

    The United States on Monday published the annual blacklist of countries it accuses of sponsoring terrorism. The countries included in the list are Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.

    The reportÍs explanation for Cuba's place on the list stated it sheltered several guerrillas and U.S. fugitives last year, including members of the Spanish terrorist group ETA. "We have a very long memory and as long an arm as possible," Edmund Hull, Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism, told a news briefing on the report.

    The report accused Cuba of having ties to other countries on the blacklist and to Colombia's two biggest guerrilla groups -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, which it said had a presence on the island. "The states that choose to harbor terrorists are like accomplices who provide shelter for criminals. They will be held accountable for their 'guests" actions," it said.


HAVANA, April 31

     CUBA WORKERS CONDEMN THE AMERICAS TRADE PACT

     Cuba government's sponsored workersÍ union condemned a proposed free trade agreement for the Americas as an attempt by the United States to "annex" commercially Latin America and the Caribbean. "We reject in its entirety the plan to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas as a new version of the old U.S. imperialist scheme to submit Latin America and the Caribbean to the extreme of a virtual annexation," the Cuban Workers' Union said in a declaration at its 18th Congress meeting.
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    Communist-run Cuba is the only nation in the Western Hemisphere excluded from talks toward creating, by 2005, the world's largest free trade zone encompassing 15 percent of global population. To the labor group, the pact was an attempt to force neoliberalism on the region, guarantee U.S. economic dominion, and destroy existing trade blocs like MERCOSUR in South America and CARICOM in the Caribbean.

    Dissidents opposed to Castro's one-party political system decry a prohibition of independent unions, and say workers who try and form groupings that do not support the government are harassed and sometimes jailed.


HAVANA, April 30

     CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO: ñTHERE WILL BE COMBAT IF SOMEONE TRIES TO ARREST ME"

     Cuban dictator Fidel Castro said on Saturday he was unconcerned about being arrested outside his country in a similar manner as former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and vowed he would resist to the death being put behind bars. "I'm a revolutionary and I'll die being one. If some judge or some Spanish authority or any other NATO country tries to arrest me ... they should know beforehand there will be combat," Castro said in a written statement.

    The Caribbean island's controversial leader was responding to recent comments by Spanish "super" judge Baltasar Garzón about possible legal action against Castro being sought by his anti-Communist foes in the Cuban American community. Garzón captured the world's attention in October 1998 when he had Pinochet arrested in London pending extradition to Spain to face charges stemming from human rights violations during his brutal 1973 to 1990 dictatorship.

    "I am not, nor have I ever been the least bit worried about Mr. Garzón," Castro said in his Saturday statement. There are no international principles that grant authority to judge a citizen of another country, that doesn't live in nor has committed any misdeed in Spain."


HAVANA, April 30

    CUBAN RAILROADS LAST RECOURSE FOR TRAVELERS  (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)


    Cuban railroads are so inefficient that travelers only resort to them as a last recourse. "I would rather hitch a ride; itÍs dangerous, but itÍs faster. To go by train you have to be sick, very old, or crazy," said a passenger.

    Service delays are customary; on the fast train known as the "Blue Folly" delays average one hour, in the regular service five hours is more the norm.
Moreover, on the regular trains the water fountains seldom work and the lavatories are dirty and smelly to the point that the stench permeates a whole car. The seats are usually ripped except for the ones in the Havana - Matanzas route, which are wooden. Cockroaches are common throughout the cars.

    "I hate to travel in the regular trains. The "Blue Folly" has its defects and itÍs more
expensive, but at least you donÍt travel like cattle," said another regular passenger.
The food sold on the trains consists of a box lunch, at 4.80 pesos in the regular trains and 8.50 pesos in the "Blue Folly." Some pork fat, a badly-cooked chicken quarter, or a slice of bologna are the usual entrees. If the rice isnÍt hard, then the beans are sure to be. I prefer to buy the boxes offered by private parties, because those sold on the trains are inedible," said an old Cuban, a regular traveler between Havana and CamagÙey. Additionally, all trains offer refreshments payable in dollars. A cold beer costs 0.85 dollars, a soft drink 0.50 dollars, and a bag of crackers 0.75.
The "Blue Folly" has special cars for tourists, also payable in dollars.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 27

     AGAIN, CAMCO RESPECTFULLY URGES PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH TO FULFILL HIS PROMISE TO PRESSURE CASTRO UNTIL CUBA IS FREE

    The Cuban-American Military Council (CAMCO), again, urges President George W. Bush to fulfill his promise of helping the Cuban people in their struggle to free their native country from oppression and communism.   Since 1959 the small Caribbean island of Cuba is home to the oldest surviving dictatorship in the world„one which has continuously violated human and institutional rights--as was demonstrated last week in Geneva. However, in spite of forty-two years of despotism in the Cuban nation, leaders of the Free World have failed to take actions against the dictator similar to those previously adopted against other Latin American military dictatorships.

    The United NationsÍ vote condemning Cuba for its human rights violations should make the democratic governments of the world reconsider their positions concerning Cuba and decide to help Cuban dissidents and those outside the country who are determined to bring political changes to the island.

    Despite the pronouncements of civilian and military officials who want to diminish the threat represented by communist Cuba so as to not provoke its dictator, the military professionals of CAMCO have repeatedly stated that Cuba continues to pose a real and present danger to this countryÍs national security as long as the Castro brothers remain in power. CAMCO leadership strongly believes that this great nation should do no less and no more in Cuba than it did in the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti and Panama, that is, help bring democracy, freedom and a better life for these countriesÍ people.

    To those politicians who are still helping Cuba politically and economically to maintain its dictatorship, CAMCO asks only one question: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR OWN COUNTRY HAD BEEN GOVERNED BY THE SAME PARTY AND THE SAME DICTATOR FOR FORTY-TWO YEARS? WOULD YOU PRAISE THE TYRANT?

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 27

     AGAIN, CAMCO RESPECTFULLY URGES PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH TO FULFILL HIS PROMISE TO PRESSURE CASTRO UNTIL CUBA IS FREE

    The Cuban-American Military Council (CAMCO), again, urges President George W. Bush to fulfill his promise of helping the Cuban people in their struggle to free their native country from oppression and communism.   Since 1959 the small Caribbean island of Cuba is home to the oldest surviving dictatorship in the world„one which has continuously violated human and institutional rights--as was demonstrated last week in Geneva. However, in spite of forty-two years of despotism in the Cuban nation, leaders of the Free World have failed to take actions against the dictator similar to those previously adopted against other Latin American military dictatorships.

    The United NationsÍ vote condemning Cuba for its human rights violations should make the democratic governments of the world reconsider their positions concerning Cuba and decide to help Cuban dissidents and those outside the country who are determined to bring political changes to the island.

    Despite the pronouncements of civilian and military officials who want to diminish the threat represented by communist Cuba so as to not provoke its dictator, the military professionals of CAMCO have repeatedly stated that Cuba continues to pose a real and present danger to this countryÍs national security as long as the Castro brothers remain in power. CAMCO leadership strongly believes that this great nation should do no less and no more in Cuba than it did in the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti and Panama, that is, help bring democracy, freedom and a better life for these countriesÍ people.

    To those politicians who are still helping Cuba politically and economically to maintain its dictatorship, CAMCO asks only one question: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR OWN COUNTRY HAD BEEN GOVERNED BY THE SAME PARTY AND THE SAME DICTATOR FOR FORTY-TWO YEARS? WOULD YOU PRAISE THE TYRANT?


WASHINGTON, D.C., April 26

     SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL PRAISES CASTRO DICTATORSHIP

     Just one day after Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, upset for his defeat in Geneva, assailed Latin American democratic governments and President George W. Bush,  Secretary of State Colin Powell praises him in Congress. ñHe's done some good things for his people,'' Powell said of Castro, who took over Cuba in a revolution in 1959 and has ruled the Caribbean country ever since.

    ñHe is no longer the threat he was,'' Secretary Powell said in response to questioning at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing by Rep. Jose E. Serrano, D-N. Y. Serrano has denounced many times before U.S. diplomatic isolation of Cuba as senseless.

    Asked by Miami reporters about Secretary Powell's comments, a distinguished leader of the Cuban exile community declared: "It is profoundly regrettable what he said. The death and misery that Fidel Castro has caused trumps a thousand times over any good he has done for the Cuban people.''

      Successive Democratic and Republican administrations, including President Bush's, have sought to isolate Cuba economically and politically. Castro, however, has managed to hang on for forty-two years, before with the financial support from the former Soviet Union, and now with that of China and Russia.


HAVANA, April 26

     CUBAN DICTATOR BELITTLES LATIN NATIONS

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro lashed out Wednesday night at Costa Rica and other nations that joined a U.N. vote last week condemning Cuba for its human rights record, accusing them of buckling under U.S. pressure. In a live discussion on state television, Castro criticized Costa Rica in particular for its support of the April 18 resolution that was passed 22-20 by the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. ñThere are a determined number of Costa Ricans who are more Yankee than the YankeesƒIf I find a latrine, that will be an excellent place to put that resolutionƒ" the dictator said. 

    He also called Secretary of State, Colin Powell, ña general in chief of the Latin American lackeys that voted against Cuba in Geneva." In another part of his speech, Castro said that the summit in Canada and Latin AmericaÍs integration in the Free Trade Area of the Americas was ñan annexationist pact  with the United States."

    Uruguay, Argentina and Guatemala were the other Latin American countries that voted to censure Cuba. Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru were among the 10 nations that abstained on the vote. Of the nations represented on the commission, Venezuela was the only in the Western Hemisphere that joined Cuba in voting against the resolution. Earlier on Wednesday, Costa Rica withdrew the diplomatic credentials of the Cuban consul in San Jose, Juan Carlos Hernandez, after Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque similarly criticized the Central American nation for joining the condemnation vote. Costa Rica has also called back its consul in Havana, Melvin Saenz, for the same reason. ñThis government is a hypocrite of the devil,'' Castro said of Costa Rica.


CARACAS, April 26

     CHAVEZ DEFENDS HIS FOREIGN POLICIES

     Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez rejected suggestions Wednesday that his doubts about a hemispheric trade agreement have isolated him from the rest of Latin America. In a speech to his country's National Assembly, Chávez said he had no regrets about the formal reservations he had expressed over a timetable to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas by the end of 2005 that would stretch from Canada to Chile.

    Some analysts said ChávezÍs stance made Venezuela appear increasingly isolated. But the Venezuelan President dismissed this criticism and said: "I came out of that meeting with my head high." He defended the foreign policy of his government, which has moved to shift oil-rich Venezuela away from traditional alliance with the United States toward a broader range of relations with states like Cuba, China and Russia.

    The Venezuelan leader has drawn attention and some criticism at home and abroad by forging friendly ties with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and becoming the first head of state to visit Iraqi President Saddam Hussein since the 1991 Gulf War. Chávez would embark in just over two weeks on an international tour that would take him to Russia, Iran, India and Indonesia. He is also due to visit Beijing in May.


HAVANA, April 25

     CUBAN DICTATOR RAGES AT WESTERN CRITICS OVER HUMAN RIGHTS

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Monday denounced his European critics as U.S. pawns hypocritically ignoring abuses within their own borders. The verbal attacks included condemnation of "perfidious Albion" (Britain) for its U.S. alliance, of Germany's failure to end the "fascist tradition," and of current EU president as a "distinguished pawn" of Washington.

    CastroÍs comments on an evening state TV program followed tirades Friday against Latin American nations who did not back Cuba at the U.N. Human Rights' Commission. Friday's attacks by Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque on Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and Guatemala have sparked a diplomatic furor around Latin America. Costa Rica's senior diplomat in Cuba returned home in protest.

    Last week's U.N. vote, which Cuba had sought to avert with an unprecedented diplomatic offensive, censured Havana for "repression of the political opposition." Cuban dissidents saw the vote as recognition of the jailing and harassment they face for opposing the dictator's one-party communist system.


WASHINGTON, D.C., April 24

    CUBA AND MEXICO DRIFT APART

    A new bitterness has crept into the relationship between Cuba and Mexico as they drift apart after decades of defending each other in disputes with the United States. The foreign ministers of both nations traded insults and criticisms in the past week over Mexico's posture at the U.N. Commission of Human Rights, which approved a Czech-sponsored motion to condemn Havana for rights abuses.

    Mexico abstained in the vote in Geneva last Wednesday, as it has done almost every year, but said it was deeply concerned about rights violations in Cuba. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque responded by accusing his Mexican counterpart, Jorge Castaneda, of trying to convince Latin American nations to draw up their own censure motion against Cuba.


QUEBEC, April 23

    AMERICAS' LEADERS WANT TO MAKE THIS ñCENTURY OF THE AMERICAS"

    Leaders of 34 countries in the Americas called for creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas by the end of 2005 and vowed to work for democracy and human rights. In the final "Declaration of Quebec City" after a three-day summit, they said democracy was fundamental to all their objectives and any country where a coup took place would be blackballed from the Summit of the Americas process.

    "We are united in our determination to leave to future generations a Hemisphere that is democratic and prosperous, more just and generous, a Hemisphere where no one is left behind," the statement said. "We are committed to making this the ïCentury of the Americas̓We have adopted a Plan of Action to strengthen representative democracy, promote good governance and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms...any unconstitutional alteration or interruption of the democratic order in a state of the Hemisphere constitutes an insurmountable obstacle to the participation of that state's government in the Summit of the Americas process...we agree to conduct consultations in the event of a disruption of the democratic system of a country that participates in the Summit process."


QUEBEC, April 22

    INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK WILL NOT LEND MONEY TO UNDEMOCRATIC STATES

    Canada said that leaders of 34 American nations had agreed the important Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) should no longer lend money to states deemed to be undemocratic. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said the leaders, gathered at a Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, endorsed on Saturday a Canadian proposal to abide by a so-called democratic clause obliging them to observe democratic norms.

    Chretien told a news conference the clause would not only apply to a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, as expected, but also to the IADB -- a top lender of emergency loans to poor nations in the hemisphere.

    "To become part of the process of the Summit of the Americas, a country must have a democratic system. It is an essential system. From this day forward, the benefits of any agreement which is reached will accrue only to those nations who abide by our democratic clause," Chretien said.


QUEBEC, April 22

     PRESIDENT BUSH DECLARES AT THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS: ñCUBA WILL BE FREE"

     President George W. Bush, highlighting Cuba's absence from the Summit of the Americas, on Saturday touted the benefits of democracy and said " Cuba will be freeƒ Only one country in the western hemisphere is not represented (at the summit), because that country, Cuba, is the only one that is not yet a democracy," Bush said.

     "For over two decades, our hemisphere has been fertile ground for freedom," Bush said in his summit speech. "And for coming so far, this is not the time to grow timid or weary. Freedom is still our best weapon against tyranny and want."

     The summit leaders are due to sign a statement on Sunday that includes what one U.S. official called an "extraordinarily powerful statement" on democracy, calling for exclusion of no democratic states from future summits.


WASHINGTON, D.C., April 22

     PRESIDENT BUSH SAYS IN HIS WEEKLY RADIO ADDRESS: "FREEDOM WILL COME TO CUBA"

     In his radio address, President George W. Bush applauded a recent vote at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights condemning Havana for rights abuses. It was broadcast while he was in Quebec for the Summit of the Americas, where regional leaders discussed a Free Trade Area of the Americas.

    "We are pleased that many countries in the Americas join us in passing a resolution this week at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights; they have called upon Cuba to respect the rights of its citizens," Bush said. "We know that for the people of Cuba their day of freedom will come," he added.

    Bush also said in his radio address that democracy had made "remarkable" but not total progress in the Americas. "We live in a hemisphere defined by the ideas and aspirations of freedom. Some 800 million people live in the Americas; 11 million of them live under dictatorship," he said.


HAVANA, April 22

    AN AMERICAN CARGO SHIP BYPASSED THE ISLAND

    An American cargo ship that was scheduled to arrive in Cuba early Saturday with donated goods bypassed the island for unexplained reasons, delaying plans for the resumption of regular shipping between the United States and Cuba after 40 years.

    The vessel, owned by Crowley Liner Services of Jacksonville, Fla., was to unload in Cuba between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Saturday. But in a recorded telephone message, Crowley spokesman Mark Miller said that ña decision was made last night to bypass Cuba and sail on to Mexico.'' The decision to bypass Havana "was made by a senior Crowley official on the ground in Cuba,'' Miller said. He offered no other details and said more information would be available on Monday. Miller earlier declined to provide details about the shipment, saying only that it contained humanitarian goods. 

     The Havana stop was to be added to a weekly route between Florida and Mexico, with the future of Cuba service dependent on demand. 


HAVANA, April 21

     CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO SENDS SUPPORT, HUGS TO QUEBEC ACTIVISTS

     Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, the only head of state in the Americas excluded from a summit in Quebec, expressed support on Friday for protesters against free trade who clashed with police. "We send them our total solidarity. Cuba supports them, hugs them, and greets them as brothers," Castro said in a short message read on state television. He was not invited to the event due to organizers' concerns over lack of democracy in Cuba.

     Castro said he had just seen images of "the brutal way in which Canadian authorities repress the peaceful demonstrations" of those opposing "the crime" of imposing a free trade agreement on Latin American and the Caribbean. Cuba, which would not be included in the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA) being discussed in Quebec, says the accord would bolster U.S. economic dominance of the region to the detriment of the poorest and most needy sectors.

    "It's shameful," Castro said in reference to Friday's battles between demonstrators and police along security fences closing off the summit venue on the event's first day. "I wish to express, in the name of the Cuban people, our sympathy and admiration for the brave and heroic behavior of those who are fighting there for such a just cause," he said. "That's how governments, who try to deceive the world calling themselves defenders of human rights, treat their own peoples," added the dictator who has been violating the human rights of his own people since 1959.


QUEBEC, April 21

    CASTROÍS SYMPATHIZERS DISRUPT THE SUMMIT

    With tear gas from violent clashes still hanging in the air, the leaders of 34 nations rich and poor debated how to strengthen democracy across the Americas and forge the world's largest free-trade zone. President Bush said he strongly disagreed with protesters who demonstrated at the summit against free trade. ñTrade not only helps spread prosperity but trade helps spread freedom,'' he said.

    Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien opened the summit Friday night with assurances that, in time, free trade ñwill assure a higher standard of living and a better quality of life for all peoples in the hemisphere.''

    Protesters hurled rocks, bottles, and part of the destroyed fence at police. About 100 people were detained and several were injured, including five police officers. Reflecting growing anxiety over the fate of the region's democracies, the leaders of all countries in the hemisphere -- except Cuba -- are expected to sign a joint declaration Sunday that will effectively ban undemocratic countries from the free trade and cooperation agreements approved at the summit.


QUEBEC, April 20

    CANADA HINTS AT TARIFF WALLS AGAINST NON-DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS

     Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien raised the prospect on Thursday of putting tariff walls back up in the case of countries in the Americas that abandon democracy. Canada has proposed a "democracy clause" in negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), meaning that non-democratic countries (such as Cuba) should be excluded. "

     "The will of all governments to have democratic clauses will have very important effects because they would be excluded from the debate, from participation in the summit if they are not a democracy," Chretien said in a press conference.  He then added: "If they're excluded, they will be isolated. And countries can once again set up tariff barriers if they wish." He pointed to the pressure Brazil and Argentina had brought to bear on Paraguay and the role Canada played last year within the Organization of American States in helping restore democracy to Peru.

    Chretien's remarks on Thursday came at a joint news conference with Mexican President Vicente Fox, who said: "We wish to speak of the value of a democratic clause because of the experience we've had in Mexico."


GENEVA, April 19

     U.N. COMMISSION CONDEMNS CUBA FOR RIGHTS ABUSES„AN EXTRAORDINARY DIPLOMATIC VICTORY FOR THE U.S.A.

    The U.N. Commission on Human Rights voted 22-20 Wednesday in support of a U.S.-backed resolution that condemned Havana's treatment of dissidents and expressed strong concerns for the ongoing repression of members of the opposition inside the country. The resolution expressed concern over ñthe continued violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba'' and urged the communist government "to fulfill its commitment to democracy and respect for human rights,'' which it assumed in previous Ibero-American conferences.

    The Czech-sponsored resolution against communist Cuba marked the ninth time since 1991 that the human rights panel has criticized Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's government for its human rights abuses, with 1998 being the only year Cuba managed to thwart the U.S.-led effort.

    The condemnation conveys no penalty for the Cuban government, but the U.N. action is considered a moral and political set back for the dictator. The resolution also asked the government of Cuba ñto establish a dialogue with the political opposition, as several groups on the island have requested.''


GENEVA, April 19

     U.N. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS VOTED 22-20 AGAINST CUBA

     The resolution passed by a narrow margin because several African nations voted for it, and a number of Latin American countries as Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Colombia abstained. The vote was also a victory for the Czech Republic that sponsored the resolution. Czech Deputy Foreign Minister, Martin Palous, who headed the Czech delegation, said his government does not seek ñpolitical achievements'' but rather to demonstrate its ñsolidarity with the Cubans who struggle for democracy.'' 

      IN FAVOR VOTED: Argentina, Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Madagascar, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of [South] Korea, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay.

    AGAINST: Algeria, Burundi, China, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Swaziland, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia.

    ABSTAINING: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya, Mauritius, Mexico, Niger, Peru, Senegal, Thailand.

    ABSENT: Democratic Republic of Congo.


PANAMA CITY, April 18

    PANAMA REJECTS EXTRADITION TO CUBA

    A Cuban exiled accused of plotting to kill Cuban dictator Fidel Castro at a summit conference here will not be extradited to Cuba, the government announced Tuesday. The Foreign Secretariat said that it formally notified Cuba of the refusal to extradite Luis Posada Carriles.

    President Mireya Moscoso told reporters last month that Posada probably would not be sent back to Cuba because he could face the death penalty there. But Foreign Secretary José Miguel Alemán said Tuesday that that factor did not weigh heavily in the decision. Rather it was Cuba's previous refusal to extradite Panamanian common criminal to Panama, in addition to the fact that the suspects currently face legal processes in this country, he said.


WASHINGTON, D.C., April 18

    U.S. CUBA POLICY SEEMS TO BE FROZEN 40 YEARS AFTER  THE BAY OF PIGS INVASION

    Forty years after the Bay of Pigs invasion, the goal of U.S. policy appears still the same: get rid of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

    It seems that President George W. Bush is not willing to change U.S. policy any time soon due to his political debt to the Cuban exile community in Miami after last November's presidential election in Florida. In addition, Jeb Bush is up for re-election as Florida governor in two years and, if common sense can be applied, the president is not likely to do anything to sabotage his brotherÍs political future.  Former Vice-President Gore's decision to support former President Clinton's Cuba policy is still fresh in everyone's mind.


HAVANA, April 17

    GUNG-TOTING CASTRO WARNS LATAM OF U.S. ñSHARK"

    Wielding a Russian AK-47 rifle at a rally to mark 40 years since his proclamation of socialism in Cuba, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Monday urged Latin American nations to stop the U.S. "shark" destroying them with a free trade pact.

    "Latin American nations are on the verge of being devoured by the United States," Castro said of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, which is due to top the agenda this week at a regional summit in Canada. Washington also wants to "sabotage" the increasingly strong MERCOSUR trade group of South American nations, Castro alleged. "In Quebec, the hegemonic superpower will try to dictate the conditions of surrender to the Latin American governments ... The shark wants to eat the sardines," added Castro.

    Repeating his question of 40 years ago, Castro asked the crowd: "Workers and peasants, humble men and women of our fatherland, do you swear to defend to your last drop of blood this revolution of the poor, by the poor and for the poor?" "Yes!" cried the crowd, many raising rifles aloft in a collective show of political faith to a revolution that has only brought to Cuba oppression, violation of human rights, hunger and destruction.


VARADERO, April 16

     RAUL CASTRO SAYS CUBA IS READY IF U.S. INVADES

    Defense Minister Raul Castro said on Sunday Cuba was better prepared than ever to resist a U.S. invasion, and promised his troops would exact a bloody toll if the country were ever occupied. "They are going to bomb us from above, and we are going to mine them from below," the younger brother of President Fidel Castro said as he described to reporters what would happen if the United States ever attempted to use military force to end decades of non-military confrontation.

    "Land mines are the arms of the poor, and we have made every kind there is," he said. Sure they can invade. Sure they can occupy part of the country, and then what?" Castro said in the latest example of the defensive military rhetoric Havana has used since Bush's election. Castro said war was "the most terrible thing imaginable," something he said the United States learned in Vietnam when its soldiers began returning home in body bags, implying it could happen again in Cuba.

    Castro  said entire cities and army divisions would fight from tunnels and shelters dug across the country over the last 20 years. Cuban officials and the state media have increasingly referred to a supposed U.S. military threat and the island's defense preparations since Bush won the U.S. presidential election late last year. Asked about a January statement that the United States would be well advised to settle its differences with Cuba before Fidel Castro dies, Raul Castro, his brother's official number two, said, "the authority Fidel has, no one else will have. That's why it will be easier to work things out with him."


SANTIAGO DE CUBA, April 16

     HOSPITAL PATIENTS CARRY THEIR OWN WATER IF THEY WISH TO BATHE (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)

    Patients admitted to the fourth floor wards at the "Celia Sánchez Manduley" hospital in Manzanillo have to carry buckets of water up two flights of stairs if they want to bathe themselves. The buckets are not standard hospital issue, so they have to bring them from home.

    The "Celia Sánchez Manduley" is the main hospital in Manzanillo, a medium-sized city in eastern Granma province. A worker at the hospital said the pump that boosts water pressure has been broken for three years, so only the first two stories have running water.


HAVANA, April 16

    BLACKOUTS ON THE INCREASE IN HAVANA (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)

    There was an increase in the number and duration of blackouts in Havana between March 31 and April 2.
"This business of cutting off power to save oil, all it accomplishes is to damage the few appliances that people have," complained a resident of El Cerro district.
"How long are they going to keep cutting off power? Where is the oil from Venezuela? Where is the increase in the Domestic Product recently announced?" asked one woman in Plaza municipality.
The high crime index and the frequent blackouts make the Cuban capital a dangerous city.


WASHINGTON, D.C., April 13

     REVISITING BAY OF PIGS  (Intelligence Reports By Marcelo Fernández-Zayas„For More Information See: PUBLISHED ARTICLES )

    Four decades have elapsed since the Bay of Pigs invasion of April 17, 1961. Many historians and political scientists have studied this event with the advantage of having interviewed significant players involved in this drama. Most of their findings may be summarized as follows.

    The original plan was conceived by the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, a person with an excellent understanding of military and international affairs. President John F. Kennedy inherited this plan and had mixed feelings about it from the beginning. Kennedy was surrounded by inexperienced aides, most of whom were unsympathetic to this plan. Cuba, aware of a plan to invade the island, quickly started to arm itself with the help of the Soviet Union. Kennedy followed the illusion that the invasion could be carried out without showing American involvement in the event.

    A week before the landing, he canceled the aerial cover promised to the would-be invaders. And the site of the landing, the city of Trinidad, was changed to the Bay of Pigs. These changes condemned the invasion to failure. Time has shown that the cancellation of air support was fatal. Also, the landing site chosen was a disaster for the invaders. Perhaps the plan to land close to the city of Trinidad was flawed because Castro had several battalions ready to fight at that site. The only hope to save the invaders once they were headed for the beach was to support them with massive air cover. The Bay of Pigs "fiasco" rests squarely on Kennedy's shoulders, and showed clearly the hesitant personality of the new president at that time.


HAVANA, April 13

     CHINA REAFFIRMS ITS SUPPORT TO CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO

     Embraced by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro upon his arrival, Chinese President Jiang Zemin started out on a warm note during his visit to Cuba, Beijing's only communist ally in the Western Hemisphere and a strong supporter during its diplomatic flap over a U.S. spy plane. President Castro greeted a smiling Jiang at the steps of the Air China jet on Thursday afternoon. Neither president spoke with reporters before they left in a Mercedes sedan for an official greeting ceremony.

    A written statement was distributed later to journalists in which Jiang praised Cuba for being the first Latin American nation to establish diplomatic relations with communist China 41 years ago. ñThe Chinese government attaches importance to its ties with Cuba, supports the just struggle of Cuba in maintaining state sovereignty and national independence and opposing against outside interference and threat,'' the presidential statement said. The visit to Cuba was Jiang's second since assuming power in 1993. Castro last visited China in 1995. Cuba, a former Soviet ally, began looking to China for help with its struggling economy after the Soviet collapse a decade ago.

    Both nations are trying to line up support, especially in Latin America, just days before the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva is to vote on the rights records of China, Cuba and other countries. In a statement on Jiang's visit to Cuba, the international group Human Rights Watch charged both governments with rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions and restrictions on freedom of expression.


HAVANA, April 12

    CHINAÍS CUBA BUSINESS TAKES BIG LEAP FORWARD

    Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to fellow communist nation Cuba, starting today, will add momentum to the rise of his country's economic role on the Caribbean island. For Havana, China represents a welcome counter-balance to the global dominance of its old enemy, the United States, while for Beijing, Cuba is a useful economic springboard that could provide China with a political foothold in the Western Hemisphere.

    Jiang and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro are expected to review the two nations' rapidly growing economic relations and sign an agreement that both governments have said will boost their economic ties.  Cuba reported China was its fourth-largest trading partner in 2000 at $520 million compared with $481 million in 1999.

    Cuban government sources said there was a dramatic change under way in Chinese-Cuban relations. Politically, the Cubans do not make a move without thinking of the United States, and the Chinese without an eye to Taiwan.  At the same time Cuba sees China as a counter to United States influence world-wide as it saw the former Soviet Union in the past. China is pursuing now a strategy in which Cuba is used as an operational base for an economic and political offensive in the Western Hemisphere.


MIAMI, April 10

    THE VETERANS ASSOCIATION OF THE ASSAULT BRIGADE 2506 OUSTED TWO OF ITS MEMBERS

     The Veterans Association of the Assault Brigade 2506  on Sunday expelled two of its members for attending a conference last month in Cuba on the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

    At an emotionally charged meeting at the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association headquarters in Miami, one of , those who had attended the conference, Mario Cabello, 58, had to be hustled out of the Association building for his own safety. As Cabello left, many of the 400 members in attendance shouted: ñTraitor!'' ``Scoundrel!'' Some tried to physically block his exit. Minutes after Cabello was led out, the Association's general assembly voted unanimously to expel him and Jorge Luis Hernández, 64. ñAll these men have betrayed the principles of the brigade; they have betrayed the martyrs of the invasion, and they have betrayed their homeland,'' Pérez Franco, the current president of the Association, told the members, who were part of invasion in April 1961 that led to the deaths of 114 men and the capture and imprisonment of another 1,189.

    Three other veterans, Alfredo Durán, Luis Tornés and Roberto Carballo, who attended the conference in Havana sponsored and presided by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, were also expelled.


HAVANA, April 10

    CUBAN REFUSED MEDICAL CARE AT A HAVANA HOSPITAL FOR NOT BEING A FOREIGNER (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)

    Medical personnel at the "Cira García" hospital in Havana refused to treat René Frómeta because he is Cuban.

    The hospital, located in the upscale Havana suburb of Miramar, is designated for the treatment of foreigners as one of many facilities in the so-called "health tourism" net. Frómeta was sick with pneumonia and a Spanish friend of his, who happened to be visiting the island, offered to take him to the hospital. When they arrived at the "Cira García" a doctor told them, "We can't help him; this hospital is only for foreigners.

    The Spaniard countered that he would pay the bill in dollars, as stipulated by the hospital. "I know that here you charge in dollars; all I want is that you provide care for my friend." The doctor again told him "I'm sorry, Sir, but we cannot do as you wish because this is only for foreigners."


SANTIAGO DE CUBA, April 10

    A WOMAN AND HER TWO MINOR CHILDREN EVICTED IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)

     Dr. Susana Fong Reyes and her two children, ages 2 and 3, were forcibly evicted March 31 from the home they inherited from relatives living in the United States.

     Dr. Fong was cooking a pot full of beans when officers of the National Police and officials of the Municipal Housing Authority rushed into the house. Prior to evicting the family, the officials took inventory, in which they included the pot with the beans. Present at the eviction were a truck-full of policemen, that cordoned off the house, two patrol cars and several members of the Department of State Security.

    Dr. Fong and her children inherited the house from the childrenÍs grandparents. Both children were born there. The Municipal Housing Authority declared the Fongs to be occupying the house illegally, even though Dr. FongÍs documents show her to be the legal occupant of the house. Dr. Fong is an anesthesiologist and a specialist in intensive therapy at the "Saturnino Lora" hospital in the city.


HAVANA, April 9

    LACK OF WATER PROVOKES PUBLIC PROTEST  (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)

    The interruption of the municipal water service, now lasting more than 30 days, provoked a public protest yesterday by residents of Gustavo Street, in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality of Havana.

    Officials of the local Water and Sewers Authority say the lack of water is due to the
breakdown of four of the 16 pump motors that should be on line. Others blame the workers whose job it is to open the outlet valves. About 10 of the more than 4,000 residents affected by the lack of water warned the local representative of the Communist Party that next Thursday they would raise their complaints to the upper levels of the Party.

    Some residents have installed motors of their own to take water directly from the mains. This measure has irritated other residents, who regularly insult the owners of these motors. Police and State inspectors are under orders not to interfere in these disputes.


HAVANA, April 8

    FOOD SALES FIGURES RELEASED FOR APRIL (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)

    The weekly Tribuna de La Habana published the list of food stuffs to be sold under the rationing plan in April.

    According to the newspaper, on Saturday March 31, the following products were available for residents to buy under the quota: rice (6 pounds per person), sugar (3 pounds white and 3 pounds brown per person), red beans (20 ounces per person), the first installment of 10 containers (of 24 for the month) of evaporated milk for children with medically-prescribed diets.

    In the Havana municipality of Regla one pound of chicken will be available and in the El Cerro municipality one half pound of beef. These products are available two or three times a year. The weekly also lists the prices for various foodstuffs outside the quota system, i.e. the market prices. Among these were rice, at 3.50 pesos a pound; black, red, and white beans, at 4.50, 5, and 6 pesos a pound; pork and mutton at 20 pesos a pound; and ham at 35 to 37 pesos a pound. Government figures peg the average salary at 249 pesos a month.


WASHINGTON, D.C., April 7

     U.S. ANSWERS CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTROÍS CRITICISM OF PRESIDENT BUSHÍS NOMINATION TO A LATAM POST

    The United States does not consult Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on appointments of senior officials, a U.S. State Department spokesman said on Friday, in response to an attack from the communist leader. Castro on Thursday said Otto Reich, the Cuban American whom President George W. Bush has nominated for the top Latin American post, ñhas violated laws and showed total lack of ethics." 

     State Department spokesman Richard Boucher retorted on Friday, "I don't think we've consulted with Mr. Castro to find out his opinion." On Castro's promise to stop making speeches if anyone could prove that Cuba tortures or kills dissidents, Boucher said: "I don't think the challenge is too terribly difficult a one to prove. The facts are quite well-known in the world, and I think I'll leave it to that, to say that they're there."


HAVANA, April 7

     CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO LAMBASTED PRESIDENT BUSH

     Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Thursday lambasted President Bush on all fronts, ridiculed allegations of human rights' abuses in Cuba, and dismissed local dissidents as laughable and insignificant puppets of Washington.

     His speech to some 1,500 legislators from assemblies around the world meeting at the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference in Havana was punctuated by enthusiastic applause from many Third World delegations. But at least one delegation, legislators from Poland, left the hall when Castro accused former Socialist bloc nations in Eastern Europe of doing Washington's dirty work.

    In a theme dominating Cuba's political discourse in recent weeks, Castro urged rejection of a U.S.-backed motion to censure his human rights' record at the U.N. Human Rights' Commission in Geneva later this month. Cuba is frequently criticized for suppressing freedom of expression in its one-party system. This week's IPU meeting brought some strong words against the dictator at the podium, most notably from Spain and Germany, urging Havana to hold "free elections" and show better respect for "political rights."


HAVANA, April 7

     ñU.S. CANNOT INTIMIDATE CHINA OVER PLANE" „ CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO SAID

     Beijing will not be intimidated by President George W. Bush's government in the diplomatic standoff over the collision of a U.S. plane with a Chinese fighter, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro predicted on Thursday.     

     "If the gentlemen of the North decide to get on their war horses about this, have no doubt the Chinese will not let themselves be easily intimidated," Castro said in a two-hour speech packed with criticisms of the Bush administration to a world parliaments group in Havana. If anyone thinks the Chinese are political pushovers, "that is a sign he does not know them," Castro said in a speech.

    Castro, who has ruled Cuba since his 1959 revolution, is preparing to receive his fellow communist leader and Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin in Havana in a week's time toward the end of the Chinese president's Latin American tour. Castro said the spy plane incident demonstrated how the United States was increasingly displaying "a Cold War mentality" and using "aggressive terminology" at the diplomatic level "in search of total hegemonyƒAny incident, of the many which occur all over the place, could create a really serious crisis, including wars which are unthinkable," he added.



 

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 5 

    "NED" AND "CAMCO" NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM IN CUBA

    The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a worldwide known organization that has been fostering democratic ideals, respect for human rights and development of civil societies throughout the world since 1984, and the Cuban-American Military Council (CAMCO), have established a new partnership to implement "Building Bridges 2001," a Civic-Military Project that will bring the Central Europe and Latin America democratic experience to the Cuban military.

    CAMCO will use NEDÍs support to conduct the first phase of this democratic civil-military relations project in Cuba. The project will allow members of CAMCO to gather information on the role of the military in countries that have successfully undergone transitions to democracy and disseminate it inside the Island.

    Studies will be conducted immediately to identify the feasibility of structuring a ñCivic-Military Center for Democracy" in Cuba, modeled after the Marshall Center located in Germany. The Marshall Center is presently using experiences gained by both civilians and the military from the transitions to democracy in Eastern and Central Europe to help rebuild politically and economically the European nations liberated from communism.

    In addition, with NEDÍs and other institutionsÍ support, CAMCO will provide humanitarian assistance to the military dissidents and families of political prisoners from the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR).
(Please Visit: http://www.ned.org)


WASHINGTON, D.C., April 4

     VICENTE FOX VS FIDEL CASTRO (Intelligence Reports By Marcelo Fernández-Zayas„For More Information See: PUBLISHED ARTICLES )

    Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda announced recently that his country will take a hard look at those nations that violate the human rights of their citizens. This announcement was made just before the regular meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva.

    The charge against Cuba for violating the human rights of its citizens will come up at the meeting.  Mexico has a history of not voting against Cuba on this issue, but if Mexico votes against Cuba this time, it would be a big setback for Fidel Castro. President Fox has announced plans for a visit to Cuba in May. It is expected that Mexico will abstain to vote.

    Exists a hidden feeling of an animosity of Castro against Fox. For years Castro has enjoyed the advantage of being "Mucho macho" and "Número uno" in photos and television because of his size (6 foot 2 inches). However he has lost his titles to the new Mexican President Fox (6 foot 5 inches). This difference in size prompted Castro posed seated, most of the time, when meeting with Fox in his last visit to Mexico.


HAVANA, April 4

    MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEET FOES OF THE CUBAN DICTATOR

    Members of the European Parliament, in Havana for an annual gathering of lawmakers from around the world, met Monday with opponents of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's government to talk about political prisoners, the death penalty and other human rights issues.  The lawmakers are in Havana for the annual meeting of the Interparliamentary Union, which began Sunday and wraps up Saturday.

    In a 10-minute speech on the opening day, Castro warned that a new Cold War and arms race loomed ``on the horizon.'' Speaking before about 1,400 parliamentarians, including U.N. Under-Secretary General Kieran Prendergast, Castro warned that ``renewed possibilities of a Cold War and the start of a desperate arms race are on the horizon.''

    Castro slammed the ``disdain and arrogance with which the superpower breaks accords and treaties that are vital not only to the peace and security of people throughout the world, but also for . . . preserving ecological equilibrium and the natural resources that make life on our planet possible.''


HAVANA, April 3

    CASTRO WARNS OF POSSIBLE NEW COLD WAR

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro opened a conference of lawmakers from around the world, warning them of the possibility of a new Cold War. In a 10-minute speech late Sunday, Castro told more than 1,300 parliamentarians from 120 countries that their greatest responsibility was to help achieve "the survival of our species, today threatened by global risks never before imagined."

    "Once again, you must closely watch the horizon for the possibility of another Cold War," Castro said. Referring to the U.S. government's plans for a U.S. missile defense shield, Castro cautioned that with "the start of a desperate arms buildup, no great nation or group of nations without the necessary scientific and technological measures will remain resigned in the face of a frightening, aggressive and insatiable adversary."

    Castro has repeatedly warned in the past of the risks that he believes the plan could cause to world peace. Noting there were no American lawmakers were attending the conference here, Castro said that there are some members of U.S. Congress he considers to be "sincere, intelligent and realistic." Members of U.S. Congress stopped attending the Interparliamentary Union conferences in 1994.


PINAR DEL RIO, April 2

    SHORTAGE OF FOOD IN PINAR DEL RIO GETTING WORSE (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)


    The shortage of food in Pinar del Río, Cuba's westernmost province, is becoming more acute. Rice is scarce and selling at 4 pesos a pound. Black market speculators have been taken an unhealthy interest in the price fluctuations of the Cubans' staple food. Some say the government has run out of rice and cannot prevent the prices from rising. At the same time, the ongoing drought has prevented the spring crop from being planted.

    The "potato campaign," as it is called here, is also not going well. Twenty four days after starting the harvest of the present crop, only one pound of potatoes per capita has been available for sale in the provincial capital. The present "campaign" is hampered by a 20 percent reduction in the area planted with respect to last year.


HAVANA, April 2

    STATE-RUN AGRICULTURAL CO-OP WORKERS HAVENÍT BEEN PAID IN A MONTH (CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)


    The "Antonio Verdoña" State-run agricultural co-op in Matanzas province is bankrupt. Its 68 workers haven't been paid in a month because there are no funds. The co-op is drowning in debt and what little money comes in is used to amortize it, according to a knowledgeable source.

    Eighteen of the workers have said that if the situation doesn't change soon they will not continue working. "Actual conditions are very uncertain," said one of the workers. "This company is not viable. The economic activity of this co-op is almost nil," said another worker.


WASHINGTON, D.C., April 1^st.

    SECRETOS DE LA HABANA EN IMÁGENES ESPACIALES

    A private satellite firm has released the first commercially available picture of Cuba as seen from outer space, depicting in crisp detail ships in Havana harbor, railroad tracks and even the lettering on the roof of a huge warehouse. The image, snapped in January by a spacecraft orbiting 423 miles overhead, is the latest example of how ñspy'' satellites, once the exclusive domain of defense and intelligence agencies, have gone private. And the impact of that shift is just beginning to be felt, say experts on the technology.

     In the case of Cuba, the effect could be political and economic. Some Cuban exiles in the Miami area say satellite photographs could be used to inspect and map properties they still claim on the island. Under the Helms-Burton law, U.S. citizens can sue foreign companies that are using property expropriated by the Castro government. Former President Bill Clinton waived that provision of the law, known as Title 3, each time it came up for renewal. President Bush has not decided what to do when he faces the issue this summer. ``It's under review,'' said a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

    Ikonos' camera is capable, under optimal conditions, of photographing objects on Earth that are slightly less than 39 inches square. That's far less detail than photographs from the Pentagon's classified spy satellites, but still good enough for many purposes. In fact, the Pentagon's National Imagery and Mapping Agency is Space Imaging's biggest customer. After a lengthy security review, the U.S. government late last year approved Space Imaging's license to launch an even more powerful orbiting camera with half-meter resolution, meaning it can photograph objects on the ground larger than about 20 inches. Ikonos has provided images of many hidden military installations previously seen only by government intelligence analysts. They range from North Korea's missile launch pad to Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor to the U.S. Air Force's secret Area 51 facility in Nevada. 


HAVANA, April 1st.

     CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO COMPLAINS ABOUT BUSHÍS NOMINATION FOR LATAM POST

     The nomination of Ambassador Otto Juan Reich to the Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere post has infuriated Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. U.S. Senate confirmation of an anti-Castro Cuban American nominated for the top Latin American job in the Bush administration would show "arrogance" and a "lack of respect for the region", Castro said Friday.

     Ambassador Reich, a former U.S. envoy to Venezuela, worked on the Reagan administration as the director of the State Department's defunct Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean between 1983 and 1986.

     Reich's nomination delighted the Cuban exile community, including all CAMCO members, but has been criticized by Cuba and some liberal Democrats. President Bush also appointed the first Cuban American to a Cabinet-level post: Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Mel Martinez, an Orlando, Florida, lawyer who co-chaired his Florida campaign.