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TORONTO, July 31

    MORE CUBAN YOUTH SEEKING POLITICAL ASYLUM IN CANADA

    More Cuban pilgrims may have defected to Canada on Tuesday, following in the footsteps of 23 youngsters who abandoned their delegation during World Youth Day celebrations in Toronto, the head of a Cuban group said. Ismael Sambra, president of the Cuban Canadian Foundation, said the organization had been told an unspecified number of Cuban youth eluded the Cuban secret police when the last members of the group flew out of TorontoÍs airport on Tuesday morning.

    "The official amount is now 23 but we hope in the next day more youth can defect to Canada," Sambra said. "Maybe tomorrow I can tell you other amounts." He added: "It's harder than before to do it. We know that some head of the delegation picked up all the passports of the delegation to prevent other guys defecting to Canada."

    The foundation says 23 Cubans have already been whisked into hiding in homes in Toronto and Montreal after slipping away during a huge papal mass on Sunday. Sambra said the Cubans will begin applying for political asylum "every day little by little. Not at the same time." Cuban community members told the reporters that organizers advised the Cuban youth to wear a certain symbol, elude Cuban officials and wait to be collected from the sidelines of the papal mass.


CANADA, July 30

    23 CUBAN CATHOLIC YOUTH DEFECT DURING PAPAL VISIT

    The Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops confirmed that 23 Cuban youth among a delegation of 200 that went to Canada for the Pope Juan Pablo II's World Youth Day visit have defected. "I can say that it's true" that the Cubans decided "not to return to the country," said a statement released Monday by conference spokesman Orlando Marquez.

    Ismael Sambra, president of the Cuban Canadian Foundation told The Toronto Sun newspaper in Canada that pilgrims were smuggled away during the papal Mass despite being guarded by Cuban security police. The defectors are to claim political asylum at Toronto immigration offices this week, saying they'll be persecuted for their religious beliefs if they return home, The Sun reported.

    The Cubans were smuggled to houses in a planned rescue mission by members of Toronto's Cuban community, Sambra said, but he would not be more specific. "The young people who defected are afraid," Sambra told the Sun. "Some were helped by relatives who traveled from the United States. Others acted on their own, leaving farewell notes." "They are afraid for their families back at home."


MIAMI, July 30

    FORMER DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER DEFECTS TO US

    A Cuban former deputy foreign minister, ambassador to the United Nations, and one-time aide to Defense Minister Raul Castro has defected to the United States, saying he did not want to be another laborer on Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's "farm." Alcibiades Hidalgo Basulto, 56, said he had been sidelined from senior positions in Cuba for years and was working at the state-run newspaper Trabajadores when he left last week. Hidalgo reached Florida last Thursday on a raft that sank just yards (meters) from the Florida Keys. He had requested political asylum.

    "I have decided not to be one more peon on Dr. Castro's farm," Hidalgo said in an interview published in a Miami paper. Hidalgo was once chief of staff in the office of Raul Castro, Castro's younger brother and No. 2 in the Cuban Communist Party, who has also been designated by Fidel Castro as his successor. However, Hidalgo said Raúl ñcannot substitute anyone."

    A former member of the Communist Party's Central Committee, Hidalgo was a negotiator for Cuba in talks on the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola in the late 1980s. Ten years ago Hidalgo was appointed Havana's ambassador to the United Nations and his star apparently faded. Hidalgo said Castro is senile and called all the shots in decision making and described a younger generation of officials around him as "kids who Fidel plays with," saying they could be elevated or dumped at Castro's whim. He noted as one example Roberto Robaina, a former Communist youth leader who served as foreign minister from 1993 until he was abruptly dismissed three years ago.


VILLA CLARA, July 30

    RETURNED RAFTER EXCLUDED FROM GOVERNMENTAL AID

    Cuban government aid officials in charge of distributing aid to residents whose houses were damaged by hurricane Michelle last year have excluded returned rafter Pablo Carrazana from their list of recipients, in direct contravention of U. S Cuba migratory accords which stipulate that returned rafters will not be singled out for punishment. Carrazana, 26, has tried to leave the island three times by sea, and been returned as many times by U. S. Coast Guard vessels.

    Most recently, an official known locally as Tico excluded Carrazana when distributing allotments of 25 sheets of plywood to people that needed them to repair their houses. The official argued that he only had available for distribution enough materials for people on a list where Carrazana was not included.


HAVANA, July 29

    THE CUBAN SOOTHSAYER, LOOKING AT HIS CRYSTAL BALL, PREDICTS THE COLLAPSE OF CAPITALISM

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, in an address on July 26 commemorating the anniversary of the attacks on the Moncada barracks, condemned recent Wall Street scandals as ''bald-faced robbery'' and said they only confirm what he has been saying about capitalism for more than 40 years. Castro said that ''criminal swindling'' by business leaders "has tricked elderly Americans out of their retirement savings and duped millions of others who invested in the stock market." Citing plunging indexes on the New York Stock Exchange and a return to government deficits in Washington, the dictator said the U.S. economic pinch has spread ''terrifying'' problems to Latin America that appear to be getting worse. ''Today," he noted, "quite a number of us on this Earth are waiting to see how the developed capitalist world led by the United States disengages from the colossal and chaotic economic mess in which it is enmeshed.'' 

    The dictator spoke like a fortune-teller who saw on his crystal ball a ''profound crisis'' in the capitalist system. He said that ñhardly twelve years ago, many in the world expected to see Cuba, the last socialist state in the West, crumble. Not much time has gone by and today, instead, quite a number of us on this earth are waiting to see how the developed capitalist world led by the United States disengages from the colossal and chaotic economic mess in which it is enmeshed. Those who yesterday talked so much about the end of history might be wondering if this profound crisis is not the beginning of the end of the political, economic and social system it represents."

    And the dictator added: ñThe men who to some degree foresaw a fragment of the future, as a rule perceived the demise of their eraÍs tragedies as closer and imminent. However, one would have to be really blind to fail to understand that the barbaric and cruel world order that humanity endures today cannot last much longer." The dictator also emphasized: ñGiven the major significance of the U.S. economy for that of the rest of the world, including CubaÍs, which in addition to the blockade suffers the indirect damage caused by the international economic crisis, the figures are far from encouraging.


SANTA CLARA, July 28

    ONE THOUSAND PESOS FOR KIDNAPPED HORSE

    After kidnapping a horse in a rural area next to the town of San Diego del Valle, about 25 miles west of provincial capital city Santa Clara, the abductors asked the animalÍs owner for a ransom of 1,000 pesos if he wanted to see his horse again.

    The crime is not unheard of; the horse is a new twist. This sort of thing had been happening to owners of motorcycles; people here say if they didnÍt pay up, the motorcycles would not show up even in a séance.

    Locals also assume this type of criminal activity has to somehow involve the police, who they say are only as efficient as they want to be given the degree of government control prevalent in the country.


CIEGO DE AVILA, July 27

    THE CUBAN DICTATOR THANKS HIS FRIENDS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

    Proclaiming that friends can be found even among his country's worst enemies, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro thanked U.S. Congress members who voted this week to ease sanctions against the communist-ruled island. Speaking at a rally Friday to mark the start of the Cuban revolution, Castro said the House vote passing the measure was a gesture of such significance that it doesn't matter if President Bush uses his veto as threatened.

    ñNor does it matter if new ruses and provocations are invented to annul them," Castro said. ñI would like to express our people's gratitude to both the Democratic and Republican legislators who on that day acted intelligently and strongly, following their own beliefs," Castro told the crowd gathered in this central provincial capital. The  lawmakers voted ñwith determination and courage for three amendments that bring glory to that institution," Castro said, referring to the U.S. Congress. ñWe shall always be grateful for that gesture."

    The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to lift restrictions on travel to Cuba that have been in place for more than four decades - except when they were briefly lifted during the administration of President Jimmy Carter. The House also voted to remove hurdles on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba and lift the caps on money that Cuban-Americans can send relatives in the island. The measures now go to the Senate. The White HouseÍs spokesman  said this week that the president would be urged to veto the spending bill containing those measures if it included an end to the travel ban.


HAVANA, July 27

    HA!!  BIG DEAL! CUBA BUY FARM PRODUCTS FOR $2 MILLION

    A North Dakota agricultural trade delegation to Cuba, led by Gov. John Hoeven, finished with a document signing ceremony Thursday in which the North Dakota Farm Bureau promised to help consummate sales of state farm products totaling about $2 million. The four-day visit, organized by the North Dakota Farm Bureau, was designed to strengthen trade possibilities with a country that has been out of the loop with the U.S. government for more than four decades because of its communist regime.

    ñWe're going to take these prices home, the volumes and prices you're willing to pay, to export companies, so they will know what they have to do, when you want it, and we're going to do that upon our return home," Eric Aasmundstad, president of the North Dakota Farm Bureau. Aasmundstad, told Cuban officials. The Cubans initially wanted the Bureau to agree to solid, legal deals, but in the end settled for the ceremonial deals.

    On the political side, the governor steered clear of statements disloyal to the Bush administration, which strongly opposes normalizing trade with Cuba under the Castro dictatorship without changes in Cuban policies, including the ability for foreign companies operating in Cuba to hire their own workers and for the workers to organize in their own, nonstate unions.


HAVANA, July 26

    CUBAN DISSIDENT DENIED EXIT VISA

    Cuban migratory service officials recently denied prominent dissident Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz a temporary exit visa to attend a Latin American Human Rights Congress July 23-25 in Guatemala. Sánchez had been invited to attend the event and had the appropriate visas to enter Guatemala.

    Sanchez said that when he requested the exit visa, an official from the Interior Minister told him  that he was not authorized to travel. Sánchez is the president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.



WASHINGTON, D.C., July 25

    HOUSE VOTES TO LIFT CUBAN SANCTIONS

    The House brushed aside a veto threat from President Bush and approved several measures to ease restrictions on travel and trade with Cuba. By a 262-167 margin the House approved an amendment to a spending bill that would eliminate restrictions on American tourists traveling to Cuba. The legislators followed with a 251-177 vote on another measure lifting the cap, now $1,200 a year, on what Cuban-Americans can remit to their families in Cuba. Additionally, they approved by voice a measure to remove hurdles to the sale of food and medicine to Cuba. The most far-reaching attempt to reverse the four-decade-old policy of isolating Cuba, an amendment to lift the economic embargo, was defeated, but by a narrow 226-204.

    The White House, in a statement, threatened a presidential veto if the bill removed sanctions on Cuba. ñLifting the sanctions now would provide a helping hand to a desperate and repressive regime," it said. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, asked Wednesday about the Cuba votes, said that as ñpeople realize that it's a serious (veto) message, the president is hopeful that that provision will be removed so that the bill can be signed into law." State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the president's policy continues to be to ñtake steps to improve relations if Cuba takes steps toward democracy and ending human rights abuses." He said that has not happened.


HAVANA, July 25

    TRANSPORTATION OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION

    The highest ranking official of the Ministry of Transportation in the Isle of Youth, José Montalvo Romero, has been removed from his post under an accusation of corruption. Montalvo was dismissed after authorities learned he had had a house built in the Sierra Caballo section of Nueva Gerona. Cuban law allows each person to have only one home.

    Montalvo had been publicly accused more than two years ago of corruption and of mistreating employees. One of his accusers, activist Lázaro Pérez García, said he was insulted repeatedly by Montalvo. Pérez added: "Public transport employees, who received the worst treatment under Montalvo, are very happy about this corrupt officialÍs removal." MontalvoÍs case was discussed in a provincial Communist Party assembly, in which his dismissal was decided. The Transportation Minister was present at the meeting.


HAVANA, July 24

    VENEZUELA TO RESUME OIL EXPORTS TO COMMUNIST CUBA IN AUGUST

    Venezuela will resume oil shipments to Cuba in the first week of August after a four-month suspension, the two governments announced on Monday. The shipments of 53,000 barrels a day on favorable financing terms was suspended in April during the brief overthrow of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

    "The difficulties have been overcome and there is an agreement to restart the oil shipments as of the 1st of August," Venezuelan Trade Minister Ramon Rosales said in Havana. After Chavez returned to power, Venezuela's state-owned oil enterprise Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) said the shipments had not been resumed because Cuba had fallen behind in paying for the petroleum. The leftist president of Venezuela, an admirer of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, has irked Washington by drawing closer to Havana.

PARIS, July 24

    PARIS MEDIA WATCHDOG WARNS TOURISTS OF CENSORSHIP IN CUBA

    Reporters without Borders, a Paris-based media freedom watchdog, launched a publicity campaign on Tuesday telling tourists to Cuba, Tunisia and Turkey that the press there is censored. In a television commercial, a tourist keeps setting off a metal detector, even after he has removed all metal items from his pockets to pass through the security gate.

    Finally a security guard finds a newspaper in his pocket and throws it away. The tourist passes through the metal detector without a problem. In newspaper advertisements, the signs inside an aircraft showing the "fasten seatbelts" and "no smoking" icons are joined by an image of a newspaper with a red line drawn through it.

    "We remind passengers to Cuba, Tunisia and Turkey that the news is censored in those countries," the ads announce. Reporters without Borders said Cuba harassed independent journalists and four were currently in jail.


MOSCOW, July 24

    CIA DEFECTOR DIES IN MOSCOW

    Edward Lee Howard, the former CIA officer who escaped to Moscow in September 1985 after coming under suspicion as a spy for the Soviet Union, died there July 12. Howard, 50, the first CIA officer believed to have defected to the KGB, was said to have broken his neck in ña fall" down steps in his dacha outside the Russian capital.

    A CIA spokesman said yesterday that the agency had received reports that Howard "passed away" last week "but we have not yet been able to confirm them." Although Howard continued over the years to deny he was a spy, he had lived in Moscow as a "guest of the state" since 1985, according to senior intelligence officials. Among the information Howard was said to have turned over were the name of a CIA officer serving in Moscow and a top Soviet scientist who specialized in stealth technology. The U.S. officer was expelled from Moscow, and the scientist was jailed and subsequently executed.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 23

    HOUSE REPUBLICANS REQUEST INVESTIGATION INTO EXPORTS TO CUBA

     "Seven House Republicans sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of State Otto J. Reich, requesting an investigation into exports to Cuba. The letter states: ñWe are concerned that payments from the Castro dictatorship for shipments of US agricultural products may not be, in reality, being made as required by lawƒThe Castro dictatorship is basically a bankrupt tyranny that owes billions of dollars in debt worldwide and cannot pay its billsƒ"

     "Precisely because, among other reasons, the Castro dictatorship remains on the State DepartmentÍs list of Terrorist Nations, refused to allow the delivery of food directly to the Cuban people, continues to control all aspects of the Cuban economy and prohibits private enterprise, continues to use food as a weapon to control opposition activities, and is unable to pay many of its bills, the sale of US food and agricultural products must be very closely scrutinized and monitored. We are not convinced that the lawÍs requirements are being fully met..."

    The letter is signed by: Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-FL), Henry Hide (R-IL), Dan Burton (R-IN), Cass Ballenger (R0-NC), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (D-FL), Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Chris Cox (R-CA). Click here and read the letter.


HAVANA, July 23

    NORTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR VISITS CUBA

    Gov. John Hoeven of North Dakota traveled to the communist nation on a trade mission Monday, making him only the second U.S. governor to visit in more than 40 years. The Republican governor's four-day visit comes as he and other officials from farming states press Congress to expand a 2-year-old law allowing direct sales of food to Cuba, an exception to sanctions prohibiting most trade with the island.

    Hoeven said last week he decided to go ahead with the trip despite what he said were ñconcerns" from the Bush administration, which has discouraged most dealings with the communist island.

    U.S. lawmakers from farm states are pushing to end a ban on American financing of the sales to make it easier to sell to Cuba. But President Bush says he'll veto any more efforts to ease existing sanctions until Cuba undertakes economic and political reform.

    HAVANA, July 23

    FARMERS REFUSE TO PAY MEMBERSHIP FEES IN PROTEST

    Residents of rural areas near the central Cuban city of Santa Clara refused to pay their membership fees to the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, as a protest for the government's refusal to sell them eggs, baby food, and canned fish under the food rationing plan.

    The protesters, all residing in the vicinity of the Central Highway, between Santa Clara and neighboring Santo Domingo, say the government's assertion that residents of rural areas can become self-sufficient in foodstuffs is ridiculous in the face of it.

    How, they ask, are they going to produce canned fish or baby preserves? one of the residents involved in the protest, said she has not been able to raise a single chicken, because every time she tried, they would be stolen. Another resident said he had had a cow stolen and had been fined 500 pesos for losing the animal. "No more raising animals for me," he said.


MIAMI, July 22

    CANF CONCLUDED ITS ANNUAL CONGRESS

    The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) concluded during the weekend its Annual Congress in Key Biscayne, Fla., with the largest attendance ever of members of the institution's board of directors. Among the highlights of the two-day event were the participation of several keynote speakers and prominent Cuban dissidents who addressed  the gathering.

    On Saturday, Cuban dissidents Vladimiro Roca, Victor Rolando Arroyo, and Miguel Saludes addressed the organization via teleconference from Cuba, providing a firsthand account of their work in defense of human rights and current conditions in Cuba. Participating in the event were prestigious U.S. government officials as Col. Emilio T. Gonzalez, Director of Western Hemisphere Affairs, National Security Council; and Ambassador Vicky Huddleston, Chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. Other distinguished participants were: Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States, Martin Palous; Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Federico Zertuche, member of Mexico's Foreign Relations Commission.

    Among the important issues discussed were: expanding support for Cuba's emerging civil society and domestic pro-democracy groups; the situation of human rights and basic civil liberties on the island; and growing support by the international community for a democratic transition in Cuba. "This congress will be remembered as historic as the decisions and projects that are approved will accelerate the path to FREEDOM," said CANF chairman Jorge Mas Santos,

FIJI, July 21

    EUROPE UNION EXCLUDES CUBA FROM AID FUNDS

    The European Union (EU) has excluded Cuba from a multibillion-dollar pool of aid because of its poor human rights record and lack of democracy, a spokesman for a group of former European colonies said Friday. The head of Cuba's delegation, Ricardo Cabrisas, called the EU decision "a humiliation and slap in the face for Cuba." Cuba is a new member of the African-Caribbean-Pacific group, or ACP, which is holding a leaders' summit at an island resort near the Fijian town of Nadi.

    Central to the talks is a 25-year pact signed by the EU and ACP in 2000, known as the Cotonou agreement, which promises $12.7 billion in aid to ACP states over the next five years if they show efforts to improve human rights and root out corruption. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, who is attending the summit, on Friday rejected overtures from ACP leaders to give Cuba quick access to the agreement, said ACP spokesman Hegel Goutier. Lamy told delegates that the EU wanted to see more political reform from Havana.

    The EU believes Cuba cannot satisfy basic principles of the agreement, especially with respect to democracy and human rights, said Billie Miller, deputy prime minister of Barbados, who heads the Caribbean grouping at the summit. Miller said she had formally appealed on behalf of Caribbean nations to the EU to fast track Cuba's inclusion. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.., July 20

    WHITE HOUSE SAYS WOULD VETO THE ELIMINATION OF CUBA TRAVEL BAN

    The White House Thursday again threatened to veto any move to relax a ban on Americans traveling to the communist-led island. A Senate panel voted this week to lift the ban and the House is expected to follow suit.

    However, Republican leaders and the influential Cuban exile community oppose the move, saying more commerce with the United States would only bolster the communist dictator. They say the ban should be lifted only if Castro releases political prisoners and returns fugitives from U.S. justice. "Lifting the sanctions now would provide a helping hand to a desperate and repressive regime, whereas the president's policy calls for reaching out to help the Cuban people," said the White HouseÍs statement. "The president's senior advisers would recommend that he veto a bill that contained such changes," it added.

    Cuba said Thursday it expected Bush to veto the lifting of the ban, but a top communist government official foresaw continued efforts on Capitol Hill to the ease restrictions on trade and travel to the island.


HAVANA, July 20

    CUBAN RESPONDS TO COMPLAINTS FROM FOREIGN INVESTORS

    Faced with growing complaints from foreign investors about the difficulties of doing business on this communist island, government officials say they are working to unravel Cuba's complicated bureaucracy. We are waging a battle to cut time periods" in negotiating with foreign investors and responding to requests to establish businesses here, said Ernesto Senti, vice minister for Foreign Investment.

    There are 412 "mixed enterprises" in Cuba, operated with foreign capital and Cuban government involvement. Spain accounts for the largest amount of foreign investment in Cuba, followed by Canada, Italy, France, Mexico and Great Britain, said Senti. China and Germany also have been increasing involvement in Cuba, he said.

   Investors from the European Union whose countries account for about half of Cuba's foreign investment, last month gave government authorities a document asking for increased security and lower prices in doing business. They also complained about recurrent bureaucratic headaches and about delays in payments and myriad rules and regulations, including one that requires them to hire their Cuban workers through government employment agencies.


HAVANA, July 20

    TOURISM TO CUBA IS DROPPING

    The number of tourists coming to Cuba is dropping, as is the average amount they're spending. By July 2 last year one million tourists had already arrived, but that figure is far from being reached this year.

    The average tourist spends $1,040, compared to $1,098 in 2000 and $1,328 in 1996. The reason given for the drop in tourism is the fear of flying many people have had since terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York Sept. 11. The drop in per capita expenditures is believed to be due to the fact that tourists with lower incomes are now coming.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 19

    HUSSEIN SAYS ALL ARABS ARE THREATENED BY U.S.

    Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein said in an interview published yesterday that the United States is threatening the entire Arab world, not just Iraq. ñThe latest is a Zionist-American aggression against the Arab world represented by Palestine and Iraq," the Iraqi dictator said in the interview.

    The interview came as speculation increased about a possible U.S.-led military attack against Iraq. President Bush said he wants to remove the Iraqi dictator, accusing his government of sponsoring terrorism and producing and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. President Bush signed an order this year directing the CIA to increase support to Iraqi opposition groups and allowing possible use of CIA and Special Forces teams against Hussein.

    Hussein also praised suicide attacks against Israel, saying they will be ñrecorded in our history with golden letters." ñWhenever a suicide attack occurs against the enemy, I feel as if I carried it out myself, and every Arab should look at these acts this way," the dictator said.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 19 

    TURMOIL INCREASES IN LATIN AMERICA

    Recent events augur a dark future for the hemisphere's peace and order. In Peru, Bolivia and Colombia, which account for 95 percent of the world's coca production, the United States has suffered setbacks in the counter-drug efforts. Peru has suspended important U.S.-underwritten coca-eradication and alternative-crop programs.

    In Bolivia, leftist Evo Morales won a close second in presidential elections and has pledged to throw the DEA out of Bolivia if elected president. Morales cites Cuba's regime as his vision for Latin America. Even without winning, he will control enough congressional seats to challenge the Bolivian government's support of U.S. counter-drug programs.

    In Argentina, the political and economic equations remain unpredictable. The country's financial woes now threaten neighbors, including Brazil. In Colombia, illegal insurgents and drug lords continue to ravage the country and the population. In Venezuela, a strong opposition movement is demanding that President Hugo Chávez step down. Other countries with increasing internal turmoil are Paraguay, Costa Rica and Mexico. It should be remembered that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro promised to make ñLos Andes" the ñSierra Maestra" of Latin America.

HAVANA, July 18

    CUBAN DICTATOR BLASTS ñSAVAGE" US POLICY TOWARDS IRAQ

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro blasted Wednesday the "savage" policy of the United States towards Iraq, which has found itself under the looming specter of a US military campaign, the INA news agency reported.

    In a telegram of congratulations to his Iraqi counterpart, the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on the 34th anniversary of the July 17, 1968 coup that brought the Baath Party to power, Castro slammed the "savage policy of the United States towards the friendly Iraqi people."  The Cuban Communist tyrant assured Hussein of his "solidarity" and his desire to make stronger the relations between Cuba and Iraq, two countries targeted by Washington for the human rights violations of their respective dictatorial regimes.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 18

    U.S. SENATE VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO LIFT TRAVEL BAN TO CUBA

    The Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to lift the four-decade-old travel ban on the Communist island. The House is expected to back lifting the ban for the third year in a row. In the past, those efforts failed because the Senate did not act on the issue.

    Proponents of ending the travel ban say it infringes on U.S. citizens' constitutional right to travel freely and has demonstrably failed to weaken the grip of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on the Caribbean island.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 17

    PRESIDENT BUSH EXTENDS SUSPENSION OF LAWSUITS

    Following the lead of former President Bill Clinton, who issued six-month suspensions of the controversial provisions 10 times in a row, U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday suspended for six months a law allowing Americans  to sue foreign companies using Cuban property confiscated after the 1959 communist takeover of the Caribbean island.

    In a letter sent to key members of Congress, President Bush said extending the suspension is ñnecessary to the national interests of the United States and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba." Extending the suspension allows the United States to avoid potential disputes with European Union nations whose firms have investments in communist Cuba. 

    President Bush made a decision that might hurt his credibility among Cuban Americans in the crucial state of Florida, where his narrow victory in the 2000 presidential election handed him the White House. The law that provides for U.S. citizens and companies suing foreign firms is part of the Helms-Burton Act, enacted in 1996 after Cuban MiG fighters shot down in international waters two small planes flown by Cuban-American pilots.


WASHINGTON, D.C, July 17

    TWO TOP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS REITERATE SUPPORT OF WHITE HOUSEÍS CUBA POLICY

    Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Treasury Secretary Paul H. OÍNeill launched a preemptive strike against renewed bipartisan congressional efforts to ease economic sanctions against Cuba and lift the ban on American travel to the communist island, telling the House Appropriations Committee they would ñrecommend that the president veto such legislation if it reaches his desk."

    In their July 11 letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairman C. W. Bill Young (R-Fla.), Secretary Powell and Secretary OÍNeill reiterated ñthe administrationÍs strong opposition to any legislative efforts that weaken the United StatesÍ current Cuba policy," saying that ña relationship of continuing hostility" exists between the two governments. Besides, the secretaries added that  Cuba is included in the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, provides shelter to fugitive criminals who had escaped from American justice, and it has a long history of espionage activities against the United States.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16

    CUBA EMBARGO OPPONENTS PROPOSE CHANGE

    House opponents of the administration's Cuba policy are hoping for a strong showing today on several votes designed to soften long-standing restrictions on U.S. dealings with Cuba. The amendment seen as having the best chance of passage would ease curbs on American travel to Cuba. A similar measure was approved 240-186 last year. ñWe ought to allow Americans to spread our culture and our values among Cubans," Rep. Jeff  Flake, R-Ariz., said.

    The House also is expected to take up amendments to lift restrictions on remittances to Cuba and end a ban on credit sales of food to Cuba. Cash-only sales have been legal since 2000. A fourth amendment would prohibit the administration from using its resources to enforce the 40-year old U.S. embargo against Cuba. Congressional sources said this proposal, whose chief sponsor is Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is given the least chance of winning House approval. The amendments would be attached to an appropriations bill for the Treasury Department and the U.S. Postal Service.

    The administration seems resigned to defeat on one or more of the proposed amendments, but officials do not believe the policy toward Cuba will be overturned. President Bush has said he will veto any moderation of the Cuba policy. A senior official the administration believes the votes are coming at a time when Cuban dictator Fidel Castro least deserves U.S. accommodation. The official said Castro has spurned a grass-roots democracy initiative, been less than helpful in the war on terrorism and has compared president Bush to Adolf Hitler.

CARACAS, July 15

    CHAVEZ PLANS TO RULE UNTIL 2013

    Waving a crucifix and declaring, "Jesus is my boss," an upbeat Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he no longer faces the threat of being overthrown and plans to rule until 2013. In his weekly speech to the nation, the left-wing former paratrooper said Venezuela was shrugging off the trauma caused by a short-lived April coup.

    "The world has great confidence in Venezuela and in the Venezuelan government," Chavez said in a four-hour broadcast of his weekly "Hello President" television and radio program. He did not refer to an opinion poll published on Friday that showed his popularity had sunk in June to just over 32 percent, shedding the temporary 10-point boost he had received just after the coup. "Those who still have the idea in their heads that there is going to be another shock, another coup ... they can forget it," Chavez said.

    During his broadcast, Chavez, who says he is a Roman Catholic, frequently held up a small silver crucifix. "I have handed over command to Jesus, the model leader ... this is the boss, my commander," he said. Chavez cited -- and welcomed -- recent statements by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich in which he said the U.S. official described him as the elected leader of Venezuela and added Washington would not support any coup. "There are those who try to say the U.S. government condemned Venezuela and doesn't want Chavez ... it's a lie," he said, adding Reich made the comments recently in Buenos Aires.

CARACAS, July 12

    VENEZUELANS DEMAND CHAVEZÍS OUSTER

    More than a half million Venezuelans clogged downtown Caracas Thursday demanding President Hugo Chavez's ouster. Laborers and business executives, leftists and conservatives chanted ñOUT! OUT!" in an 8-mile-long march underscoring this South American nationÍs political divisions. Caracas police chief estimated the crowd at 600,000.

    Thursday's march was the fifth, and perhaps the largest, since the April 11 coup and followed a failed peacemaking mission this week by former President Carter. ñThe turnout surpassed all our expectations - maybe even bigger than April 11," Miranda state Gov. Enrique Mendoza said. The march was called by opposition groups commemorating the shooting deaths of 18 people by guardsmen and civilians during the April  protest. Hundreds more were wounded.

    Thousands of National guard troops and riot police manned barricades to keep demonstrators away from Chavez supporters and the presidential palace. Opponents insist Chavez, a former paratrooper who staged a failed 1992 coup and was elected in 1998, cannot govern the country, which is mired in recession because of low oil prices and political instability. ñWe are on a war footing," said Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor group, the 1 million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation. Ortega was surrounded by protest signs reading ñNO MORE DEATHS" and ñCHAVEZ ASSASSIN."


CARACAS, July 11

    CARTER FAILS IN VENEZUELA AS HE FAILED IN CUBA

    As in Communist Cuba, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter failed in his four-day peace mission to politically divided Venezuela nation. Opposition leaders, despite being invited by Carter, boycotted Tuesday's meeting with President Chavez after demanding a clearer agenda and the participation of the OAS as a principal mediator in any future negotiations.

    "It seems obvious that the international community needs to be involved," Carter told reporters at a news conference. The Chavez government has rejected previous proposals for direct foreign intervention in Venezuela's internal crisis talks, although it welcomes support from foreign institutions and personalities. Carter said he believed the government was opposed to the OAS acting as the main mediator in its dialogue. However, he said the United Nations or the OAS could provide technical assistance for future talks while another mutually acceptable group acts as a facilitator.

    Carter said while he was disappointed about the opposition's rejection to talk with Chavez, he had received a letter stating they were still open to negotiations. "The fulfillment of these commitments and the resolution of other divisive issues will depend on good faith on all sides and the establishment of a system of dialogue that is mutually acceptable," he said. Carter left for the United States at 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, but he left behind representatives of the Carter Center who will stay in Caracas for a few days.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 11

    LIFTING TRAVEL BAN WOULD HELP CASTRO (Excellent article by Stephen Johnson, published in The Miami Herald on July 10, 2002 -- click here an read the complete article)

    Some members of Congress seem desperate to ease the ban on U.S. tourist travel to Cuba because they think that flooding the island with American vacationers will hasten dictator Fidel Castro's downfall or produce windfall profits for U.S. businesses.

   Unfortunately, the prime beneficiaries of easing restrictions are the Castro brothers -- Fidel and Raúl -- and the regime itself. Cuba's Armed Forces Ministry runs state-owned or joint-venture tourist resorts. Profits from these enterprises partly sustain the private fortunes of the Castros and provide revenues to run the government that Cuba's decrepit sugar mills and Soviet-style state enterprises never could support.


HAVANA, July 11

    MAN ACCUSED OF IMMIGRANT SMUGGLING ARRESTED IN CUBA

    Cuban authorities have arrested a second man suspected of immigrant smuggling after he arrived from Florida on a motorboat, the government said Monday. José Gabriel Cruz Rodríguez was arrested Friday in Camajuaní, about 170 miles east of Havana, according to an official statement.

    Cuban officials said Cruz arrived in Cuba on July 3 in a speedboat registered in Florida, along with César Rufino Díaz Aparicio, who was arrested that same day by Cuban border patrols. Cruz reportedly lived at 2107 ½ SW Seventh St. in Little Havana.

    Last week, the Cuban government warned that any vessel that entered the island's territorial waters illegally would be ñintercepted and confiscated, and its crew prosecuted as immigrant smugglers to the full extent of the law." Cuba's Criminal Code prescribes severe sentences for anyone found guilty of the crime of ñtrafficking in human beings." Those laws stipulate sentences of seven to 10 years in jail for those who organize illegal departures, 10 to 20 years for those entering national waters with the intent to smuggle, or 20 years to life if minors are involved or if any armed violence takes place.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 9

     U.S. ACCUSES CASTRO OF DUPLICITY FOR JULY 4 EVENTS

     The United States on Monday accused Cuban dictator Fidel Castro of duplicity for organizing his own American Independence Day celebration in Havana on July 4. Communist Cuba celebrated the event by paying homage to the American people, their music and their poetry at an event attended by Castro at Havana's Karl Marx theater. The U.S. Interests Section in Havana had a separate celebration.

    U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said: "July 4 celebrates the Declaration of Independence, the freedoms that we have enjoyed for 226 years, sadly denied the Cuban people these last 43 years. The celebration of U.S. independence in Cuba will only be meaningful fully to us when the Cuban people are permitted to enjoy democracy, individual rights and freedoms." ñIt would seem to indicate a contradiction in his thinking, that he thinks that it's laudable to praise the United States for having these freedoms and not give them to his own people. Noteworthy for the duplicity of the action," Boucher said.

    Relations between Cuba and the United States have been going through a particularly bad period since President George W. Bush restated support for the U.S. trade embargo in May.


HAVANA, July 9

    IRAN, CUBA DETERMINED TO STRENGTHEN TIES

    Cuba's Vice President Jose Ramon Fernandez Friday night called on Tehran and Havana to expand their cooperation in the face of U.S. opposition and accusations against the two countries. FernandezÍs remarks were made at a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Cuba, Davoud  Salehi, in Havana.  

    "America is apprehensive about the close ties between Iran and Cuba. Thus, it is trying to portray the humanitarian cooperation of the two countries in a bad light," Fernandez said. However, he pointed out, "This has never dissuaded Tehran and Havana from pursuing the cooperation even more."

    Fernández lauded Salehi's efforts toward expanding the countries' bilateral ties, saying Iran and Cuba have many "common goals" and are, therefore, naturally drawn to cooperate in the political, economic, scientific, cultural and research areas in line with these goals. "Whenever the U.S. criticizes us, we realize we have been moving on the right track and when Washington accepts a plan that appears to benefit our country, we become suspicious of it," Cuba's official noted. He emphasized that both Iran and Cuba have shown a determination never to accept policies and imposed plans of others. Salehi, for his part, expressed satisfaction over current diplomatic relations between the two sides and stressed the need for strengthening of Tehran-Havana ties and cooperation.

 
G INES, July 9

    FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS RATIONED IN G INES

    Flower shop administrators in GÙines, a town south of Havana, issued a directive rationing floral arrangements to two per funeral, saying there is no money to buy flowers from private producers. These private growers have become the main suppliers of flowers to the government flower shop since the government producers became unable to fulfill the demand.

    "Only the street sellers have enough flowers, so customers buy flowers from them to make their own arrangements," said a local resident, who had been unable to find flowers at the flower shop. He complained that the government flower shop is not only inefficient, but it also charges 25 pesos for arrangements of lower quality than those made by private sellers. In Cuba the average salary , according to official figures, is less than 240 pesos (approximately ten dollars).


HAVANA, July 8

     RALPH NADER MEETS WITH THE TYRANT

    Ralph Nader attended a dinner with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro as he began a three-day visit to the communist nation. Nader was the Green Party's candidate in the 2000 presidential elections, receiving only 3 percent of the vote. Nader says he is visiting to learn more about Cuba's disease-fighting efforts. Nader was invited by National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón.

    Nader said he also would meet with the political opposition but he provided no details. The visit comes as communist leaders are giving renewed attention to Americans who can influence public debate over U.S. restrictions on trade with - and travel to - the island. ñI think there should be trade between the United States and Cuba, just as there is between the United States and China," Nader said when he arrived Sunday.


HAVANA, July 8

    FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CUBA FALLS

    Direct foreign investment in Cuba plummeted to $38.9 million in 2001 from $488 million the year before, official figures showed, as investors appeared to balk at the communist-run island's heavily regulated business environment. The investment plunge came on top of declines in tourism, exports and other hard currency revenues that have forced the government of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to cut imports, save energy and raise prices, among other austerity measures recently established.

    The average annual investment in Cuba over the last five years was $268 million, compared with last year's $38.9 million -- the lowest since Havana began reporting direct investment data in 1993. Since the collapse of its former benefactor, the Soviet Union, threw Cuba's economy into deep crisis in the early 1990s, Havana has allowed some foreign investment under strict government control.


CARACAS, July 7

    OPPONENTS OF CHAVEZ APPEAL TO CARTER

    Opposition leaders on Sunday urged former President Jimmy Carter to extend his peace mission to witness a march against President Hugo Chavez and hopefully prevent violence. "President Carter: Stay among us until July 11 and help to guarantee our safety as we take to the streets seeking justice, peace and democracy," the opposition groups said in a joint open letter published Sunday in major newspapers. They said government supporters would not dare to attack them if Carter and his aides observed the march.

    Carter, who arrived in Venezuela Saturday and was planning to leave the day before the march, is hoping to salvage faltering reconciliation talks between the leftist government and its opposition. Thousands of anti-government protesters are expected to march on the Miraflores Presidential Palace on Thursday to demand the presidentÍs resignation. Chavez supporters often entrench themselves outside the palace to repel protesters.

    Foes of Chavez, a left-wing former paratrooper who has ruled since 1998, blame him and his supporters for the deaths of at least 17 unarmed civilian protesters who were shot by gunmen in a huge anti-government march April 11. Carter said he will not stay for the march but, he will appoint a commission to perform as observers.


CARACAS, July 7

    AFTER HIS FAILURE IN CUBA, WHERE HE WAS MANIPULATED BY CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO, CARTER TRIES VENEZUELA PEACE MISSION

    Former President Carter headed to Venezuela Saturday for talks to avoid violence between President Hugo Chavez's supporters and opponents who remain skeptical about his chances of success. Chavez invited Carter, hoping the former U.S. leader could convince business, labor, news media and civic leaders to rejoin government-sponsored reconciliation talks that began after a brief April coup.

    Some opposition leaders called it a ploy to buy time for Chavez, who has ignored appeals by the Organization of American States to help resolve Venezuela's crisis. ñThe government is using President Carter as a subterfuge to avoid dealing with the OAS, which we feel is the correct mediator because its resolutions are binding for the Venezuelan state," said lawmaker Rafael Marin of the opposition Democratic Action party.

    Looming over Carter's four-day mission are plans by opposition parties and civic groups Thursday, July 11, to march again on a presidential palace defended by ñChavistas,'' held responsible for much of the violence in April. Carter visited Cuba in May and noted dissident efforts to call a referendum on whether Cuba should allow freedom of expression and other rights. The results of CarterÍs failed visit to Cuba was the enshrinement of the socialist system in the Cuban constitution as ñirrevocable" and ñuntouchable."

CARACAS, July 7

    CHÁVEZ WANTS TO IMPOSE HIS ñBEAUTIFUL SOCIALIST MEDICINE" TO VENEZUELANS

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused industrialized powers on Friday of trying to impose their models of free trade and democracy on the developing world. "They all try to impose economic and political models on us. No. We can construct our own models," said Chavez, a left-wing former paratrooper who survived a short-lived military coup against him in April.

    In a ceremony marking the 191st anniversary of his country's independence from Spain, Chávez said Venezuela was working to create an alternative to "neo-liberalism." Slamming this form of capitalism as "the road to hell," Chavez said his populist government was applying its "beautiful socialist medicine" to close the gap between rich and poor in his country."

    Opponents of the Venezuelan leader say his revolutionary rhetoric echoes that of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and they accuse him of trying to install a socialist authoritarian regime modeled on communist-ruled Cuba. Like Castro, Chavez, who won a 1998 election six years after failing to seize power in a botched coup, has sought to portray himself at international forums as a champion of the poor and spokesman for the developing world. But earlier this year, opinion polls showed Chavez's popularity had plummeted from previous high levels, as many Venezuelans accused him of failing to deliver on election promises to eradicate poverty, unemployment and corruption.


HAVANA, July 7

    SUSPECTED SMUGGLER HELD IN CUBA

    A Florida-registered speed boat that was to ferry a group of would-be migrants to the United States illegally has been seized by Cuban authorities, the Cuban communist government said Friday. One suspected smuggler is in custody and authorities were searching for a crew member. Cuban officials said two men -- identified as César Rufino Díaz Aparicio and José Gabriel Cruz Rodríguez -- were to take 15 people, including 3- and 5-year-old girls, across the Florida Straits from the island's northern coast in Villa Clara province. The 24-foot white boat with twin outboard engines was spotted at about 10 p.m. Wednesday at Punta Higuereta.

    Rufino was apprehended shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday near where the boat was seized. Authorities said he was born in Cuba, fled in July 2000 and was most recently living in New Jersey. Cruz, the other alleged crew member, was born in Cuba, left for Russia last year, and has been living in the United States for the past two months, Cuban officials said. The 15 people had been waiting since Tuesday for the boat, which was scheduled to leave Thursday, officials said. Cuban authorities said food and life jackets inside the boat ''indicated a migrant trafficking operation,'' the statement said.

    The Cuban government increased security along its coast and broadcast repeated warnings on state radio and television, informing the Cubans that they would not permit illegal departures and would go after unauthorized vessels caught in Cuban waters. Cuban authorities notified the U.S. Coast Guard by Telex Friday of the arrest, said a Coast Guard spokesman.


HAVANA, July 6

    CUBA COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT DOES NOT PAY TO ITS CREDITORS

    A central bank report to creditors and key business partners blamed Cuba's foreign currency shortages on the "the ferocious economic war" waged against the island for four decades by the United States, whose trade embargo has worsened Havana's credit standing. Cuba's foreign debt totaled $10.893 billion at the end of last year, down 0.6 percent from $10.961 billion in 2000, thanks mainly to a stronger dollar, according to the report.

    Cuba's main creditors are Japan, Argentina, Spain, England and Italy. The island is notorious for paying its debts late. Havana suspended all principal and interest payments in 1986. Since then, it has relied on short-term and medium-term credits at interest rates that can range as high as 18 percent. Public and private creditors report that the situation has grown much worse in recent months.

    "Since October my understanding is that they have fallen behind with the vast majority of their creditors," a Western diplomat said. Official talks with the Paris Club of rich creditor nations were broken off in 1989, then resumed in 2000 only to be broken off again last year. The official Cuban debt figures do not include money owed the Soviet Union and other former communist countries in Europe. Russia claims the island owes it more than $20 billion.

HAVANA, July 5

    IT APPEARS THAT CUBA COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT WILL NOT ALLOW A NEW EXODUS

    The Cuban communist government warned its citizens not to fall victim to ñfalse reports" claiming that boaters from South Florida would be traveling by sea to pick up anyone who wanted to flee the island. The communiqué appeared to be a response to a flurry of rumors that have swept Cuba and parts of South Florida over the past few days suggesting that the government was prepared to allow a mass exodus of Cuban migrants.

   The rumors, which appear to have a strong following in Havana Province and Pinar del Rio, began circulating last week after Cuban dictator Fidel Castro warned that migration accords could be dissolved if the United States and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana continued acts considered hostile. The government has said Castro's words were misinterpreted. ''It wasn't a threat, it was simply a factual analysis,'' said a spokesman for the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. ñIt was an honest reflection of what is occurring."

    Sources in Cuba said many have taken the rumors to heart and have rafts available to float out to international waters. Those rumors apparently compelled the government to take action. ''No one should let themselves be tricked,'' the government's communiqué said. ñWe want to clarify the following: Any boat coming from the outside that illegally penetrates our territorial waters and is intercepted will be confiscated and its crews tried as migrant traffickers to the full extent of the law." ñNo one will be authorized to leave the country illegally," the government said. U.S. officials were pleased that the Cuban government had tried to circumvent illegal departures. ''We've been working hard to achieve an orderly process of migration,'' said a spokesman for the Department of State. ''We welcome any public discouragement'' of a mass exodus.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 5

      CUBAN DESPOT'S CRIMINAL ACTIONS THAT WE ALL SHOULD REMEMBER TODAY -- MARIEL BOAT LIFT

v     Dates: 01 April 1980 - 25 September 1980.
v     Number of Cuban Migrants: 124,776 (60% Men, 22% Women, 18% Minors)
v     Maximum Cuban Migrants interdicted in one day: 3,784
v     Number of Migrants Died: 27 (14 on one overloaded Vessel which capsized on 17 May 1980)
v    Number of Vessels assisted by USCG: 1,387
v     Average Weekly Cost of USCG Activities During the Boatlift: $650,000
v Boating Safety Violations Issued: over 1,200


CAMAG EY, July 5

    FARMER WHO DIDNÍT SIGN CONSTITUTIONAL PETITION STRIPPED OF FOOD ALLOTMENT

    Officials of the "Cándido González" farmersÍ coop, in CamagÙey province, stripped a 60-year-old farmer of his food quota because he didnÍt sign the recent Constitutional petition circulated by the government. Jorge de Armas, one of the founders of the coop, will no longer be entitled to the foodstuffs that the coop sells to other participants.

    A few days ago, the government announced that over 8 million Cubans had voluntarily signed the petition to amend the Cuban Constitution in order to make the present Socialist system "untouchable." Using food distribution as an instrument of coercion is not a novelty since it was first introduced in the 1960s.


HAVANA, July 4

    RUMORS OF A RAFTER EXODUS IN CUBA

    For the last few days, the streets of Cuban cities have been full of rumors that Cubans seeking to leave the island were planning a rafter exodus on July 4, when they would be picked up by boats coming from Florida. In the summer of 1994, when Cuba was suffering the worst of its post-Soviet economic crisis, more than 30,000 Cubans took to the sea in precarious boats and rickety rafts heading for the southern tip of Florida. Most were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard and ended up in the United States.

    U.S. officials fear that the Cuban government may allow a mass exodus to let steam off among Cubans discontented with communism and the island's economic woes. Cuba's economy, which never fully recovered from the collapse of its benefactor the Soviet Union a decade ago, has been hit by a drop in world tourism since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States. Fuel shortages and power cuts have added to economic hardship. However, on Tuesday, the State Department called exodus rumors "speculation." "We believe the migration accords have largely promoted their central purpose of encouraging safe, legal and orderly migration between Cuba and the United States," spokesman Richard Boucher said.

    Migration accords negotiated in 1994 and 1995 allow for 20,000 Cubans to emigrate legally to the United States each year. But hundreds each month continue trying to cross the sea, most in boats of smugglers who charge hefty rates for passage. Since 1995, Cubans picked up at sea by the Coast Guard are sent home to the island, although if they set foot on U.S. soil they are allowed to stay.


HAVANA, July 4

    SUSPENDED WITHOUT EXPLANATION THE SESSION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

    First regular session of the National Assembly called since organizers seeking a referendum delivered more than 11,000 signatures to the unicameral parliament was suspended Tuesday without explanation. A note in the Communist Party libel Granma said only that the regular parliamentary session on Friday had been ñsuspended until a future date" by the president of the National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada.

    Varela Project organizers saw the move as the government's answer to their petition drive seeking a referendum that would ask voters if they favored civil liberties such as freedom of speech and assembly, the right to own a business, electoral reforms and amnesty for political prisoners.


WASHINGTON, D.C., July 3

    THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AUTHORIZES AMERICAN FOOD EXPO IN COMMUNIST CUBA

    Despite President George W. Bush's tough words against trade with communist Cuba, his administration approved an American food exposition in Havana. American food companies will be able to showcase their products in communist Cuba during a Sept. 26-30 trade fair as the island makes new deals to buy apples, dried lentils and peas - even brand-name packaged food - directly from the United States. PWN Exhibicon International LLC of Westport, Conn., announced the dates Monday, about a month after receiving Cuba's final approval to organize the U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition in Havana.

    The U.S. Treasury Department earlier granted PWN Exhibicon a license to organize the trade fair - a necessary legal step because Cuba remains under a four-decade-old U.S. trade embargo. Exhibitors will be covered under PWN Exhibicon's license and will not have to obtain individual ones to showcase their products, the New York-based U.S. Cuba Trade and Economic Council said.

    About 150 U.S. companies, as well as agricultural agencies and organizations, have expressed interest in the trade fair, PWN Exhibicon has said. Communist officials first agreed to buy American food last November after Hurricane Michelle battered Cuba. They previously had refused to buy U.S. agricultural goods despite a 2000 U.S. law allowing them to do so. Since then, Cuba has bought, contracted or confirmed its intention to buy about 650,000 tons of U.S. agricultural products worth about $102 million, according to the U.S. Cuba Trade and Economic Council. The council projects Cuba will buy more than $165 million worth of American food by year's end and more than $250 million by the end of 2003.


HAVANA, July 3

    FOOD DISTRIBUTION WORSENS

    Havana residents will be able to buy the following under the governmentÍs rationing plan in the month of June: 6 pounds of rice; 20 ounces of green peas; 5 pounds of sugar; 12 ounces of salt; 8 ounces of something called "food paste"; about 8 ounces of cooking oil; 8 eggs; and one pound of chicken.

    During the last year, residents were able to buy 12 ounces of wieners per person, but those have now been taken off the list.   Cubans have depended on their ration book for the last 40 years to obtain a food quota that many complain is only good for about 15 days. Other options are the free markets, in which the prices are high compared to the average salaries, and the dollar stores, for those that have access to dollars.


HAVANA, July 2

    OSWALDO PAYÁ SARDIÑAS: CUBANS ñGET UP, HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH AND CLAIM YOUR RIGHTS"

    Oswaldo Payá, Varela ProjectÍs organizer, said a few days ago that Cubans should not be ashamed if they unwillingly signed a petition to make socialism ñuntouchable'' and exhorted them to claim their rights. Payá also said his democratic reform effort won't be stopped by the government's actions. 

    ñNo Cuban should feel paralyzed or hopeless for having signed against his or her will," Payá wrote in the communiqué sent to international news organizations. ñThese impositions by the regime cannot nullify people's dignity, cannot rip away their liberty as children of God." ñOn many occasions, the Communist government has obligated millions of citizens to undertake demonstrations of fidelity to mislead the world and undermine the Cuban people," Paya said. Last month, the organizers of Project Varela submitted more than 11,000 signatures to the National Assembly seeking the referendum.

    Castro's latest accusations against the United States and Russia, are his response to democratic demands by Varela Project organizers and by President George W. Bush for deep democratic reforms. Bush has spoken favorably of the Varela Project and said he would not ease American trade or travel restrictions against the island unless Cuba embraces democratic reforms, including free elections. ñThe principal aim of the government is to frighten, demoralize and divide Cubans so they feel incapable of claiming their rights," Paya said. And he added: Cubans ñGet up, hold your head high and claim your rights."

HAVANA, July 1^st.

    
     THE TYRANT ACCUSES THE UNITED STATES

    Among the things Cuban dictator Fidel Castro blames President Bush administration for is a citizens' initiative known as the Varela Project that seeks a referendum on changes to Cuba's social, economic and political structure. The tyrant has said the campaign is the work of the U.S. Interests Section.

   Other incidents and activities Castro cited to justify his virulent rhetoric against the President of the United States are:

´ The U.N. censure of Cuba for human rights violations.
´ Public accusations by U.S. officials that Cuba is involved in biological weapons research.
´ Speeches by President Bush in both Washington and Miami on May 20, vowing to maintain the trade embargo until democratic elections are held on the island.
´ The State Department's continued inclusion of Cuba as a state that sponsors terrorism.
´ A June 1 commencement address by President Bush in West Point that centered around preemptive strikes as part of a new U.S. doctrine for the fight against terrorism.

    ''The responsibility will lie with the U.S. government if its repeated commission of such offenses leads to the cancellation of the migration agreement and even to the withdrawal of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana,'' Castro said. The dictator directly told President Bush that he is not afraid of the consequences. ñIt is not my purpose to offend you personally, but I can tell you this because I have the modest possibility of meditating with objectivity and because, together with our valiant and heroic people, I lost long ago any notion of fear.''

HAVANA, July 1^st.


     THE TYRANT ACCUSES RUSSIA

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro said Russia had betrayed Cuba and formed an alliance with the United States when Moscow severed agreements with the communist island after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

    ñI do not try to blame any one leader in particular. It was the fruit of its (Russia's) errors and the painful way in which it lost the ideological battle against the western capitalist and imperialist bourgeoisie, under the standard of the United States,'' Castro said in a speech delivered Saturday.  ñRussia, allied with the United States, broke all the accords and betrayed Cuba,'' Castro said.

    Cuba still is struggling to recover from the economic crisis triggered by the loss of aid and preferential trade agreements as the Soviet bloc disintegrated a decade ago. Castro said -- despite abandonment by the Soviet Union and the sanctions squeeze of the United States -- Cuba, ña small country, a few miles from the victorious and hegemonic superpower, decided to fight under the best principles of the socialist ideal." Castro has also criticized Moscow's alliance with NATO, as well as Russian President Vladimir PutinÍs decision to close the Russian intelligence listening post built on Cuba two years after the 1962 missile crisis.


HAVANA, July 1^st.

THE DICTATOR ATTEMPTS TO INTIMIDATE THE PRESIDENT 

    The threat by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to possibly close the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana and dissolve bilateral migration accords sets the stage for a potential crisis. Castro issued the warning earlier this week during a speech delivered at the National Assembly hours before lawmakers unanimously approved an amendment to make the socialist-framed constitution ñirrevocable" and ñuntouchable."

    The warnings have raised concern that Castro is prepared to unleash another massive exodus of migrants to get rid of alleged malcontents, a tactic he has used three other times during his 43 years in power -- in 1965, 1980 and 1994. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, during a visit to Miami this week, said that abandoning the migration accords would be considered an ''act of aggression,'' and that the United States would react strongly to a new exodus. Washington officials have said that breaking off the migration accords would be a grave mistake.