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PUERTO RICO, May 31
RICARDO ALARCON PLANS TO VISIT PUERTO RICO
The president
of Cuba's legislature, Ricardo Alarcón, plans
to visit Puerto Rico next month for an event celebrating
a Havana-based foundation that promotes ties between
the two islands. Alarcón's office confirmed
Wednesday the National Assembly president had applied
for a visa to visit Puerto Rico for the June 9 event,
but had received no word yet on whether the U.S.
government would grant the visa.
The Mission
of Puerto Rico in Cuba, a foundation established
in Havana, is celebrating its 35th anniversary and
has invited Alarcón to attend. Puerto Rican
independence supporters have always found support
in communist Cuba. Although some of Puerto Rico's
lawmakers have said Alarcón should be denied
a visa because of concerns about human rights in
Cuba, Gov. Sila Calderón has said she will
not intervene.
AlarcónÍs
decision to travel to San Juan seems to be related
to last Saturday demonstrations in Havana where
the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro led thousands in
a protest against the U.S. Navy's use of Vieques.
HAVANA,
May 29
CUBANS PROTEST US NAVY PRESENCE IN PUERTO RICO
Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro joined thousands of Cubans
on Saturday morning in a protest of U.S. military
exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
ñWe are willing to die at their side,'' Cuban
student leader Ernesto Fernandez said of Puerto
Ricans who are demanding that the U.S. Navy abandon
its use of the island.
The
Navy has used its range on Vieques, home to 9,400
people, for six decades and says it is vital for
national security. Critics say U.S. maneuvers on
the island pose a health threat, which the Navy
denies. Participants in the government-organized
rally cheered speakers and waved tiny Cuban flags
outside the U.S. Interests Section - the American
mission in Cuba.
ñThe struggle
over Vieques has become decisive in the liberty
of Puerto Rico,'' Fernando Martin, a leader of the
Puerto Rican Independence Party, told protesters.
Opposition to Navy exercises on Vieques grew after
a civilian guard was killed on the range in 1999
by two off-target bombs. The Navy has since stopped
using live ammunition. Islanders will vote in November
on whether the Navy must leave in 2003 or can stay,
resuming the use of live ammunition. To comply with
Communist PartyÍs mandates, the poor Cubans are
transported to the places of demonstration in modern
vehicles as the one shown in the ATTACHED
PICTURE.
CAMAG EY, May 28
PSYQUIATRIC HOSPITAL CANNOT CONTROL INMATES (CAMCOÍs
Director for Communication)
Psychiatric patients who are
committed to the "Nguyen Van Troi" psychiatric
hospital in the outskirts of Ciego de Ávila
do not receive adequate care and manage to escape
easily and frequently.
Indeed, the hospital's administrators
continually stress to the inmates' families that
they do not take responsibility for what may happen
to inmates that escape or for any violent acts they
may commit.
In addition, there is no ambulance
or other means to transport patients in case of
medical emergencies. "If a patient at the hospital
needs medical attention, such as urology or orthopedics,
he would have to wait for his relatives to find
a vehicle to be transported to the general hospital
"Antonio Luaces Hiraola."
WASHINGTON,
D.C., May 26
HELMS AND LIEBERMAN INTRODUCE CUBAN SOLIDARITY ACT
(Intelligence
Reports By Marcelo Fernández-Zayas„For More
Information See: PUBLISHED
ARTICLES )
On Wednesday, May 17, Senators
Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CN) introduced
for legislative consideration the "Cuban Solidarity
Act of 2001." Nine other Democratic and Republican
Senators also signed on as initial co-sponsors of
the bill, and it is likely that additional Senators
will agree to sponsor
the bill in coming weeks. As noted by Senator Helms
in introductory remarks, the bill ". . . is
a blueprint for a more vigorous U.S. policy to liberate
the enslaved island of Cuba."
The bill includes funding for
$100 million of direct assistance to the Cuban people
over a period of four years, along with provisions
to support human rights, democratic institutions
and Cuban small businesses. On May 19, two days
after Senator Helms' announcement of the bill, President
Bush met with 250 Cubans at the White House to give
his support to this legislative effort.
HAVANA,
May 22
CUBAN
DIPLOMAT SAYS HE WAS KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO
A Cuban diplomat
who was mysteriously deported from Mexico in October
as he was seeking political asylum has turned up
in a Havana court saying he was kidnapped.
ñI was kidnapped by force and taken illegally
to Cuba,'' Pedro Riera Escalante, 49, said in court
Friday before the head of a three-judge panel ruled
him out of order.
Riera,
who was the Cuban consul in Mexico City from 1986
to 1992, has been charged with falsification of
documents, illegal departure and bribery, stemming
from his decision in 1999 to leave Cuba and reenter
Mexico. News agencies reported that he pleaded guilty
to leaving Cuba with a false passport and bribing
officials at the Havana airport to help him. If
convicted, Riera faces up to 12 years in prison.
At
the time of his arrest in Mexico, Riera was pleading
an asylum case with Mexican intelligence officials
even as Mexican immigration officials hauled him
away from a coffee shop and put him on a plane to
Cuba. Why he was deported has not been made clear.
Many Mexican commentators speculated that he had
embarrassing information about Mexican officials
involved in his spying operations, which were largely
directed at the CIA. Riera told La Reforma, a daily
Mexican paper, that en the ñlast six years, the
Cuban intelligence had enlisted in its cover operations
more than 150 Mexican informants, from leftist sympathizers
to CEOÍs., members of the state security, politicians
and reporters.
MIAMI, May 20
THOUSANDS
OF CUBAN EXILES GATHERED AT THE "FREEDOM TOWER"
IN MIAMI TO CELEBRATE CUBAÍS INDEPENDENCE DAY
 More
than 10,000 people gathered Saturday outside the
Freedom Tower on Biscayne Boulevard to watch civic
leaders launch an effort to raise millions of dollars
to turn the landmark building into a museum showcasing
the struggles and successes of the Cuban exile experience.
ñAfter
40 years of exile, of struggle, of pain, of blood
spilled, this shows that we are a people who have
succeeded and who will not give up our dream of
a free Cuba,'' Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the
Cuban American National Foundation, said in an emotional
speech followed by fireworks. Mas Santos, son of
the late exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa, used the
occasion to renew his father's pledge to fight for
a free Cuba:
ñBefore
these doors, which gave refuge to thousands of refugee
brothers and sisters, I repeat the promise made
by my father: that I will not rest until one day
these doors are opened again to shout to the world
that Cuba is free. Forward, forward, forward!''
WASHINGTON,
D.C., May 20
AFTER
42 YEARS OF CASTRO DICTATORSHIP, A NEW PROMISE FROM
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH TO THE CUBAN PEOPLE:
HE ENDORSES THE CUBAN SOLIDARITY ACT.
(See
ñForty-Two Years of Unfulfilled Promises")
President
George W. Bush endorsed on Friday the Cuban Solidarity
Act introduced in the Senate Wednesday to aid promote
democracy in Cuba (It should be remembered that
in 1997, former President William J. Clinton
had also ñenthusiastically" endorsed a similar act,
ñSupport for a Democratic Transition In Cuba", however,
the Cuban dictator is still in power.) See
ñSupport for a Democratic Transition in Cuba").
The
new legislation would authorize the U.S. government
to funnel $100 million in
cash, telephones, fax machines, office supplies,
computers, food, medicine and financial aid to Cuban
opposition groups and non-governmental organizations. President
Bush also said yesterday at the White House: ñThe
policy of our government is not merely to isolate
(Fidel) Castro, but to actively support those working
to bring about democratic change in Cuba.''
The
proposed Act would also seek ways to overcome jamming
of U.S.-run anti-Castro broadcasts Radio and TV
Marti. "We must explore ways to expand access
to the Internet for the average Cuban citizen. And
we must strengthen the voices of Radio and TV Marti,"
Bush said. Directing his words at Castro, he declared,
"We will look for ways to use new technology,
from new locations, to counter your silencing of
the voices of liberty."
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 19
PRESIDENT
BUSH SAID HE WILL RESIST ANY EFFORT TO WEAKEN THE
EMBARGO
President
George W. Bush on Friday vowed to resist efforts
to weaken the U.S. economic embargo until Havana
frees political prisoners, holds democratic elections
and allows free speech. Bush also criticized Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro as the lone anti-democratic
stalwart in the Americas, adding "time is not
on his side," and then said in Spanish: "Viva
Cuba libre!" -- long live free Cuba.
Bush
said about the old U.S. sanctions against Cuba,
"The sanctions our government enforces against
the Castro regime are not just a policy tool, they
are a moral statement," Castro had no place
at the table of democratic nations in the Americas,
Bush said.
Wagging
his finger and speaking sternly, Bush said during
an East Room event commemorating Cuban Independence
Day, ñToday of all days, it is important for us
to remember that our goal is not to have an embargo
against Cuba, it is freedom in Cuba.''
PORTUGAL, May 18
CUBAN
DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO WELCOMED CONGRESS NEW LEGISLATION
AGAINST CUBA
The
Cuban dictator joked Thursday that a U.S. plan to
channel millions of dollars to dissidents inside
Cuba was an "excellent" idea. "Excellent!"
Castro told a news conference in Lisbon when asked
for his opinion about the U.S. plan.
"The
more mistakes they make, the weaker the U.S. position
will be," added the 74-year-old dictator after
meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres.
"(The) better for us, who grow in the mistakes
that they constantly make." The U.S. plan,
proposed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman
Jesse Helms of North Carolina and former vice presidential
candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut,
would provide $100 million over four years in cash,
food, medicine and other supplies to opposition
and non-government groups in Cuba.
The
plan, marking the first time the United States has
directly supported internal groups in Cuba in more
than four decades, is modeled on U.S. support for
Poland's Solidarity movement in the 1980s. Castro
was on a brief stopover in Portugal, having previously
visited Libya, Algeria, Iran, Malaysia and Qatar,
but avoiding Spain, a country he has often visited
in the past.
WASHINGTON,
D.C., May 17
SENATORS
SEEK $100M FOR CUBA DISSIDENTS
Senators Jesse Helms and
Joseph Lieberman propose on Wednesday a legislation
that would authorize $100 million in U.S. aid to
dissidents and other nongovernmental groups in Cuba
over the next four years.
Senator Helms, R-N.C.,
is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
and senator Lieberman, D-Conn., was his party's
vice presidential nominee in last year's election.
The proposed legislation
would authorize President Bush to send cash, food,
medicine, telephones, fax machines and other items
to nongovernmental groups in Cuba, which would then
distribute the aid. This effort is comparable to
one undertaken by the Reagan administration in Poland,
where U.S. support for dissident groups helped pave
the way for the demise of communism in 1989 and
its replacement by a democratic system.
DAMASCUS, May 17
THE
CUBAN DICTATOR HEADS FOR LIBYA AFTER SYRIA VISIT
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
left for Libya on Wednesday after a visit to Syria
on which he was feted as a revolutionary hero and
which is expected to lead to increased economic
cooperation between the two countries.
While in Damascus Castro
held talks with President Bashar al-Assad that focused
on latest developments of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The dictator was warmly
welcomed by the Syrian authorities and the public.
Syria's state-run television devoted one of its
main political program on Tuesday to Cuba and ñthe
accomplishments of its communist leader."
WASHINGTON,
D.C., May 16
DID
COLIN POWELL PRAISE CASTRO? (Intelligence
Reports By Marcelo Fernández-Zayas„For More
Information See: PUBLISHED
ARTICLES )
I have received many questions
about this issue. Secretary of State Colin Powell
testifying in the House Appropriations Committee
hearing, Thursday, April 26, 2001, answering a question
from representative Jose Serrano (D-NY) about Fidel
Castro: Secretary Powell said "He's done some
good things for his people". This statement
did not signal a change of attitude in Washington
toward Cuba but rather an unfortunate choice of
words that begs the question: Tell me the good things.
Secretary Powell will be reminded in the future
about this apparent compliment.
DAMASCUS, May 15
WHAT
IS BEHIND THIS ñLOVE STORY"?: CUBAN
DICTATOR CONTINUES PRAISING A GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION
OFFICIAL
Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro left Doha, Qatar's capital,
early Tuesday after criticizing American politicians
as ñdemagogues,'' although he repeatedly praised
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as a "good
communicator." Castro told reporters that Powell
has ñmerit because he has the ability to communicate
and could have become president if he had wanted
to.''
The
dictator flew in from Qatar after visiting Algeria,
Iran and Malaysia in a tour that began May 6. He
was greeted at the airport by President Bashar Assad.
Castro and Bashar's father, the late President Hafez
Assad, met several times on the sidelines of international
gatherings before the elder Assad's death 10 months
ago. Like communist Cuba, Syria is on the U.S. State
Department list of countries sponsoring terrorism,
and both countries are harsh critics of U.S. policies.
ñPresident Castro does not need introductions - he is
the leader of a revolution that shook Latin America
and destroyed the might of imperialism and restored
to the people their independence, dignity and charted
for them the path to social and economic recovery,'' Syrian
newspapers' headlines read.
KUALA
LUMPUR, May 15
UNBELIEVABLE:
POWELL
PRAISED THE CUBAN DICTATOR AND NOW THE CUBAN DICTATOR
PRAISES POWELL
Cuban
Dictator Fidel Castro praises U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell. Castro, on a three-day visit
to Malaysia, said Powell was a man with his "own
character and authority." "He has been
the only one today to say that we have something
good in education and health," Castro told
reporters. "Colin Powell is a personality himself...He
has his own character and he has his own authority."
"Of
course he's part of the government now and he of
course he must pursue the same line as his government's,"
the dictator said. Last
month, in response to questioning at a House Appropriations
Subcommittee hearing
by Rep. Jose E. Serrano, D-N. Y.,
Secretary
Powell said about the dictator: ñHe
has done good things for the Cuban people ... He is no longer the threat
he was.''
Today, CAMCO
asks
to those politicians who are still helping Castro's
survival the same question it asked a month ago:
WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR
OWN COUNTRIES HAD BEEN GOVERNED BY THE SAME PARTY
AND THE SAME DICTATOR FOR FORTY-TWO YEARS? WOULD
YOU PRAISE THE TYRANT?
HAVANA,
May 15
RAUL
SEES NO CHANGE AFTER FIDEL'S DEATH
Communist
Cuba's No. 2 man, Gen. Raul Castro, said in comments
published Sunday that the revolution would easily
survive the death of his brother Fidel. ñThere will
be no problem,'' he said in an interview with Juventud
Rebelde, the newspaper of Cuba's communist youth.
ñWe, of course, want Fidel to live many more years.
But eternity is not possible".
ñIn
our case, we will not die with the physical death,''
said Raul Castro, who at 69 is five years younger
than his brother. ñWe will live or die depending
upon what happens with the revolution. If it dies,
we will be dead. If it lives on, we will live.''
Although
the Cuban dictator appears to be in vigorous good
health, his death, as well as its political and
economic consequences, are constant fodder for speculation
in the United States and Cuba. Raul Castro has made
similar comments in recent months, even encouraging
Washington to make peace with Havana while his brother
is still alive and hinting that he may be much tougher
to deal with than his brother.
CAMAG EY, May 15
DAY
CARE CENTER IS COLLAPSING
(CAMCOÍs
Department of Engineers)
Two rooms were shuttered
at the "Los Naranjitos" nursery and day
care center in Ceballos township, after a collapsing
window rendered part of the structure unsafe.
The measure displaced forty children, including
new-born and three-year-olds, as there is no other
room in the facility to house them.
SANTIAGO
DE CUBA, May 15
REFRIGERATOR
REPAIRS OUT OF REACH FOR AVERAGE CUBAN (CAMCOÍs
Department of Engineers)
The Service Company
of Santiago de Cuba will repair aging Soviet- or
Cuban-built refrigerators, but at prices beyond
the means of Cubans. The company, at the Enramadas
Street shop, charges 75 dollars and 95 pesos to
repair a Soviet refrigerator and 95 dollars and
106 pesos to repair a Cuban-built refrigerator.
This peculiar arrangement of charging part of the
fee in dollars and part in pesos is quite common
in Cuba these days. Businesses, even if they are
government dependencies, need dollars so that they
can themselves pay for certain goods and services
they need.
At
the current exchange rate of 21 pesos per dollar,
the repairs cost respectively 1670 and 2101 pesos.
The average wage in Cuba is 249 pesos a month. "People
go to these shops hoping to repair their refrigerator,
and when they learn the cost of the repair they
return home frustrated, because they can't afford
it," said one resident of Santiago. Many in
Santiago, he added, don't have a working refrigerator
CARACAS,
May 11
CHAVEZ
PRESAGES AN ARMED REVOLUTION IF HIS POLICIES FAIL
Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday that if
his peaceful crusade to bring revolutionary change
to the oil-rich South American nation failed, then
"armed revolution" might be the only solution.
"We are making a superhuman effort to create
a revolution without arms, but it's pretty difficult,
pretty difficult, although not impossible,"
the 46-year-old paratrooper-turned-president said
at Maracay, west of Caracas.
In
a warning clearly aimed at his critics and political
opponents, Chávez added: "I am convinced
that if for some reason this attempt to forge a
revolution without arms fails, what would come next
would be a revolution with arms because that is
the only way out that we Venezuelans haveƒA revolution
means completely transforming social reality, which
means ending the odious differences between a small
group of rich who have everything and a noble people
stricken with poverty and hunger, we have to put
and end to this."
ChavezÍs
comments, broadcast on Venezuelan radio, came amid
intense speculation by local media that he might
be considering assuming emergency powers under the
1999 constitution to speed legislation to solve
pressing national problems. Chavez's opponents have
accused him of dictatorial tendencies and fomenting
class war in Venezuela, which has one of the longer-standing
democracies in Latin America.
TEHERAN, May 10
CUBAN DICTATOR SEEKS IRANÍS HELP AGAINST
U.S.
Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro urged Iran Wednesday to help
defeat the United States "as you toppled the
shah" in 1979. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, a staunch opponent of the United States,
immediately welcomed the offer, saying the United
States is "vulnerable and easy to break downƒIran
and Cuba can work together to achieve this."
Referring to
the late Iranian monarch who was backed by the United
States, Castro said earlier: "You overthrew
the shah 22 years ago, but there is another shah
one thousand times stronger and better armed. "This
(new) shah is imperialism, and its main stronghold
is only miles away from our border," he said
in a speech to students and faculty members at Tehran
University.
The United
States "has military bases and aircraft carriers
everywhere and its nuclear warheads are aimed in
every direction," Castro added. "But it
can be toppled, just like your Shah was overthrown."
Khamenei told Castro that Iran strongly backed Cuba's
anti-U.S. stance, state television reported. "Iran
likes Cuba because it has withstood U.S. bullying.
This is very precious from Islam's standpoint,"
the Iranian leader said. "America is very vulnerable
and can be easily broken down, Khamenei said.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 10
U.S.
SAYS IT LOBBIED FOR U.N. POST
The United
States said Wednesday it lobbied aggressively for
a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, but
U.N. diplomats said the Bush administration failed
to bring in political heavyweights to counter anti-U.S.
sentiment and clinch the vote.
ñWe
worked very hard up until the last minute to secure
the votes,'' acting U.S. ambassador James Cunningham
told reporters. However, a member of the U.S. delegation
to the United Nations, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said American diplomats had asked for
help from higher-ups in Washington for their lobbying
efforts but did not get that.
The
Human Rights Commission is part of the 54-member
Economic and Social Council. It was the council's
members who ousted the United States from the human
rights body, which Eleanor Roosevelt helped create.
HAVANA, May 9
TOURISM
GROWING IN CUBA
Tourism Minister Ibrahim Ferradaz
said tourism grew 12 percent in the first four months,
leaving the Caribbean island on target for a record
2 million visitors in 2001. "In 2000 we did
well, and in 2001 we are growing," the Minister
told reporters.
Ferradaz
declared 674,000 foreigners had chosen Cuba for
their vacations through April, up 12 percent from
the previous period last year. "We are working
for 2 million arrivals this year, perhaps a little
more," he added. The tourism industry grew
at a remarkable 19 percent annual rate in the 1990s,
proving an economic lifeline for Cuba at a time
of recession, but growth slowed to just over 10
percent last year as the boom peaked. The government
reported nearly 1.8 million tourist arrivals in
2000, direct and indirect revenues of around $2
billion, and 35,000 tourism rooms in operation.
That compares with 12,900 rooms, 340,300 arrivals,
and $243 million revenues in 1990.
But tourism
has also brought with it serious social problems.
Luxury hotels, which are off-limits to most Cubans,
and tourism-related services which the population
can only dream of some day receiving, have created
resentment among a portion of the island's residents.
The appearance of hundreds of thousands of Western
tourists, and the magazines and satellite television
that arrived with them, have increased local residents'
awareness of what they cannot enjoy in a their communist
society.
TEHERAN,
May 8
CASTRO
ARRIVES IN IRAN AFTER VISIT TO ARGELIA
On
receiving Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who arrived
in Tehran late Monday, President Mohammad Khatami
referred to the Iranian revolution more than two
decades ago that ousted the U.S.-supported shah.
It has been announced that Castro will hold conversations on bilateral cooperation with president
Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He
said Tuesday that his first visit to Iran would
strengthen bonds between the two nations, both locked
under unilateral U.S. sanctions.
ñOur
nation has great affection for the people of Cuba,
and Mr. Castro's presence here today comes after
22 years of waiting,'' Khatami said. Although Khatami
has embarked on a slow rapprochement with Washington,
many Iranian officials still refer to the United
States as the ñGreat Satan. Castro also was expected
to visit Malaysia and Qatar. Cuba's communist government
almost never announces Castro's travel schedule
in advance because of security concerns.
Cuba
and Iran are both subject to economic sanctions
and political pressure from the United States. Both
have a policy of reaching out to other states spurned
by Washington. "Our cooperation...is in order
to create an international system in which the sovereign
rights of all peoples and their right to seek freedom
are respected," said Khatami.
MIAMI,
el 8 de mayo
IAPA REPEATS ITS COMMITMENT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN CUBA (CAMCOÍs
Director for Communication)
The
Inter American Press Association (IAPA), on World
Press Freedom Day, would like to share a message
from its HavanaÍs Regional Vice Chairman for Cuba,
Raúl Rivero, who tells us about the vicissitudes
of independent journalism and confirms that journalist
Bernardo Arévalo Padrón remains a
prisoner for criminal contempt the offense of insulting
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and Vice President Carlos
Lage.
IAPA President, Danilo Argilla,
Búsqueda, Montevideo, Uruguay, as
well as the Chairman of the Committee on Freedom
of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina,
Ahora, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, expressed
that as it has been doing for 42 years, the hemisphere
organization will continue its commitment to denouncing
attacks against freedom of expression and demand
the right of all Cuban citizens to information,
free from all State control.
See
complete RiverÍs text that pays tribute to Cuban
independent journalism.
ALGIERS, May 7
CUBAN
DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO ARRIVES AT ALGIERS
Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro has arrived in Algiers for
a three-day official visit aimed at giving a fresh
boost to bilateral cooperation, Algerian state media
reported on Sunday. Castro, who arrived on
Saturday, will hold talks on Sunday with Algerian
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, focusing on ways
to increase trade between Havana and Algiers, it
said.
"Our two peoples' common
history is a guarantee of confidence towards further
strengthening the links between the Algerian and
Cuban states," Castro was quoted as saying
by the official Algerian news agency APS. The
two countries have enjoyed warm relations since
the days when they were staunch allies of the former
Soviet Union and leading members of the Non-Aligned
Movement.
HAVANA, May 7
ARGENTINA
WITHDREW ITS AMBASSADOR FROM CUBA
Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro said on Saturday that Argentina's
withdrawal of its ambassador to Havana was further
evidence of its servility to the United States.
Buenos Aires announced on Friday
that its envoy, recalled earlier this year after
Castro accused Argentine President Fernando de la
Rua's government of "licking the boots of the
Yankees," would not be returning following
further derogatory comments from Havana.
Last week, Castro characterized
Argentine officials as "cockroaches" and
said De la Rua had no moral authority to govern. A
Cuban Foreign Ministry note published on Saturday
in the ruling Communist Party's daily, Granma, under
the title "Another Ridiculous and Servile Act,"
said it was a shame that Argentine Foreign Minister
Rodríguez Giavarini had not removed himself
from office instead of the ambassador.
PINAR DEL RIO, May 7
PATIENTS
MAY WAIT HOURS FOR AN AMBULANCE
(CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)
The
township of Minas, in Pinar del Río province,
has no ambulance. Or rather, the one they have,
donated by foreigners some time ago, is broken and
there are no spare parts to repair it. As a result,
patients in need of transportation have to wait,
sometimes for hours.
"When an ambulance gets
here from another town, it cannot go back until
there are three patients to transport. There have
been cases of patients that had to wait for as long
as ten hours to be taken to the hospital,"
said Joaquín Piloto Cabrera, of the independent
workers' organization Consejo Unitario de Trabajadores
Cubanos.
HAVANA,
May 7
CUBA
PICKS EURO CELL STANDARD
(CAMCOÍs Department of Engineers)
Cuba
has once again thumbed its nose at the United States.
This time the Communist island chose cellular phone
infrastructure that isn't compatible with most handsets
in North America.
Radio Havana has reported that
C-COM, Cuba's analog cell phone network provider,
has signed an agreement with Spain's Soluciones
to improve on the island's current cellular infrastructure
and build a global communications system.
GSM is the dominant cellular
network standard in Europe, so Cuba's system would
mainly accommodate the handsets of tourists from
that part of the world.
HAVANA,
May 7
PUBLIC
PHONES VANDALIZED IN HAVANA (CAMCOÍs
Department of Engineers)
There
seems to be an epidemic of vandalism against public
phones in Central Havana. A recent informal survey
revealed 32 out of 50 phones out of order, 10 of
which had had the handle torn off.
The vandalism is hard to explain,
given the very visible police presence in Central
Havana 24 hours a day. Observers say the figures
mirror those in other localities.
HAVANA, May 6
CUBAN
DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO TOURS MIDDLE EAST, ASIA
Communist
road warrior Fidel Castro will embark on a far-flung
tour to the Middle East and Asia this weekend, following
a decade of travel limited mostly to the Western
hemisphere. The tour will include three days in
Iran - like Cuba a country the United States says
sponsors international terrorism.
Cuba's
communist government, ever mindful of its president's
security, almost never announces Castro's travel
schedule in advance. But Algeria, Iran and Malaysia
all said Cuba's leader was indeed coming. Castro
also may visit Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula across
the Persian Gulf from Iran. Cuban Foreign Minister
Felipe Perez Roque said during a visit to Qatar
in February that Castro likely would visit there
this year. Such a long trip is rare these days for
the 74-year-old Cuban dictator, who has now been
in power for 42 years. Castro's travels in recent
years have been concentrated largely in the Western
hemisphere, mostly for regional summits in Latin
America and the Caribbean. He did visit South Africa
for Nelson Mandela's inauguration as president in
1994, and went to both China and France in 1995.
Castro's
current far-ranging tour begins Saturday in Algeria,
according to Algeria Press Service, the country's
official news agency. The Cuban president has made
numerous visits to Algeria in the past, particularly
in the 1970s. After three days in Algeria, he travels
on Monday to Iran, presumably for a meeting with
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who visited
Cuba last year following an OPEC summit in nearby
Venezuela. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid
Reza Asefi said Castro would arrive Monday, leading
a high-ranking delegation of political and economic
figures, Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency
reported. Castro will make his first official visit
to Malaysia on May 11-13, Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad said Friday.
WASHINGTON
, May 5
A
VICTORY FOR CUBA: US IS VOTED OUT FROM THE U.N.
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
Cuba,
one of the United States' arch-enemies at a U.N.
forum monitoring human rights, said Thursday that
Washington's failure to win re-election to the commission
was just reward for its "arrogance." Thursday's
election result "also expresses the disapproval,
especially from Third World nations, of the manipulations,
discriminatory and selective practices, and the
violations of international law, that the United
States has enshrined in Geneva," the Cuban
communiqué said.
Since
the April vote against Cuba, state media on the
Caribbean island have been waging a defamatory campaign
to highlight alleged U.S. "dirty" tactics
at the commission. In frequent public comments on the subject in recent days,
Castro has lambasted the rights' records of Western
and Latin American nations who voted against him,
and compared that to Cuba's widely-praised health
and education systems.
In
Thursday's communiqué, Cuba contrasted its
own continued presence on the commission with the
U.S. failure to win re-election for the first time
since 1947. At Thursday's
vote, France, Austria and Sweden were chosen, instead
of the United States, for the three seats allocated
to Western countries that were up for election.
HAVANA,
April 3
CUBA DISSIDENT CHALLENGES CASTRO TO HOLD PLEBISCITE
Reacting
to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's call for plebiscites
across the region over a proposed Americas' free
trade agreement, a leading dissident called on Wednesday
for a similar popular vote at home on Cuba's communist
system.
"It's
true, every Latin American people has the right
to be consulted about such an important step as
the integration of its country into the Free Trade
Agreement of the Americas," Osvaldo Payá,
who heads the moderate Christian Liberation Movement,
said in a statement. "We are also urging his
government for a plebiscite, not on Cuba's entry
into the pact, but on political and economic changes
which are vitally necessary for the Cuban people,"
the dissident added.
"We do not want solutions from a power to whom there
is no course of appeal. The solution is to ask Cubans
if they want these changes via a plebiscite,"
he said. "Give expression to Cubans, via the
polls, in a plebiscite, and you will see how even
those people who marched with uniforms on and shouted
in the square, will vote for new laws guaranteeing
their rights, will vote for truth, will vote for
true self-determination, will vote for freedom,"
Payá said.
HAVANA,
May 2
CASTRO
MOCKS PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND OTHER LATIN AMERICA
PRESIDENTS
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro led
hundreds of thousands of Cuban workers in a noisy
May Day parade outside the U.S. mission Tuesday
and lambasted a hemisphere-wide trade agreement.
ñNo to annexation! Yes to plebiscite!'' the marchers
chanted.
Castro
has condemned the hemispheric free trade zone as
a U.S. ñannexation'' of Latin America and proposed
that the region's population be able to vote in
a plebiscite on whether to join. Under the plan,
he said, the United States will grow richer and
control commerce and culture across the hemisphere,
while Latin American nations will grow poorer, relegated
to providing raw materials and cheap labor.
Throughout
his speech, Castro continuously mocked President
George W. Bush and the leaders of several countries
that voted last month to censure Cuba for its human
rights record. To the beat of Caribbean carnival
music, Castro introduced the masses to a group of
ñpygmy presidents'' - seven life-sized carnival
style puppets with satirical heads fashioned to
look like President Bush and the heads of state
of Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Guatemala
and the Czech Republic.
HAVANA, May 1st.
CUBAN
DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO: ñCUBAÍS PROSTITUTES ARE HIGHLY
EDUCATED"
Cuban prostitutes can boast high educational standards,
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro said on Monday. "One
day when I was down in Brazil, an Argentinean asked
me 'Is it true that some girls who are university
graduates practice prostitution in Cuba?"'
Castro said. "I replied instantly, without
thinking, 'That proves our prostitutes have a university
level,"' he added, laughing at the anecdote
given during a lengthy speech to close a Cuban workers'
congress in Havana.
Castro's
comments
underlined
the re-emergence of a prostitution problem
he thought his socialist system had eradicated decades
ago. But the problem came back at the start of the
1990s against a backdrop of increased economic hardship
for locals, and an opening to tourism which brought
foreigners flooding back.
Castro gave no
figures this time, whereas he had laced his 1998
speech with statistics like the fact that more than
6,700 prostitutes and around 190 pimps were rounded
up in Havana in the first 11 months of that year.
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