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HAVANA, June 30

    THE CUBAN DICTATOR BRUSQUELY REJECTS PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSHÍS SCHOLARSHIP OFFER

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro rejected a proposed U.S. program to provide scholarships to Cubans to study in the United States, mostly in technical and vocational fields. Castro said that ñmoney instead should focus on low-income American blacks, Indians and Hispanics who cannot afford a university education."

    President Bush, the tyrant said, ñoffers scholarships that the country has absolutely no need of and he does so with a hidden agenda. He shouldnÍt even think that we would cooperate with a plan aimed at creating something similar to the School of the Americas to train agents of subversion and destabilization to serve his interventionist and imperial ends."

    On 20 May, President Bush offered scholarships to Cuban students and professionals, hoping the skills they acquire will be useful when the island embarks on a democratic path. The President indicated some of the scholarships would go to relatives of political prisoners.

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 28

    U.S. SAID CASTRO'S COMMENTS ARE "DANGEROUS" FOR THE CUBAN PEOPLE

    The United States dismissed charges made by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Thursday that the U.S. mission in Havana is violating the country's sovereignty and are putting at risk migration agreements between the two countries. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher calls the U.S. Interest Section in Havana "a vital link to the Cuban people and said moving away from this system would be a mistake and "dangerous" for the Cuban people. Only Castro would consider a democracy, a system that exists everywhere else, to be subversive,'' Boucher said. 

   "We think his complaints are basically groundless," Boucher said. The spokesman said the migration talks, the last round of which took place in New York this month, had helped regulate the flow of people and ensure the safety of migrating Cubans. The migration agreements were negotiated to stem illegal migration by Cubans on rafts or small boats, many of whom drowned while attempting to reach the United States.

    Boucher said the U.S. Interests Section provides information to ordinary Cubans so that they can understand democracy and open markets. "This is a legitimate outreach function that's respected all around the world," Boucher said. ñBut maybe that's why Castro doesn't like the Interests Section." ñFrankly, the Cuban Interests Section here does similar things in putting out information on Cuban policy and we don't object to that." ñHe has an opposition on the island. The Cuban people are saying loudly and clearly that they want basic human freedoms and rights. He cannot disguise the fact that his 43 years of control over the island and denial of basic human rights are under considerable pressure," Boucher said.


HAVANA, June 28

    THE CUBAN DICTATOR THREATENS TO REDUCE U.S. CONTACTS

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro warned Wednesday that limited Cuba-U.S. relations could be cut further and the American mission on the island could be closed if U.S. diplomats continue ñviolations of our sovereignty, and the humiliating disregard of norms ruling the conduct of diplomats." He said that migration agreements between the two countries were also being put at risk by American diplomats ñwho go around the country as they like, organizing networks and conspiracies." The migration accords Castro referred to were signed in 1994 and 1995 and permit the repatriation of Cubans intercepted at sea. Prior to the migration accords, all Cubans fleeing the island were allowed to seek asylum in the United States. Now only those who reach U.S. soil automatically qualify for legal residency.

    Castro also said in his speech, ñthe contraband of merchandise in diplomatic pouches also is not admissible," in an apparent reference to the means used to transport small short-wave radios into Cuba. ñIt will be the responsibility of the government of the United States if the insistence of such practices results in the annulling of the migration agreement, or even the withdrawal of the Interests Section in Havana."

    Hours after Castro's speech, Cuba's National Assembly, comprised in its totality of communist party members, voted to consecrate its 41-year-old socialist system in the constitution as ñirrevocable" and declare that ñcapitalism will never return again" to this Caribbean island. After a special meeting that included 168 speeches over three daylong sessions carrying long into the evenings, the voice vote among the 559 assembly members present was unanimous.

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 27

    PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSHÍS GREAT INITIATIVE

    The Bush administration is planning to offer scholarships to Cuban students and professionals, hoping the skills they acquire will be useful if and when the island embarks on a democratic path. When the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba passed word of the plan recently, long lines formed outside the building, causing traffic problems.

    President Bush mentioned the plan in a speech last month, indicating some scholarships would go to relatives of Cuban political prisoners. Adolfo Franco, a top official at the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the initiative is a ñwonderful vehicle for introducing young Cuban people to the United States and to give them a taste for academic freedom."

    The Cuban government will have no role in the process until those selected for scholarships need permission to leave the country. U.S. officials said they are pushing ahead with the program even though there is no certainty that exit visas will be granted by the Communist government of Cuba. It will be up to U.S. diplomats in Havana to screen all applicants to ensure that no Cuban agents get visas.

HAVANA, June 26

    AS USUAL, RICARDO ALARCÓN ATTACKED PRESIDENT BUSHÍS CUBA POLICIES

    Ricardo Alarcón, the National Assembly president, ruthlessly attacked President George W. Bush's vision for Cuba on Monday as millions of workers across the island got two days off to watch a televised special session called to enshrine socialism as ñuntouchable."

    Alarcón declared that the U.S. president wanted the communist island to return to what he called  the ñbrutality and corruption of pre-revolutionary Cuba." ñ'Does Mr. Bush really think that he will return to sink us in this hell of injustice?'' Alarcón asked. ''Does he imagine for a moment that we are going to turn over to that corrupt and criminal mafia our lands, our homes, our factories, our schools and hospitals, our research and cultural centers, our child-care centers, our retirement homes?'' he said. ''Does he perhaps suppose that Cubans will renounce the work they have realized, that they will turn over their sovereignty, betray their history and their nation?'' emphasized Alarcón.

    In a major policy speech last month, President Bush promised not to lift U.S. trade and travel restrictions until Cuba holds multiparty elections and undertakes other deep reforms in its communist system. The dictator's answer to President Bush's demand and the Project Varela's request has been to declare his revolution  "untouchable."

HERRADURA, June 19

    FROM CUBA: SURVEY REVEALS MANY RESIDENTS CLUELESS --

    One day into the three-day period designated by the government for collecting signatures in support of declaring Socialism permanent in Cuba, an informal survey showed 65% of the voters in Pinar del Río province were not familiar with the terms of the Constitutional Modification Initiative. Of 80 residents surveyed, 52 were not able to recall even one of the four items in the initiative that they had supported with their signatures. Also, 57% said they had signed even though they were not in agreement with the perpetuation of the current political, economic and social system.

    Among the reasons cited by people for signing the petition even if they felt it went against their better judgment, we heard the following: "IÍm afraid." "IÍm a government employee and I canÍt afford to lose my job, because I support a family of six." "I canÍt stand out, because it could be prejudicial to my business, which is illegal." "I did it because everybody does it." "One tree does not make the forest." "What would I accomplish by being the only one who refused to sign?" "I voted so as not to bring harm upon my children." "Inertia." Most often heard: "What does it matter!"

    A mere 8% claimed to know about Project Varela, a proposal by various dissident groups to effect some changes in the Constitution within its own framework. Finally, 26% said they had a real interest in preserving the one-party system forever, and barely 10% think it is possible to do so.

HAVANA, June 25

    CUBA HOLDS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

    Millions of workers across this communist island were given Monday and Tuesday off to watch a specially televised parliamentary session to consider amending the Cuban constitution to make the socialist system ñuntouchable." In a letter read on state television Saturday evening, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro agreed to National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon's request for a special session to approve the proposed constitutional change.

    The communist leadership's decision to close all offices, schools, factories and stores for two full days during its current cash crunch underscored the importance the dictator is placing on the proposed amendment that would make Cuba's economic, political and social systems unchangeable.

    The constitutional change was the subject of a campaign by the communist system's national support groups, which say they gathered 8.1 million signatures - more than 99 percent of the island's legal voters aged 16 and older. Opposition leaders say the signature campaign was the government's response to their own petition, which collected more than 11,000 signatures. According to dissident sources, at this moment the number passes 40,000. Organizers of Varela Project campaign delivered their petitions to the National Assembly on May 10, however, they have received no response.


CARACAS, June 25

    CHAVEZ DISMISSES CALLS FOR HIS INDICTMENT

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, facing calls to resign two months after surviving a coup, on Sunday dismissed efforts by political foes to indict him for alleged embezzlement as another attempt to topple his populist government. Chavez faces opposition accusations his three-year-old government misused state money, received improper election funds and damaged the country by selling cheap petroleum to Cuba.

    "If they want to invent some crime to force me out with an indictment, they'll have to explain it to the people and to the armed forces," Chavez said during his weekly television and radio program. During Sunday's five-hour broadcast, Chavez also dismissed accusations he improperly took funds from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Spain's second-largest bank. Bank officials have denied committing a crime, but acknowledged last week the bank acted without transparency when it provided $1.5 million to the president's campaigns.

    The president also denied opposition charges his government hurt the economy by selling cheap petroleum to Cuba. Critics of Chavez, a close ally of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, blame the president's self-proclaimed "revolution" for nudging Venezuela into recession. "What they are doing now is planning an institutional coup. They want to indict me, to get me out of the presidency, because supposedly I'm damaging the country by selling oil to Cuba. Go ahead and try it if you can," the president said.


HAVANA, June 24

    THE CUBAN DICTATORÍS RECENT SLURS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENT BUSH

    ñAn unfortunate and crazy speechƒin the Nazi styleƒHitler never used that kind of language." (Havana, June 10, referring to President BushÍs West Point speech)

    ñThey (the US) are the kings of the earth. There are more people frightened of them than were scared of Hitler." ( Havana, June 10)

    ñThe economic, technological and military power network in (the US) is so pervasiveƒ(that) the world is coming under the rule of Nazi concepts and methods." (Santiago de Cuba, June 8)

    ñWhat is the difference between (the USÍ antiterrorism) philosophy and methods and those of the Nazis?" (Santiago de Cuba, June 8)


HAVANA, June 22

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

    Oswaldo Payá, Varela ProjectÍs organizer, said Wednesday 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 pro-government signature campaign. The government petition supports a constitutional amendment that says Cuba's social, economic and political systems cannot be changed.

    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." Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's government announced late Tuesday that over three days nearly 99 percent of the Caribbean island's 8.2 million legal voters had signed the document. 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 campaign was largely seen as a 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."


PINAR DEL RIO, June 22

    PRIESTS ALERT AGAINST GOVERNMENT SIGNATURE DRIVE

    Three catholic priests from main parishes in the city of Pinar del Río alerted their parishioners of the intentions of the regime to alter the present Cuban constitution, this past Sunday. At Sunday Mass in the parish of the Ermita de la Caridad, Father Manuel H. de Céspedes was saddened about what was happening in Cuba "since the government is trying to obtain an unrestricted support for the present regime to stay untouchable and unalterable". The priest called the propaganda motto "Only those that vote for the change are worthy" a violation of the citizen's rights.

    In the parish of San Rosendo, the first mass was presided by newly ordered Juan Carlos Carballo, who also criticized this official motto, reminding his audience of the Pope's message that Cubans should be active participants in their future. "Any price to be paid for wanting the best for the country and its people is valid" - the priest emphasized. In the San Rosendo's 10 a.m. mass Father Vicente Cabrera urged the congregation to abandon hypocrisy and the fear of reprisals, saying "Our children will be what they see us doing today".

    The priest added that the Cuban people honor socialism with their lips while condemning it with their hearts, and called for a responsible attitude in the present moment. This has been the second week priests in this region break with the traditional mass scheme. Last week a document of a religious group in Pinar del Rio giving its support to the Varela Project was read at Sunday Mass.


HAVANA, June 22

     LATIN AMERICAN STUDENTS CONTRACT TUBERCULOSIS IN CUBA

     Six Latin American youths who study in Cuba under government-granted scholarships have contracted tuberculosis while there. The six attend the Victoria de Girón medical school in Havana, and are being treated at the showcase Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital there.

    The Latin American students have separate dormitory facilities from their Cuban counterparts, but share dining facilities with them, at least in the first stage of their course. Later, the foreign scholarship students are transferred to the International School of Medicine in Baracoa, at the eastern end of the island, before being sent to a university.

    "Tuberculosis reappeared in Cuba in the 90s, primarily among the penal population, children, and the malnourished, who are the most susceptible to the disease," said an internal medicine specialist.


CARACAS, June 21

    EX-MILITARY MARCHED IN CARACAS 

    Fed up with President Hugo Chavez's politicization of the military, budget cuts and ties to Cuba, hundreds of retired officers marched on the presidential palace Thursday to demand Chavez resign. Facing 30-day jail terms if they wear their uniforms for a political demonstration, the marchers, led by Hidalgo Valero, a former National Guard lieutenant colonel, decided not to wear the uniforms. Some feared the protest could trigger clashes as in April, when shootings at an opposition march sparked a coup that ousted Chavez for two days. Dozens died in riots, and the coup revealed a sharply divided top brass.

    ñThe armed forces don't belong to any political party, and (Chavez's) biggest mistake is insisting that the military support his revolution," said Francisco Arias Cardenas, who as an officer plotted a failed 1992 coup with Chavez and now heads the opposition Union party. The military retirees peacefully marched to the presidential palace that was defended by ñChavistas." Before a civilian march last Saturday, the government placed anti-aircraft batteries near the palace in what it called a security measure.

    A videotape released June 4 purportedly shows a military group dubbed the ñComacates" -- commanders, majors, captains and lieutenants -- threatening to overthrow the government and kill pro-Chavez ñBolivarian Circle" members. Venezuelan officers are known to resent Chavez's ties with leftist Colombian guerrillas, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Libya and Iraq. Many active-duty soldiers and the generation before them fought Cuban-backed guerrillas in the 1960s and 1970s.


MIAMI, June 20

    CUBAN SPY CHIEF INTERCEDED FOR SPIES IN U.S. JAILS

    Gen. Jesús Bermúdez Cutiño, Cuban intelligence chief, asked Retired Marine Gen. Charles Wilhelm, former commander of the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), earlier this year how Havana might help speed the release of the Cuban spies captured in South Florida for, among other things, trying to infiltrate SOUTHCOM. Wilhelm divulged the conversation with Bermúdez during a talk Tuesday on Cuba at Florida International University.

    Wilhelm has visited Cuba twice since retiring two years ago as commander in chief of U.S. military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean -- and has logged 20 hours of conversation with Cuban dictator  Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl, together or separately. As SouthCom chief from 1997 to 2000, the general was forbidden to have any military contact with Cuba, and had only visited the U.S.-controlled portion at Guantánamo Bay. Now he says SouthCom should be permitted to invite Cuban military officers as observers in regional military exercises and to have closer collaboration on interdiction of drug and migrant trafficking activities.


CARACAS, June 20

    VENEZUELAÍS ARMY INSTALLED MISSILES AHEAD OF MARCH

    Venezuela's army installed anti-aircraft missiles in Caracas last week ahead of an anti-government protest, even as the government dismissed rumors of an impending military coup, a Venezuelan newspaper reported on Tuesday.

    The military placed the missiles in the Cajigal Observatory close to Miraflores Presidential Palace on Saturday, 24 hours before an anti-government march, Gen. Jorge Garcia told El Nacional in an interview published on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched without incident on Saturday, two months after a failed military coup against leftist President Hugo Chavez .

    Garcia, a commander of the Caracas garrison, said the missiles were needed to provide air cover after a meeting of the Unified Command last week to discuss security measures for the June 15 march. The missiles will be left in place for now, Garcia said. Military dissidents told reporters that it was not normal for the armed forces to install anti-aircraft batteries, and that they are only used in anticipation of aerial attacks. The government repeatedly dismissed rumors circulating last week about a possible uprising, but government officials admitted on Saturday that security around Chavez had been tightened.


PINAR DEL RIO, June 20

    TWO POLLUTING INDUSTRIES BACK IN OPERATION

    Two highly-polluting industrial plants that turn out sulfuric acid and lead are back in production in the coastal town of Santa Lucía, about 45 miles from the provincial capital city of Pinar del Río. "The outlook for Santa Lucía is grim. The mangroves have disappeared for miles in each direction along the coast, while underwater vegetation has been buried by a viscous sediment which, in turn, has virtually eradicated the fauna that used to make its habitat there. The beautiful beaches along the coast are no longer usable by bathers," said one area resident.

    The pollution is mostly due to gas and soot spewed out of the plants, and to sulfuric acid spills from the barges that transport the chemical to ships anchored offshore. Several residents complained that the prevailing winds spread gases and soot over their neighborhoods, giving rise to a high incidence of respiratory ailments among the population.


HAVANA, June 19

     CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO CLAIMS SIGNATURE DRIVE SUCCESS

    With more than 7 million signatures collected over two days, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro declared broad support Monday for a constitutional amendment to make his socialist system ñuntouchable." Opposition leaders warned of the gravity of making any system impossible to change.

    ñCitizens don't know the real reasons" for the official signature drive, top opposition leaders said Monday in a statement to international news organizations. ñWe alert the people to the grave consequences of perpetuating this political regime above the sovereign right of the people to change and choose their political and economic system."

    The opposition leaders, Oswaldo Payá, Vladimiro Roca and Elizardo Sánchez, demanded that the government publish the Varela Project, so Cubans know there is an alternative to the current official campaign declaring Cuba's economic, political and social systems ñuntouchable." They have said that the official campaign ratifying socialism is an attempt to erase the Varela Project proposals, and have questioned whether most people are signing the official petitions of their own free will. ñWe demand a popular consultation so that Cubans themselves decide whether they want legal changes laid out in the Varela Project," the opposition leaders wrote. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, 75, has repeatedly insisted that Cuba will remain socialist after his death.

CAMAG EY, June 19

    EL ZORRO STRIKES AGAIN

    An unidentified man who people in the municipality of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, CamagÙey province, have taken to calling El Zorro for his propensity of slaughtering cattle belonging to government farms and offering the carcasses to the people, struck again between June 7 and 10. "El Zorro slaughtered 9 steers in the early morning of Friday, June 7, in Yaguarama district and one more on Monday in a nearby field," said an area resident.

    According to source, the man then went house to house, knocking at doors and telling residents where the carcasses were, asking them to take meat for their own consumption and to leave the rest for others. The man is always careful to shield his face so he wonÍt be recognized. "Those who went to the places pointed out by El Zorro took all the meat they could carry. One of them said he took it because the government will not sell it to the population," said the resident. Another resident said: "El Zorro never profits from the meat, so people in the area consider him a humanitarian person."

HAVANA, June 18

    THE CUBAN DICTATOR SAYS MAJORITY BACKS SOCIALISM, NOT REFORMS

    Cuban Communist authorities countered a dissident campaign for reform on Monday by announcing results of their own petition they said showed Cubans want to preserve the island's communist system. Dissident leaders said the government's signature drive launched by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Saturday was aimed at perpetuating an undemocratic one-party state. The signatures were taken at the Committees to Defend the Revolution, neighborhood wardens that have been the eyes and ears of the communist government since the 1960s.

    Many Cubans said they had no choice but to sign the petition or be marked as opponents in a society where the powerful Communist Party runs most aspects of life. The ruling party newspaper Granma said 7.4 million Cubans signed the petition for constitutional amendments that would declare the country's socialist workers state "untouchable," making it immune to reform.

    The government effort came in response to growing interest in the Varela Project. The dissidents presented to the National Assembly a petition signed by 11,020 people seeking a referendum on civil liberties such as freedom of expression and assembly, the right to own a business, electoral reform and amnesty for political prisoners. President Bush said he would not "underwrite tyranny" and vowed to block moves in the United States to relax a four-decade embargo against Cuba. Bush did offer, though, to ease the U.S. sanctions if the Castro government holds free elections, liberalizes the economy and allows independent trade unions.


G INES, June 12

    GOVERNMENT STORES SELL ROTTING MORTADELLA IN G INES

    Residents of GÙines, a town south of Havana, returned or refused hundreds of kilograms of mortadella that were sold by government-run stores under the food rationing system June 6. A number of residents confirmed that the sausage had a strong rotting smell and that people refused it in spite of their need for food. The mortadella was sold at the rate of 250 grams (about half-a-pound) per capita.

     "ItÍs a lack of sensitivity on the part of our government, which forces people to eat something they donÍt want, while officials feast at their leisure," said one GÙines resident, echoing the feelings of many.

HAVANA, June 17

    THE CUBAN DICTATOR LAUNCHES DESPERATE CAMPAIGN TO PRESERVE COMMUNISM

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro began a nationwide campaign on Saturday to collect signatures backing constitutional amendments that would make it impossible to reform his country's one party-communist state. Cuban officials said they expect to gather about seven million signatures by midday Tuesday backing proposed amendments that would make Cuba's socialist state "untouchable."

    "Today we are taking another oath ... that we shall be unshakably faithful to the homeland, the revolution and to socialism, that imperialist domination and the capitalist system shall never return to Cuba," Castro said at a rally. After the rally, marking the birth date of his former guerrilla companion and revolutionary icon Ernesto Che Guevara, Castro was the first Cuban to sign the petition. Signatures were being taken at Committees to Defend the Revolution, located on most blocks of Cuban cities, as well as schools and other community centers. Many Cubans said they had no choice but to sign or be seen as counter-revolutionaries.

CARACAS, June 17

    VENEZUELA DEMANDS CHAVEZ RESIGNATION

    Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Caracas on Saturday urging President Hugo Chavez to resign as his government tried to quell rumors of an impending military uprising two months after a coup briefly toppled the left-wing leader. The anti-government rally jammed the capital's major Avenida Bolivar highway as it snaked through the city with a chorus of whistles, horns, and chants of "Out! Out! Out!"

    At Miraflores Presidential Palace on Saturday, the armed forces had reinforced security with more soldiers, most dressed in camouflage fatigues rather than their usual uniforms. The interior minister said Chavez, a former paratrooper who himself lead a failed coup in 1992, was working at Miraflores. But palace officials said earlier the president had left Caracas to visit pro-government rallies in Aragua and Tachira states to the west and southwest of the capital.


HAVANA, June 17

    MORE THAN 40,000 CUBANS EVACUATED

    Authorities have evacuated more than 40,000 people from a province in central-eastern Cuba because a reservoir is in danger of overflowing following heavy rains, the government's National Information Agency said Saturday. The evacuations in Sancti Spiritus province have been going on for several days.

    The news agency reported earlier this week that another 10,000 people had been evacuated because of building collapses and flooding caused by heavy rains in the neighboring province of Ciego de Avila, to the east. No injuries or deaths have been reported.


WASHINGTON, D.C., June 16

    THE STATE DEPARTMENT DISMISSES CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTROÍS SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN

    The US State Department dismissed on Friday Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's campaign for signatures supporting the communist system, saying Castro was trying to obscure popular support for a reform petition. Defying U.S. calls for political reform, the dictator announced on Thursday a nationwide campaign to support a petition in favor of making the socialist system "untouchable."

    Critics said his aim was to squash a dissident attempt to seek moderate internal reform and guarantees of civil liberties through a popular referendum known as the Varela Project. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker agreed. "Instead of addressing this peaceful plea for change, Castro has chosen to manufacture an alternative petition supporting the current constitution and to intimidate the population into signing it," Reeker told a daily briefing.

    Reeker added: "Obviously, given Castro's control over the Cuban population, he is no doubt going to try to get more signatures on this than on Project Varela. "No matter what the outcome, he's not going to be able to obscure the fact that one important thing has occurred with Project Varela, and that's it's succeeded in getting 11,000 Cubans to brave Castro's tyranny and to call for change.

G INES, June 16

    MUNICIPAL WORKERS DUMP HUMAN WASTE IN RIVER

    The crew of the truck in charge of cleaning up septic tanks and sewers in GÙines, Havana province, dumped a truck-load of waste in the Mayabeque river. The two employees of the Municipal Water and Sewer Authority dumped the truck's contents in the vicinity of the La Quinta residential district.

    "A few minutes before dumping the load, the truck's crew had finished cleaning the septic tank of a home for the handicapped in the neighborhood," said an eyewitness to the incident.


HAVANA, June 15

    THE CUBAN TYRANT: "OUR COMMUNIST REVOLUTION IS 'UNTOUCHABLE'" 

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro announced a drive to collect signatures in support of a constitutional amendment that would declare his 41-year-old socialist system ñuntouchable." Opponents say the four-day petition drive is a clear response to a homegrown campaign that has been pushing for a referendum to demand democratic reforms in Cuba.  

    In a live appearance on state-run television Thursday, Castro said over 129,523 petition stations will be set up around the island - more than one for every 100 citizens - for a signature-gathering campaign starting Saturday until Tuesday. ñNo compatriot will be denied the opportunity" to back the amendment, said Castro, who established the socialist system in Cuba two years after he came to power in a 1959 revolution.

    ñIt's sad that the government keeps feeding the image of popular support," veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said of Castro's announcement. A government's ability to mobilize large numbers of people is not necessarily proof that those people support it, he said.


HAVANA, June 15

    OSWALDO J. PAYÁ SARDIÑAS : "WHATÍS 'UNTOUCHABLE' IS LIBERTY"   

    They [the government] speak in the name of the people but dare not consult their popular will in a referendum. What do they seek to accomplish? Do they intend to declare unconstitutional the rights contained in the Constitution? Is it that they wish to cover up every single crack so that no light can get through? What has become clear is that they seek to strengthen the shackles and they fail to realize that the people will break them.

    The campaign for the Varela Project Referendum will continue, because Cubans, as human beings, have rights that are denied by the laws and by arbitrary measures, even though the Constitution has, up till now, recognized them. Those who would alter and violate the Constitution will not derail the campaign to grant the Cuban people a voice through a referendum. Thousands of citizens signed the referendum petition and now many more want to sign it and shall sign it. Throughout Cuba young people, workers, students, and residents of neighborhoods and towns, women and men, want to know about Project Varela. It is already a legislative proposal because we submitted eleven thousand signatures to the National Assembly of Popular Power and thereby met the requirement established in the Constitution for transforming an initiative into a legislative proposal.

    Cubans should not allow fear to perpetuate their bondage. In this hour the Nation requires a major step forward in civic valor so that every Cuban may enjoy the rights and the recognition of his dignity that is every personÍs birthright. If many people throughout the world have demonstrated support for Project Varela, it is out of respect and solidarity with the Cuban people. Among us there is no hatred and our commitment to nonviolence and reconciliation is authentic and not a tactic. For this reason we call upon those in positions of power to reflect, so that they may act out of loyalty to restore, through a public debate, the sovereign power to the people. We call upon all Cubans to resolutely and calmly join in our demand for a public debate over the changes proposed by Project Varela to establish respect for their fundamental rights.


MIAMI, June 14

    A GREAT CUBAN PATRIOT MURDERED IN MIAMI

    A great Cuban patriot and longtime anti-Castro activist, Jorge Villaverde, was convinced that CastroÍs agents were trying to kill him. On Tuesday morning his hunch proved grimly correct. Villaverde was gunned down as he picked up the morning papers at the door of his house. He died with a 9mm pistol tucked into the back of his pants -- a gun he never had time to draw.

                                          ''This was obviously an ambush,'' said a Miami-Dade police Detective. The member of a fiercely anti-Castro family, Villaverde spent years in Cuban political prisons before making it to the United States. Two of his three brothers, Rafael and Raúl, were members of the 2506 Assault Brigade that invaded Cuba's Bay of Pigs in 1961. Raúl, a veteran freedom fighter, is well respected within the Cuban exile community and presently holds a top position within the Cuban American Military Council (CAMCO).

    Those who knew Jorge, who was retired, said he had been attacked a few times during the past month.  In the wake of last week's bomb attacks outside the headquarters of paramilitary group Alpha 66 and the Cuban American National Foundation, Miami's exile community was awash in speculation about Jorge's death. Many felt Castro was ''settling scores.''


CARACAS, June 14

    CHÁVEZ FACING A COUP THREAT

    A new wave of coup threats against President Hugo Chávez is pushing Venezuelans to the edge of hysteria, with many residents of the capital stockpiling food and condo associations preparing an inventory of guns in case of looting. Clandestine communiqués and videos from alleged military officers vowing to topple the leftist president emerge almost daily.

    The crisis atmosphere is even more intense than in April, when a sudden military coup forced Chávez out of power for two days amid a whirlwind of political violence and looting that left 70 dead. ''The country is on the verge of a nervous breakdown,'' the centrist TalCual newspaper said this week in an editorial that called for calm. Senior government officials privately admit that the 80,000-member armed forces are deeply split between Chávez supporters and foes who accuse him of pitching the nation into anarchy with his populist ''Bolivarian Revolution,'' Western diplomats say. ''The barracks are boiling,'' said José Machillanda, a retired army colonel who has taught courses at several military institutions.

    Opposition television stations have been rebroadcasting Chávez's comments in a 1996 interview defending his failed 1992 military coup attempt against President Carlos Andrés Pérez as ``legitimate, when a government does not listen to the people.'' Vice President José Vicente Rangel, meanwhile, has denied rumors in the capital that 1,500 Cuban troops had landed recently at an airport near Caracas to help defend Chávez, a close ally of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. ''The time has come to kill or be killed,'' wrote columnist John Salas.


GUANTÁNAMO, June 14

    ANGRY SUGAR MILL WORKERS GO ON STRIKE TO PROTEST DEMOLITION

    Workers of the sugar mill known as "Costa Rica", in the municipality of El Salvador, Province of Guantánamo, stopped production after finding out that this huge sugar mill will be demolished, and went home in protest for the imminent loss of work.

    Quick Response Brigades of the Interior Ministry went to the sugar mill to try to disperse the tumultuous protest. The Department of State Security is looking for the leader of this brave act, uncommon since the triumph of the dictatorship of Fidel Castro, who abolished workers' strikes and labeled them counter-revolutionary. The workers stated that they acted under mutual agreement, so that they would all be responsible.


WASHINGTON, D.C., June 13

      UNBELIEVABLE-- YESTERDAY, THE CUBAN DICTATOR AND HIS LACKEYS AGAIN AFFRONTED THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; HOWEVER, THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS SENDING TO CUBA A DIPLOMAT WHO WANTS TO ñSAIL" WITH THEM

    In a statement made public on February 25, 2002, our Chairman, Major General (DC-Ret) Erneido A. Oliva, said: "...I personally know that Ambassador Reich and colonel Emilio Gonzalez are very capable men and I do not question  their democratic values. However, due to my 30 years of experience in Washington, I am sorry to say that their task in this Hemisphere, to make possible a democratic transition in Cuba, is going to be very difficult to accomplish if changes are not implemented soon. In my dealings with many of his past and present colleagues, I have found out that some of them have been afraid of directly interfering with CubaÍs dictatorship and have been opposed to supporting the Cuban-Americans who are peacefully struggling for a free, civic and democratic Cuba..."


HAVANA, June 13

    CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO: ñTHE UNTOUCHABLE REVOLUTION"

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro defied President Bush's calls for democratic reforms in Cuba's one-party system Wednesday by leading a march in support of a constitutional amendment that declares Cuba's socialist system is ñuntouchable'" and cannot be changed. Flanked by Cabinet ministers and bodyguards, Castro, 75, led the 1 mile (1.6 km) march in his trademark olive green military fatigues, wearing black sneakers instead of boots. His sons Fidel, Alejandro and Antonio joined the march, and his brother Raul Castro, No. 2 in the political hierarchy and minister of the armed forces, marched at the head of a block of uniformed soldiers.

    Factories and schools shut down in the island, bringing Cuba's tattered economy to a halt. Even the Central Bank closed for the day. It was not clear how much choice Cubans had to stay away from the marches. Residents who have lived through dire economic hardships since the collapse of the Soviet Union a decade ago lose benefits if they shun official events by the ruling Communist Party. Cubans were driven at dawn from factories and schools to the marches in buses and open trucks in a massive government operation.




  WASHINGTON, June 13

    AT STATE DEPARTMENT --  IT WAS ñBASEBALL" UNDER CLINTON; NOW, IT IS ñSAILING"

    The Department of State has denied rumors circulating within the Cuban-American community that the diplomat expected to head the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba plans to take a sailboat to Havana. Spanish-language radio in Miami was abuzz Monday with reports that James Cason will be "sailing" around the Caribbean waters (with the communist leadership) when he replaces Vicki Huddleston (an outstanding American Ambassador) in September. ''It's not true,'' a State Department spokesman said. ñHe does not have a sailboat. He does not have a yacht. He has a fishing boat that is going to stay in storage when he is gone.'' State Department officials acknowledged that Cason had given some brief consideration to taking his 24-foot motorboat but almost immediately decided against the idea. |

    "This is just a rumor and there's no controversy that I'm aware of in Washington," said James Carragher, coordinator for Cuban affairs. Cason, a longtime Department of State official, currently serves in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs in Washington.


TEHRAN, June 13

    IRAN AND CUBA TO COOPERATE ON BIOTECHNOLOGY

    First Secretary of the Cuban Embassy in Tehran Jorge Hadad voiced his country's readiness to cooperate with Iran in all political, economic and trade areas while adding that both states are to actively get involved in the biotechnological cooperation. The Cuban officials said the biotechnological cooperation could help both Iran and Cuba promote the health standards in their countries. He said Cuba has started work in the biotechnology field and is ready to cooperate with Iran in all related activities.              

    Hadad emphasized the importance of strengthening international cooperation between Tehran and Havana in the political, economic,   scientific and cultural fields given the strategic locations of Cuba  in Latin America and Iran in the Middle East and Central Asia. He said that the plan for cooperation between Iran and Cuba in the transfer of biotechnological experience would be seriously followed up.                                                          


HAVANA, June 12

    CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO CALLS ñGIANT" MARCH AGAINST ñUS INTERFERENCE"

   Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Monday called for a massive march in the capital and in cities across Cuba ñagainst U.S. interference" in his island which he said was aimed at destroying his socialist revolution. Castro said that in Havana alone at least 1 million people were expected to participate in the event Wednesday, adding that such a march ñhas never been done before." ñIt will put our organizational ability to the test ... to organize the march in all of the country's provincial capitals, in all of the country's municipalities,'' Castro said.

    Before the dictator spoke Monday, representatives of the popular organizations which form the pillars supporting Cuba's one-party system, unanimously agreed to ask the National Assembly to ratify that ñCuba is a socialist state of workers, independent and sovereign." In addition, it asks that the amendment to Cuba's 1976 constitution state that ñthe political will of the people is that the economic, political and social regimen consecrated in the constitution of the republic is untouchable." It also asks lawmakers to ñratify that economic, diplomatic and political relations with any other state are never negotiated under aggression, threat or pressure of a foreign power." The amendment appears to be a response to dissident proposals backed by the United States seeking political freedoms.

    The dictator also said the marches are an extension of speeches he's made the last three Saturdays in eastern provincial capitals, responding to President Bush's May 20 address reiterating his promise not to ease up on Cuba trade or travel restrictions until the communist country undertakes deep reforms, including the holding of free and competitive elections. Havana's stepped-up anti-American rhetoric comes midst deepening economic troubles brought on by low world prices for sugar exports, oil shortages and a big drop in tourism and family remittances, Cuba's main source of hard currency.



For CAMCO-GEC members


HAVANA, June 11

     CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO SAID IN A SPEECH IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA ON JUNE 8: ñTHE WORLD IS COMING UNDER THE RULE OF NAZI CONCEPTS AND METHODS"

    Once more, the dictator shows his loathing for the United States and its president. In his speech full of hatred, Castro said: ñIn a recent speech made on the occasion of the bicentennial year of the West Point Military Academy, Mr. W. Bush threw a fiery harangue at the graduation ceremony of 958 cadets. However, his remarks were also addressed to the United States and the entire world. Some of the ideas expressed there are a reflection of his thinking.  He said for example: "If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too longƒIn  the world we have entered, the only path to safety is the path of action. And this nation will actƒto strike at a momentÍs notice in any dark corner of the world. And our security will require... to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our livesƒWe will not leave the safety of America and the peace of the planet at the mercy of a few mad terrorists and tyrants. We will lift this dark threat from our country and from the world."

    ñAs you can see," the dictator continued, "he (President Bush) doesnÍt mention once is his speech the United Nations Organization. Nor is there a phrase about every peopleÍs right to safety and peace, or about the need for a world ruled by principles and norms. He only talks of alliances between powers, and of war and more war. He speaks of war on behalf of peace and liberty, words that coming from him sound as meaningless and empty as soap bubbles. His entire speech is no more than a sweetened exaltation of chauvinism, and of the superiority of his countryÍs culture, glory and power."

    ñIn the face of such cowardice," Castro emphasized, "many peoples of the world will look hopefully to the American people as the only one capable of putting a straightjacket on, or stopping, the bigots in their lust for power, abuse and conflict."




SANTIAGO DE CUBA, June 10

    CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO URGED THE U.S. PUBLIC TO HALT "FANATICS OF WAR" IN THE ADMINISTRATION

    For a third Saturday, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro spoke before hundreds of thousands of Cubans, this time in Santiago de Cuba, to attack Washington's Cuba policy and particularly United States President George W. Bush. Referring to President Bush's May 20 Cuba policy speech -- which called for free and internationally verifiable elections in Cuba -- Castro said, "He went too far in his speech. He was rude. He insulted. He lied, and he threatened."

   The dictator then said that U.S. foreign policy is becoming more and more akin to that of Nazi Germany. "The power and prerogatives of that country's president are so extensive, and the economic and technological and military power network in that nation is so pervasive, that due to circumstances that fully escape the will of the American people, the world is coming under the rule of Nazi concepts and methods," Castro said after urging the U.S. public to halt "fanatics of war" in the U.S. administration.

    The dictator added that since September 11, the United States has turned the world into good and bad guys, and the only judge of who is good and bad is the U.S. president himself. 

VENEZUELA, June 9

    PRESIDENT CHAVEZ DISMISSED NEW COUP RUMORS

     Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who was briefly ousted in April by rebel military and civilian leaders, moved on Saturday to quell rumors of another impending coup against his self-proclaimed revolution. Chavez blamed political rivals for trying to whip up fears of another uprising in an attempt to destabilize his three-year-old government.

    "I'm calling on the country not to fall for tricks and rumors, let's call them rumors spread by those who want to keep us in a state of shock, like a form of terrorism," Chavez told military officers at Guaira naval base, about 15 miles (28 km) from the capital. "Some people continue to try and spread fear and rumors, which is one of the components of their new strategy to destabilize us," Chavez said.

     Fears of another putsch were heightened on Tuesday when a group of uniformed figures wearing masks and claiming to be military officials broadcast a statement on local television criticizing Chavez, praising the coup and warning of a civil war. Government officials swiftly dismissed the video as a fraud. But several high-ranking military officials have also testified about discontent within the ranks as Chavez loyalists move to purge dissidents from the ranks.


HAVANA, June 8

    CHINA LOOKING AT ACQUIRING LOURDES

    A report in Russia's Izvestia newspaper stating that China may take over Russia's electronic intelligence-gathering base near Lourdes, Cuba. It seems that  negotiations between Beijing and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro last March addressed the base issue, though to what extent China is interested remains unknown.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his intention to shut down the Lourdes facility last October, however, no agreement has been reached yet on a closure, and Russia still reportedly has some personnel and surveillance equipment in Lourdes.

    Beijing already has some intelligence assets in the country, and unless they were set to inherit all of the Russian equipment and intelligence at Lourdes, moving to the facility would offer little additional advantage.  For China, setting up a facility at Lourdes fits with its overall strategy of establishing outposts at key nodes around the world.  However, taking up full residence at Lourdes could prove extremely costly to China. According to Russian officials, Moscow was paying Havana between $5 billion to $6 billion a year to lease the base.

HAVANA, June 8

    MOSQUITO BREEDING GROUNDS REAPPEAR IN SEVERAL SECTORS OF HAVANA

    Several areas favorable to the breeding of the mosquito that transmits dengue fever have been identified in Havana following the announcement by public health authorities that they had been eradicated. Municipal garbage pick-up has reverted to an irregular schedule, so street-corner dumping sites can be seen again after they had been cleaned up during the recent government campaign. Plumbing and sewer leaks and potholes are also accumulating water that mosquitoes favor for laying eggs.

    In addition, in the Fraternidad neighborhood, in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality of Havana, seven fertile breeding grounds were detected, according to information provided by a public health worker who didnÍt want his name used. "The breeding grounds for the Aedes aegypti mosquito were discovered in the homes of people who practice African religions, and who up to now had prevented sanitary authorities from inspecting the areas where they keep their cult objects and tools. After a search, mosquito larvae were found in clay pots used in religious rites," said the public health worker.


VENEZUELA, June 7

     VENEZUELA ASKS EX-PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER TO AID TALKS

     Venezuelan government on Thursday asked former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to help soothe lingering political tensions after April's coup against President Hugo Chavez and welcomed international observers to monitor the nation's democratic process. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said he had written to Carter asking him to help foster dialogue in the bitterly divided South American nation. "We're not considering intervention, we're looking for a process to facilitate talks," Rangel said.

     Nearly eight weeks after rebel military and civilian leaders briefly toppled Chavez, Venezuela is still mired in political uncertainty and jitters over another possible uprising. Talks aimed at brokering dialogue between Chavez supporters and his critics have descended into political sniping as both sides blame each other for the deaths of civilians shot by gunmen during the April 11-14 ouster. Fears of a second uprising were underscored this week when a group of masked figures appeared on television claiming to be military officers who criticized the president, praised the coup and warned of a civil war. Opposition leaders are now trying to unseat the former paratrooper through constitutional change and have taken to the streets to call for the president's resignation several times in the last month.

    Carter, working from his nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta after leaving office in 1981, has established himself as an elder statesman helping to settle conflicts around the world. Last month he became the first former president to visit Cuba since its 1959 revolution. Carter met with Cuban dissidents in Havana to push for internal reforms in the island's one-party Communist state.


HAVANA, June 6

    CUBA TO CLOSE HALF ITS SUGAR MILLS

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro will close 71 of his 156 state-run sugar mills in coming months as the communist government plans to restructure the uncompetitive industry. The mill closures were not expected to significantly affect Cuba's already depressed raw sugar production, though they will affect tens of thousands of workers and their families who have depended on the industry for generations.

    "The decision was made earlier this year to definitively close 71 mills so we can put scarce resources into the most efficient mills and plantations," a mid-level official said. "Many of the mills were temporarily closed during the last three or four harvests. Given low international sugar prices and our current financial problems it makes no sense to reopen them," he added. World sugar prices have plummeted as developed nations turned to artificial or alternative sources of sweeteners in the food industry, such as corn.

    In 1990 Cuba produced 8 million tonnes of sugar that earned $4.8 billion, at very good prices paid by Moscow. This year's harvest of 3.6 million tonnes will earn only $430 million. The ruling Communist Party decided at its last congress in October 1997 to close some mills, improve industry efficiency, and diversify production into byproducts such as alcohol and animal feed. The Sugar Ministry will find new jobs for laid-off workers, retrain younger employees and pay 60 percent to 100 percent of salaries until new work was found.


WASHINGTON, June 6

    CUBA HAS LIMITED BIOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPABILITY

    Assistant Secretary of State Carl Ford told a Senate committee on Wednesday that any Cuban attempt to develop biological weapons would be for deterrence, driven by fear of the United States, and not for launching a first strike. Ford also said the Bush administration stuck, however, to its position that Cuba has "a limited developmental offensive biological warfare research and development effort."

    Ford said that all U.S. evidence was indirect and that none of it came from Cuban scientists who have worked there on biotechnology programs. But he also said the United States had "substantial information" on the alleged effort.


HAVANA, June 5

    PAYÁ WANTS DETAILS OF REFERENDUM TO BE PUBLISHED

    Now that Jimmy Carter has done them the favor of telling millions of Cubans of a campaign to bring civil liberties to the communist island, organizers want the text of the proposed referendum published. The former U.S. president made the existence of the project known in an uncensored nationwide TV and radio speech May 14, but many Cubans still do not know what it actually says.

    ñYou cannot have a proposed law if it is secret, if it is hidden," said Oswaldo Paya, organizer of the Varela Project. ñWe want to give citizens the opportunity to see it." Because the organizers do not have resources to print and distribute copies of the proposed referendum, they have spent recent weeks explaining it to curious Cubans. 

    Paya said a Roman Catholic priest invited him last week to explain the Varela Project to about 100 of his parishioners. Paya said Varela Project organizers will shortly launch a campaign for the referendum text to be published by state media - something Carter suggested. ñA proposed law has to be known by citizens," Paya said. ñThat's their right.''

HAVANA, June 5

    SANITATION STANDARDS DROP AFTER CAMPAIGN ENDS

    Shortly after the official announcement that the campaign to eradicate the mosquito responsible for the transmission of dengue fever was successfully concluded, new sources of infection and accumulated trash have been found in Santos Suárez, a neighborhood in the municipality of Diez de Octubre, Havana.

    Garbage pick-up has become more irregular, and deposits of refuse are starting to accumulate in street corners. "The re-apparition of breeding grounds for the mosquito shows that the priority assigned by the government to the erradication campaign was temporary," said one local resident.


Miami, June 4

    TWO MIAMI ANTI-CASTRO GROUPS FIREBOMBED

    The Little Havana office and a building housing two prominent anti-Fidel Castro exile groups were fire bombed early Monday, Miami police said. Culprits hurled Molotov cocktails - Miller-brand beer bottles, brimming with fuel and stuffed with burning rags. No one was injured.

Property damage was minimal at the headquarters of Alpha 66 at 1714 W. Flagler St., and the building that houses the Cuban America National Foundation at 1312 SW 27th Ave. In one of the attacks, witnesses described loud bang followed by a ''giant fireball'' that flame out on its own without penetrating into the building.

    The first attack occurred at around 3:30 a.m. on the first-floor offices of Alpha 66, the oldest exile paramilitary group. A spokesperson from the group said it is the fourth time that his organization headquarters has been attacked. Minutes later and 23 blocks away, at the UIB building, where the foundation is located, a Molotov was thrown against a back door leading to the building's small lobby. The foundation is on the third floor.


WASHINGTON, D.C., June 3

     AFTER 43 YEARS OF TYRANNY, CUBAÍS COMMUNIST SYSTEM COULD BE LEGITIMIZED UNDER PRESIDENT BUSH ADMINISTRATION

     Believe it or not! Cuba could meet U.S. demands for progress toward democracy without dismantling the country's communist system if Cuban dictator Fidel Castro would apply democratic provisions in Cuba's constitution, a senior official said last week. Briefing reporters, the official said the proposal, outlined last week by President Bush, was consistent with long-standing U.S. policy toward Cuba but offers a road map for democratic transformation not previously aired.

    Article 71 of the Cuban constitution specifies the election of National Assembly representatives by ñfree direct and secret vote." If Cuba should embrace the provision in next year's assembly elections, it would cease to be the totalitarian regime it has been for the past 43 years, the official said. ñIt would no longer be Castro's Cuba," the official said. ñIt would be a different country." He noted that a free election implies the right of opposition parties to organize, criticize the government and compete in the elections. At present, only candidates approved by the Communist Party can run for an assembly seat.

    However,  Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón mocked President Bush's insistence that Cuba hold multiparty elections in 2003. ñYou have to have a lot of nerve to go to Miami and speak of honest and clean elections,'" Alarcón said, a reference to the disputed voting results in Florida during the November 2000 presidential balloting.


VARADERO, June 3

    CUBA ACCEPTS EURO TO DRAW EUROPEAN TOURISM

    Cuba began accepting  payment in euros from European tourists this weekend at its prime beach resort, adding a fourth currency to its complex  and battered socialist economy. If the experiment works, the communist government plans  to extend the use of the European currency to all tourist spots, in an effort to draw more visitors to its Caribbean beaches and earn foreign exchange badly needed by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

    At Varadero shops, European cigar smokers can now pay 80.47 euros in cash for a box of 25 Montecristo No. 4 cigars, or 420.40 euros for the most expensive Cohiba Esplendidos. Even the highway tollbooths entering Varadero are ready to take euros and give change in the European currency, though small change below one euro will be returned in dollar equivalent coins issued by Cuba's Central Bank.

    Many Cubans have access to some dollars, either tips from tourists or bonuses from foreign employers. But by far most of the dollars come through family remittances from Cuban exiles living in the United States. These are estimated by the United Nations Economic Commission on Latin America to total about $800 million a year.

HOLGUIN, June 2

     THE CUBAN DICTATOR REJECTS PRESIDENT BUSH DEMOCRACY RECOMMENDATIONS

    In a speech before thousands of people in a drenching rain Saturday, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro said the democracy President Bush wants to see in Cuba would be a corrupt and unfair system that ignores the poor. ñFor Mr. W. Bush, democracy only exists where money solves everything and where those who can afford a $25,000-a-plate dinner - an insult to the billions of people living in the poor, hungry and underdeveloped world - are the ones called to solve the problems of society and the world," Castro said in his continuing attack on President Bush's hard line policies toward the island. ñDon't be a fool, Mr. W," Castro said. ñShow some respect for the minds of people who are capable of thinking...Show some respect for others and for yourself," the dictator said.

     Castro's early morning address in Holguin is part of Cuba's answer to the PresidentÍs May 20 speeches in Washington and Miami, promising trade sanctions against Cuba would not be lifted until all political prisoners are freed, independently monitored elections are allowed and a series of other conditions are accepted for a ñnew government that is fully democratic." Saturday's speech in this eastern provincial capital 500 miles east of Havana was aimed directly at President Bush.

     ñNone of our leaders is a millionaire like the President of the United States, whose monthly wage is almost twice that of all the members of the (Cuban) Council of State and the Council of Ministers in a year," Castro said. ñThe criminal blockade he has promised to tighten will only multiply the honor and glory of our people," Castro declared of Bush's stated intention to not only maintain but tighten U.S. restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba. ñIt was a long time ago when a man spoke from his wheelchair with a soft voice and a persuasive accent. He spoke as a president of the United States of America and he inspired respect ... He did not speak like a showoff or a thug," the dictator said.


HAVANA, June 2

     BROKEN BONES NO LONGER JUSTIFICATION FOR MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION

     Residents of the settlement adjacent to the ïPablo de la Torriente BrauÍ sugar mill who break a bone will no longer be eligible to be transported in the car used previously for the purpose, after a local government official determined that "there isnÍt enough fuel" to continue offering the service.

     The Popular Power delegate, Vicente Sáez, told electors of the measure at the May 18 year-end meeting. Until recently, patients needing transportation to the municipal hospital were taken there in a Soviet-made Lada car which belongs to the sugar millÍs medical service. Some were even taken to Havana, if specialists determined it was necessary. Now patients with broken bones have to make their own arrangements to be transported to the hospital.


MIAMI, June 1^st.

    ANOTHER CUBAN SPY ARRESTED IN MIAMI

    Federal agents arrested an alleged Cuban spy, Juan Emilio Aboy, 41, and accused him of trying to penetrate U.S. military operations in Miami, taking the first step on Thursday to deport him, immigration officials said.

    "He is an agent of the Cuban Intelligence Service and had received specific training in espionage activities and had engaged in such activities after entering the United States," the immigration service said, citing the results of a joint investigation with the FBI. Aboy "was studying to penetrate SouthCom," said a FBI spokeswoman, referring to the U.S. military's Southern Command in Miami, which oversees operations in South and Central America and part of the Caribbean.

    Aboy, who arrived in the United States in 1996, was part of the so-called Red Wasp Network of Cuban spies who targeted military installations and Cuban exile groups in south Florida, the spokeswoman said. Ten Cuban spies have been convicted in a Miami federal court of espionage-related crimes in connection with that network.


HABANA, June 1st.

    THREE CHILDREN DEAD AS A RESULT OF MEASLES VACCINATION

    Cuba announced Thursday it had suspended its measles vaccination program after an ñuncommon accident" with imported vaccine dosages that left three children dead and 42 others sick. The three children died last week after receiving injections from ñapparently contaminated" vials filled with the anti-measles vaccine manufactured in India.

     ñAfter the accident was known, it was decided a week ago to stop the vaccinations under way across the country," the government said in a communiqué carried in the Communist Party daily Granma.


HAVANA, June 1^st.

    CUBANS RUSH TO BUY DOLLAR GOODS 

    Cubans rushed to buy goods sold for dollars on Thursday as word got out that the government planned to raise prices by up to 30 percent next week. In a move to generate more hard currency revenue to pay for vital imports, Cuba's communist government plans to increase prices for gasoline, electronic goods, clothes, cigarettes and cosmetics, officials and diplomats said.

    While the authorities have not announced the price hikes, ñpeople are buying up whatever they can, because the know the prices will go up," said housewife. The government said on Thursday that it has had to buy oil from international traders at high prices, with steep transport costs, since Venezuela suspended a preferential oil supply agreement in April. Some Cubans criticized the price increases, saying they would make life harder for them. "I had to work four years to buy a fridge on my peso salary. Now it will take five years or more," said a Havana nurse.