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HAVANA,
October 31
CUBA
WELCOMES LULAÍS ELECTION IN BRAZIL
Communist
Cuba Wednesday welcomed the election of leftist Luiz
Inacio Lula de Silva as Brazil's next president and
said his victory was a positive step for Latin America.
"Cuba saw Lula's victory with satisfaction and
joy. We are happy for him, for Brazil and for Latin
America," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said
at a news conference.
"We
wish him luck in the complex task he will have to shoulder,"
Pérez said, adding that the election of Brazil's
first left-wing president should improve relations with
Cuba. Havana hopes Lula's victory will reverse Cuba's
isolation in Latin America. In recent years, Cuba's
only ally in the region has been Hugo Chavez, the leftist
president of Venezuela.
Lula,
as he is known in Brazil, has visited Cuba and met with
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on several occasions. Castro
sent him a letter congratulating him on his triumph.
"We are friends and I admire his perseverance,"
the dictator told reporters a day before the elections.
FRANCE,
October 31
OSWALDO
PAYÁ SARDINAS WINS SAKHAROV AWARD
The
European Parliament has given its annual human rights
prize to Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Paya Sardiñas
for his peaceful efforts to bring reform to the communist
nation. Paya's activism dates back to 1969 when he was
condemned to forced labor by the regime of Cuban dictator
Fidel Castro.
The
political leaders of the European Union (EU) assembly
announced Paya was their choice for the 2002 Sakharov
Award for Human Rights and Freedom of Thought last Wednesday
evening. Previous winners have collected the award in
ceremonies at the EU assembly. It was not immediately
clear if Paya will do that because he and his family
are barred from leaving Cuba, parliament officials said.
An
award ceremony is scheduled for him on Dec. 18. Payá
is the organizer of the Varela Project. ñThis is acknowledgment
of what is happening in Cuba, that the Varela Project
is moving ahead," Payá said Wednesday of the
awarding of the award.
HAVANA,
October 30
HUNDREDS OF CUBAN DISSIDENT
GROUPS FORM OPPOSITION ASSEMBLY
More
than 300 Cuban dissident groups have formed a kind of
opposition parliament aimed at developing the island's
civil society, leaders of the umbrella organization
said Monday. The
organizers, economist Marta Beatriz Roque and René
Gómez Manzano, said the "Assembly to Promote
Civil Society" pulls together 325 dissident organizations
representing human rights groups, independent libraries
to labor and press unions operating outside Cuba's communist
system.
The
groups currently cannot meet in a massive gathering,
but ''we are doing what we can to do so as soon as possible,''
said Roque. Roque told reporters the new opposition
assembly represents a wide range of political views
and ñis open to all those that want to participate."
Among those who have not joined are lead organizers
of the Varela Project signature gathering effort, which
seeks a referendum asking voters if they favor guarantees
for rights such as freedom of speech and private business
ownership.
Roque
is among those who do not support the Varela Project,
saying it doesn't go far enough. ''There is another
part that says we do have to change the constitution,''
Roque said, referring to Varela Project organizers'
insistence that they want to create new laws, not constitutional
change. ''With this constitution we are not going to
resolve anything. With Fidel Castro we are not going
to resolve anything,'' Roque said.
CARACAS, October 29
VENEZUELA
GOVERNMENT SPURNS EARLY POLL
Venezuela's
government on Monday condemned a rebel military protest
against President Hugo Chavez as a dangerous precedent
for Latin America and spurned opposition calls for elections
as an international mediator struggled to broker peace
talks.
The
hard-line stance adopted by the leftist government left
little negotiating room for the Organization of American
States (OAS) Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria. "The
OAS is firing its last round, we hope it isn't in vain.
The game is deadlocked. There's no immediate chance
for the OAS to help us. We have to solve our own problems,"
said Alberto Ravell, director of private Globovision
television, which has been critical of Chavez. The opposition
has collected more than 1 million signatures to petition
a nonbinding referendum on the president.
CARACAS, October 28
VENEZUELAN
OFFICERS DEMAND CHAVEZÍS RESIGNATION
Many
of them sleep under the stars, rely on neighbors for
food and don't dare walk a block away from their encampment
for fear of arrest. Yet that hasn't shattered the resolve
of at least 120 military officers whose small rebellion
against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez entered its
seventh day Tuesday.
"I
want to be an officer in a worthy military and not a
destroyed army or a militia serving a political project.
Mr. President, resign now. The people want elections,"
Army Maj. Juan Jose Salas told reporters as he joined
the protest. One officer, a pilot of Chavez's official
plane, symbolically removed the presidential guard red
beret.
The
rebels, camped out in Francia de Altamira Square, want to topple a regime
they say has forced an apolitical military into the
service of a leftist government. Despite their relatively
small numbers in an armed forces top-heavy with generals,
they've managed to spread panic in Chavez's government.
The president has repeatedly asked Venezuelan TV channels
to curb coverage of the officers and the interior minister
shrilly called them ñassassins."
VENEZUELA, October 27
MILITARY
OFFICERSÍ POPULAR REVOLT
Dissident
Venezuelan military officers attracted several thousand
sympathizers in Caracas on Wednesday as they tried to
muster support for a popular revolt against leftist
President Hugo Chavez, but the armed forces said they
firmly opposed a rebellion. "The armed forces in
general and the army in particular remain firm in their
principles," Division Gen. Julio Garcia Montoya
said in a statement.
For
a second night, several thousand Chavez foes packed
the Caracas' Altamira Square, waving flags and honking
car horns, in support of the rebel officers as they
pursued their campaign for popular resistance against
Chavez.
The
rebel officers have accused Chavez of dragging the military
into politics, dividing Venezuelans with his left-wing
policies, and leading the country toward Cuba-style
communism. After spending the night camped out in Altamira
Plaza, the officers on Wednesday insisted they were
gathering support. "We'll stay here until Chavez
goes. We've got no other option," Army Gen. Vidal
Rigoberto Martínez told the press at the plaza.
OSLO,
October 21
PRESIDENT CHÁVEZ
DISMISSES NATIONAL STRIKE AS A ñGHOST"
Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez dismissed Friday an upcoming national
strike as no more than a "ghost" and said
opponents of his leftist rule had scant backing for
a drive to force him to quit. Unions and business leaders
have called for a 12-hour national strike Monday, October
21, to put pressure on Chavez to stand down and call
fresh elections.
"I
don't fear it -- this so-called general strike is a
ghost," a defiant Chavez told a news conference
during a visit to Norway, like Venezuela a major oil
exporter. "You might just as well go around being
scared of ghosts. It's unreal, it's no more than a threat,"
he added. Chavez
said that one of the strike organizers had told him
to quit by Wednesday, October 16. "As you see I
took that threat so seriously that I traveled here,"
he said. "I have no fear because I will not resign."
More than
one million Venezuelans jammed the streets of Caracas
last week to press for ChávezÍs resignation in
the biggest challenge to him since he was briefly toppled
in April. "They have called a desperate strike,
they have no leadership, they have no support among
the people, they have no morale, they have no justice
on their side," Chavez said, waving a copy of the
Venezuelan constitution.
WASHINGTON,
D.C., October 19
CASTRO
SPEAK (By:
Arch Kielly, LtCol, USAF, Retired)
It never ceases to amaze those of us that have
lived under both a dictatorship and a democracy, how
dictators can use words that excuse the inexcusable.
When the Castro brothers call their government ñthe
democratic voice and the will of the people", we are
reminded that those who possess absolute power can do
and say, whatever they wish and language becomes another
weapon in their arsenal of lies and propaganda.
Indeed, the government of Cuba has mastered ñCastro
speak" since the revolution has transformed
itself from a vehicle of governmental change to a source
of personal profit and power for its leaders.
It is with some pride
that we report that the Cuban Armed Forces does not
buy this deceit.
In conversations that we had with active and
retired members of
the Cuban military, they have expressed a full
understanding of the failures and hardships brought
by CastroÍs communist government.
They are ashamed that their countryÍs closest
allies are the worldÍs worst despots. They are well
aware of the needs of the Cuban people, the needs of
their military institution and the needs of their country
in the 21st Century global economy.
The professional Cuban Armed Forces are biding
their time waiting for the right moment before they
act in concert with the Cuban people. When that time
does come, we can rest assured that the Cuban military
will not hurt their fellow countrymen or destroy the
Cuban infrastructure.
We
urge the patriotic and brave members of the Cuban Armed
Forces to side with CAMCO to bring liberty, democracy
and well being to the long suffering Cuban people.
VIVA
CUBA LIBRE!
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 19
CIA
DIRECTOR WARNS OF POTENTIAL ATTACKS
CIA
Director George Tenet warned Thursday that al Qaeda
terrorists are poised to attack the United States again,
as he defended his agency's performance before Sept.
11 during a climactic public hearing in Congress. Citing
recent attacks in Yemen, Kuwait and Indonesia and intelligence
reports, Tenet said that al Qaeda is ñin an execution
phase and intends to strike us both here and overseas."
Tenet
warned the House and Senate intelligence committees
that recent attacks and threats meant that more assaults
from al Qaeda are coming: ñThe threat environment we
find ourselves in today is as bad as it was last summer,
the summer before 9/11. It is serious. They have reconstituted.
They are coming after us. You see it in Bali; you see
it in Kuwait. . . . They intend to strike the homeland
again.''
Tenet
admitted errors when the CIA did not add the names of
two identified al Qaeda operatives -- who later became
hijackers -- to a State Department watch list in 2000
and 2001. According to an investigation report, CIA
did not provide the FBI with critical information about
the two Saudi men. ''We need to be honest about our
shortcomings,'' Tenet said. "We made mistakes.''
HAVANA,
October 19
CUBAN
DISSIDENT TO BE RELEASED
Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet
one of the most prominent political dissidents imprisoned
in Cuba, will be released Oct. 31 after serving a three-year
sentence, said his wife, Elsa
Morejón. She said that the authorities asked
her to report at 8 a.m. that day to the Cuba Sí
prison in the eastern city of Holguín to pick
up her husband. ''He
is in high spirits and intent on continuing his peaceful
struggle for human rights in Cuba,'' Morejón
said. ''He wants to continue to live and work inside
Cuba,'' she added.
Morejón thanked Cubans abroad
for their material and moral support. ''This has been
a very tough period in our lives, but human solidarity
has brought enormous spiritual compensation,'' she said.
Biscet,
a 41-year-old physician who founded the Lawton Foundation
for Human Rights, was arrested Nov. 3, 1999, with several
other dissidents. He was charged with ñinsulting national
symbols, creating public disorder and instigating criminal
activity." Although prosecutors
asked for a seven-year sentence, the court gave him
a three-year term after a four-hour trial Feb. 25, 2000.
WASHINGTON,
D.C., October 18
U.S.
PLANS TO STRIKE IF IRAQ WONÍT DISARM
President
Bush on Wednesday called for immediate, decisive action
against Iraq. ñOur goal is to fully and finally remove
a real threat to world peace and to America," the president
said during a ceremony in which he signed a congressional
resolution authorizing war against Iraq. ñHopefully,
this can be done peacefully," he said. ñHopefully, we
can do this without any military action."
But the president
warned that his threat to launch a war against Iraq
if that country did not disarm would not be deterred
by the possibility that Iraq might use weapons of mass
destruction. In a sobering reminder of the risks of
military action, Bush acknowledged concerns that Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein would use chemical or biological
weapons against invading U.S. troops.
''We will
face our dangers squarely, and we will face them unafraid,"
Bush said. ñIf we go into battle, as a last resort,
we will confront an enemy capable of irrational miscalculations,
capable of terrible deeds. As the commander in chief,
I know the risks to our country." But the President
said he also was convinced that the risks of an Iraqi
attack with weapons of mass destruction would ñonly
increase with time."
WASHINGTON,
D.C., October 18
GRANMA, AS USUAL,
TRIES TO CONFUSE THE CUBAN PEOPLE
The libel
Granma, the official paper of Communist Cuba, in its
customary manner has misrepresented the facts to keep
confusing the Cuban people and the world. In an article
published in Granma's October 14th edition the paper
mentioned the "huge march" conducted on the
previous day in Caracas in support of President Hugo
Chavez. To
graphically demonstrate the fact that the majority of
the Venezuela people were supporting Chavez, Granma
published a photo of the march.
The only problem is that the picture,
printed in full color, was not that of the march held
by Chavez's supporters. Instead it was of the march
conducted four days earlier on October 10th by ChavezÍs
opposition. The Venezuelan daily "TALCUAL"
had published on its cover the original picture, which
depicts more than a million anti-Chavez protestors marching
through the streets of Caracas, October 11. The opposition's
march was never even mentioned by the Cuban dictator
Fidel Castro's controlled media. So, as usual, the Communists
continue to use deceit to demonstrate the "love"
that the people have for their tyrannical regimes.
CARACAS, October 18
VENEZUELA RECALLS PERU
ENVOY AFTER TOLEDO REMARKS IN MIAMI
Venezuela
government said on Wednesday it had recalled its ambassador
in Peru for consultations after Peruvian President Alejandro
Toledo expressed concern over the political conflict
racking the oil-rich nation six months after a brief
coup.
Venezuelan
Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton, speaking from Italy,
where he is accompanying President Hugo Chavez on a
European tour. Chaderton said the country's ambassador
in Lima, vice-admiral Gonzalo Gómez Jaén,
would return to Caracas for talks after the remarks
made by Toledo. "About the slightly blunt declarations
made in Miami, we're treating them at a diplomatic level,"
Chaderton said.
Toledo
on Monday urged the Organization of American States
(OAS) to help Venezuela to find a democratic solution
to its simmering political tensions. The Peruvian president
said Venezuela's suffering "is Peru's suffering.
The lack of freedom and democracy in any country in
Latin America affects our vocation for freedom in the
region." Toledo's remarks were widely interpreted
in the Venezuelan media as a criticism of Chavez, a
left-wing, former paratrooper whose domestic opponents
accuse him of leading the country toward Cuba-style
communism.
CARACAS, October 18
ACCUSED
VENEZUELAN ADMIRALS SUE CHAVEZ FOR SLANDER
Vice-Admiral
Hector Ramirez and Rear-Admiral Daniel Comisso filed
slander charges on Wednesday against President Hugo
Chavez at the nation's Supreme Court. The admirals,
who still face possible court martial for their alleged
role in the April coup, said the president was guilty
of "continued, aggravated slander" against
them.
"He
calls us criminals and killers," Ramirez said after
he, Comisso and their lawyers filed the slander suit
at the country's top tribunal. The two admirals are
among around 300 senior and middle-ranking officers
who have come under investigation following the April
military rebellion, in which Chavez was deposed for
48 hours. He was restored by loyal troops.
Chavez, who
was elected in 1998, six years after himself attempting
a coup, has demanded the officers who toppled him be
prosecuted as coup plotters. He says "fascist"
civilian and military opponents are still trying to
overthrow him. In a decision that infuriated Chavez,
the Supreme Court ruled in mid-August that Comisso,
Ramirez and two generals should not be tried for military
rebellion. The court now must first rule on whether
to accept the admiralsÍ case.
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 17
PENTAGON
APPROVES AID D.C. SNIPER HUNT
Army
planes with high-tech surveillance equipment will help
track a sniper who has eluded law enforcement officials
for two weeks. Local officials called in the military
to help solve the baffling case that has terrorized
the capital area, leaving people afraid to go out of
their homes.
Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday evening agreed
to an FBI request for the help, approving use of the
Army's RC-7 Airborne Reconnaissance Low (RCL) plane
and at least one other type of aircraft with surveillance
capabilities beyond those of local police forces, defense
officials said. The military planes join a chase that
already is using officers from more than a dozen law
enforcement agencies.
An
unknown sniper or snipers has launched a series of 11
random rifle attacks in 13 days that has killed nine
people and seriously wounded two others. All but one
of the attacks have been in neighboring suburbs in Maryland
and Virginia. One was just inside Washington at the
Maryland border. In two recent killings, police blocked
off streets and expressway ramps and stopped traffic
to check vehicles. Meanwhile, federal investigators
refused Tuesday to rule out the possibility that organized
terrorist groups are behind the shootings. ñThe communities
are terrorized" said the homeland security director,
Tom Ridge.
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 17
US
SPY FOR CUBA SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON
Ana
Belen Montes, a former senior intelligence analyst for
the Defense Intelligence Agency convicted of conspiring
to spy for Cuba, was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years
in prison after saying she opposed U.S. government policy
toward Cuba. Prosecutors have said Montes identified
to Cuban intelligence four undercover American agents
on the island and gave Havana classified information
about U.S. national defense. She also gave Cuban agents
details of a secret military training exercise in which
she took part in 1996.
Montes,
an American citizen of Puerto Rican descent, has admitted
she spied for Cuba for 17 years. She acknowledged that
her way of responding to the government's Cuban policy
may have been "morally wrong." After the sentencing,
U.S. Attorney Roscoe Howard, whose office prosecuted
the case, said Montes has cooperated fully, as required
by her plea agreement. "She did grave damage. She
owed the country an apology. I'm disappointed she did
not provide it," he said.
U.S.
District Judge Ricardo Urbina cited her betrayal, saying
Montes, 45, decided to put her fellow Americans and
her country "in harm's way' and must pay the penalty.
In addition to the 25-year sentence, the judge placed
the spy on five years of probation, to be served after
she completes her prison sentence.
MORÓN, October 17
BLACKOUT COST COMMUNIST
GOVERNMENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
A
recent 9-hour power interruption cost the local government
in Morón, Ciego de Ávila province, thousands
of dollars, said an official with the local Popular
Power. The principal losses were attributable to the
dollar stores, which were closed for the 9 hours. The
same stores lost considerable stocks of ice cream, which
melted.
Among the stores
sustaining losses, the official singled out one located
in Martí Street, the bazaar Artex. "The
fuel crisis seems to stop the regional economy,"
said the official.
LIMA,
October 16
VENEZUELAÍS
NEIGHBORS URGE OAS TO MEDIATE
Venezuela's
neighbors on Tuesday urged the region's top diplomat
to step up mediation to prevent mounting political tension
erupting into a collapse of democracy in the country.
"The foreign ministers of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador
and Peru agreed to ask the secretary general of the
Organization of American States (OAS) to continue his
direct efforts in order to encourage national dialogue
and avoid any disruption of democratic constitutional
order," they said in a statement issued in Lima
after talks brokered by Peru. Opponents of Chavez accuse
him of trying to lead Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism.
The
Andean foreign ministers were meeting in Lima to discuss
trade issues but Peru put Venezuela on the agenda after
President Alejandro Toledo used a speech to a forum
in Miami on Monday to call for intensified regional
efforts to help Venezuela. Saying Venezuela's suffering
"is Peru's suffering. The lack of freedom and democracy
in any country in Latin America affects our vocation
for freedom in the region," Toledo called for a
meeting of the OAS to "examine, evaluate and help"
Venezuela find a democratic way out of its problems.
Meanwhile, ChávezÍs opposition is preparing for
a national strike on Oct. 21.
Peru's Foreign Minister Allan Wagner said the Andean
initiative came under the auspices of a democratic charter
signed by OAS members in Lima last year that aims to
take preemptive action "not when institutional
order has broken down but to work together to prevent
that from happening." Under the charter, the OAS
can send missions or suspend membership of the hemispheric
body if democracy breaks down.
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 16
ATTACK
MAY PROVOKE SADDAMÍS WRATH: CIA
Las
week, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) appeared
to have contradicted United States President George
W Bush's
assessment that Iraq presents an imminent danger to
the United States.
A letter from CIA director George Tenet also suggests
an attack by the
US could provoke Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
to unleash any chemical
or biological weapons he has. The CIA says there
is a "pretty high" risk Hussein would use
weapons of mass destruction in the event of an
attack. However, the agency also told the Senate Intelligence
Committee that if
the Iraqi President were left alone, the risks
were low.
White
House spokesman Ari Fleischer denies the comments undermine
the President's view. "The only person who has sure knowledge
of whether Saddam Hussein will
use those weapons is Saddam Hussein," Fleischer
said.
CARACAS,
October 15
CHAVEZ SAYS VENEZUELA ñREVOLUTION" GOES ON
At
a rally on Sunday to commemorate the day in April when
the president was restored to office by loyal troops
after being deposed for 48 hours, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, with a Cuban flag at his back and a parrot
wearing a red beret, on his shoulder, mocked opposition
demands and vowed to press ahead unswervingly with his
self-proclaimed "revolution."
"If
the coup plotters want to try another coup, then we're
waiting for them," the president told the crowd
of supporters. Chavez scoffed at an opposition ultimatum
to call a national strike Oct 21 if he did not resign
and call early elections by Wednesday. "I've only
got three days left! Gosh, I'm scared," he joked,
saying his hardliner foes, whom he condemned as "fascist,
coup-plotting elites," were "all bark and
no bite."
"I
challenge the opposition to try to halt the country.
Let's see if they can. Go on, do it," he said.
Although the opposition movement has gained momentum,
divisions over strategy and the lack of a charismatic
leader have created frustration in its ranks.
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 15
CONGRESSMAN
DOOLEY INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS
WITH CUBA
Democrat
Congressman Cal Dooley yesterday introduced a bill to
normalize U.S. relations with Cuba. "I
strongly believe that the best way to support democratic
change and human rights in Cuba is by promoting trade
and travel, which would engage the people of Cuba,"
Dooley said.
The
measure aims to set a date for the expiration of the
Helms-Burton Law, which in 1996 made law and tightened
the full U.S. economic embargo that has been imposed
on Cuba since 1962.
In
July, the House of Representatives voted 262-167 in
favor of a measure that would ban using federal funds
to enforce U.S. restrictions on its nationals' travel
to Cuba.
The
Senate has not yet voted on the measure, and President
George W. Bush has promised to veto it.
HAVANA, October 15
CUBAN
DISSIDENT SEEKS DEBATE ON POLITICAL CHANGE
Oswaldo
Paya, leader of Project Varela, called again on the
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro government to publish the
petition so that Cubans can decide for themselves. "Cuban
citizens have the right to know and debate the Varela
Project ... and we demand that it be published for political
debate," Paya said in a statement.
The government's
response so far to the petition has been to marshal
millions of signatures for constitutional amendments
that made Cuba's socialist workers state "untouchable,"
in effect blocking reforms sought by the dissidents.
HAVANA,
October 13
CUBAN
DICTATOR SAYS KHRUSHCHEV MISLED PRESIDENT KENNEDY
PLEASE,
LET'S REMEMBER!
Saddam Hussein may be United StatesÍ current ñENEMY
NUMBER ONE,"
but in Cuba, only 90 miles from our shores, is Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro who has been the ñENEMY
NUMBER ONE"
of the entire American Continent for over four decades.
However, the tyrant has survived ten U.S. presidents
and still happily rules the only communist country in
the Western Hemisphere. Other
related important topic: In an exclusive
interview with Barbara Walters this week, Castro said
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev lied to President John
F. Kennedy about the Soviet placement of nuclear missiles
in Cuba 40 years ago. ñThat was a very big mistake on
the part of KhrushchevƒOne that we opposed vehemently,"
the master of the house.
The
Cuban dictator also disagrees with President Bush administrationÍs
attempts to rally international support for an attack
Iraq. Castro, who has close ties with Saddam Hussein,
refused to weigh in on whether Hussein is a good leader,
saying his views would simply ñbe pouring oil on the
flame." He told Walter that he does not plan to step
down, unless he is incapacitated by illness.
Castro
has also made it clear he will not budge on political
reforms. A little more than a year ago petitions calling
for democratic reforms began circulating as part of
the Varela Project. Under Cuba's constitution, a minimum
of 10,000 signatures is required to force a referendum.
The group gathered 11,000 signatures, petitioning for
human rights and electoral reforms. Answering WalterÍs
questions, Castro said the petitioners would have their
response from the National Assembly "in due course."
However, just this past June the legislature approved
reforms to the constitution, making the country's socialist
system "irrevocable."
WASHINGTON,
D.C., October 12
ñIRRATIONAL"
CASTRO MADE SOVIETS WORRIED
Weeks
after the Soviet Union agreed to pull offensive missiles
from Cuba in 1962, Nikita Khrushchev was worried that
an ñirrational" Fidel Castro would renew tensions with
the United States, possibly even provoking a war, newly
released documents show. Cuba ñwants practically to
drag us behind it with a leash, and wants to pull us
into a war with America by its actions," Khrushchev
said in a Nov. 16, letter to his diplomatic representative
in Cuba, Anastas Mikoyan.
At
issue were U.S. surveillance flights sent over Cuba
to monitor dismantling of the missiles Moscow had installed
on the island. Khrushchev, Prime Minister of the Soviet
Union, had agreed in late October to pull out the missiles
as part of a deal with President Kennedy. But Khrushchev
was concerned that Castro would order his forces to
shoot down the low-flying U.S. surveillance flights,
which the Cuban dictator saw as an intolerable intrusion
on Cuban sovereignty.
The day after
Khrushchev sent his memo to Mikoyan, it appeared as
though Khrushchev's worst fears were being realized.
A Cuban military document, stamped ñTop Secret," said
Cuban anti-aircraft units were being given authority
to open fire against ñenemy aircraft" starting on Nov.
18. ñIf our Cuban comrades take steps that in their
opinion protect their interests - that is their right,"
Khrushchev said. ñBut then we have to raise with them
the issue that we would be forced to absolve ourselves
of all responsibility for the consequences their steps
might entail for them. If they do not take our arguments
into account, then it is clear that our side cannot
bear the responsibility for it."
CARACAS, October 11
MORE THAN ONE MILLION VENEZUELANS
MARCHED TO DEMAND CHAVEZÍS RESIGNATION
More
than a million
protesters demanding ChávezÍs resignation
marched in Caracas on Thursday in the biggest show of
opposition to leftist President Hugo Chavez since he
survived a brief coup in April.
Responding
to the fears of violence and swirling coup rumors, National
Guard troops, backed by armored vehicles, sealed off
the Miraflores presidential palace and National Assembly
in Caracas and patrolled other parts of the city. In
one incident 80 miles (130 km) west of Caracas, pro-Chavez
militants opened fire, injuring two people. National
Guard troops responded with tear gas and gunfire. There
was a similar shooting incident in Guarico state, and
one person died after being wounded in the head.
"COUP
OR ELECTIONS. WHO CARES? CHAVEZ OUT!,"
several banners carried by the demonstrators read.
The march ended
with a mass rally in central Caracas, where opposition
labor and business chiefs said that if the president
did not resign or call early elections within the next
week, they would announce a national strike for Oct.
21.
HAVANA, October 11
CUBA
SAYS NEW LUGGAGE TAX NOT FOR TOURISTS
Cuba
made it clear this week that a new tax on weighty bags
brought into the communist-run country will not affect
tourists, its main source of dollars. Officials said
the tax was aimed at Cuban exiles who travel to visit
relatives loaded with goods not available on the island.
Cuba's economy has never fully recovered from the collapse
of the Soviet Union over a decade ago.
As
of Nov. 1, Cuban Customs will charge a duty of $25 per
2.2 lbs (1 kilo) on personal belongings over a 44-lb
(20-kilo) limit for Cubans arriving from abroad. Belongings
weighing more than 66 lbs (30 kilos) may be confiscated.
Cuban
Customs posted a clarification on a state-controlled
Web site that the duty would not apply to tourists after
complaints from tour operators who threatened to take
their business elsewhere. The measure would have hurt
Cuba's already struggling tourism industry, which has
slumped since the Sept. 11 attack in New York and Washington.
More than 120,000 Cubans living abroad, mainly in the
United States, visit the island each year bringing in
clothing and other items for family and friends.
CARACAS, October 11
VENEZUELAÍS
NO. 3 MILITARY OFFICER OFFERED HIS RESIGNATION
Venezuelan
Vice Admiral and head of the Joints Chief of Staff Alvaro
Martin Fossa speaks during a nationally televised address
in Caracas. Martin Fossa, who said there were problems
within the military ranks, spoke at the moment in which
more than a million Venezuelans marched through the
capital streets.
Martín
Fossa offered his resignation Thursday, protesting the
police raids and other alleged abuses against officers
accused of plotting in April against Chavez. On Wednesday,
hundreds of civilians stopped secret police from arresting
two army generals who also spoke out against Chavez.
El Vice Admiral cited unduly harsh punishments and irregularities
during military proceedings. ñThe most honorable thing
to do is resign from my post," he said.
"Mr.
President, if you are being given a picture of a happy
and united armed forces, you are being deceived,"
Martin said. His surprise appearance on television and
his criticism of Defense Minister Jose Luis Prieto heightened
fears about a possible coup, although the opposition
march was peaceful.
Martin, wearing his white uniform, also criticized
what he called the politicization of the military under
Chavez, who has vowed to implement a Cuban style revolution
in Venezuela.
WASHINGTON, D.C., October
10
A
NEW ñGRITO DE YARA" (By:
Arch Kielly, LtCol, USAF, Retired)
Today
all Cubans, all over the world, will be celebrating
ñEl Grito de Yara." One hundred and thirty-four years
ago, Carlos Manuel de
Céspedes assembled a group of Cubans to
the batey (settlement)
"La Demajagua" near the town of Yara.
He told them that it was the first day of liberty and
Independence for Cuba. Holding the Cuban flag in his
hands, he had the town people
proclaim their loyalty to liberty and to the
Cuban flag. He immediately declared freedom for all his slaves and the slaves then united themselves to fight tyranny.
A
few days ago, Oswaldo Payá, the leader of Varela
Project, said: ñOur greatest victory has been that we
have never hated, that we have discarded violence and
have genuinely worked for reconciliation." He also added:
ñMany Cubans are losing their fear, taking off their
masks and raising their heads. Change begins when citizens
lose their fear, because the regime is founded on fear.
Those in power are afraid of people not being afraid.
Liberation is under way in Cuba ¿ many do not believe
it although all desire it."
CAMCO
has declared that, together with the Cuban Revolutionary
Armed Forces, it will assist in the liberation of Cuba.
Therefore, we urge the Cuban military to a new ñGRITO."
Today, as it was the case on October10, 1868,
can also be the first day of liberty and new Independence
for Cuba. Communism cannot continue, it cannot flourish,
if the patriotic members of the Cuban Armed Forces cease
to support the dictatorship of the Castro brothers.
We know that the Cuban military, with its deep roots
in the Cuban population, does not condone the insanity
of a political and economic system that fails to deliver
even at minimum levels and destroys the souls of the
Cuban people. YES, please, free the new Cuban slaves
and you will see them unite in the struggle against
tyranny. VIVA CUBA LIBRE!
WASHINGTON,
D.C., October 10
TO
COMMEMORATE THE "GRITO DE YARA", ALL CAMCOCUBA
VISITORS SHOULD THOROUGHLY READ THE SPEECH DELIVERED
BY DANIEL W. FISK ON SEPTEMBER 17, 2002. THANK
YOU
U.S.
Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere
Daniel W. Fisk accused Cuba of providing Washington
with false information about potential terrorist threats
since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked aircraft attacks.
The Cuban government is "impeding our efforts to
defeat terrorism" by feeding U.S. officials misleading
information "fabricated by Castro's intelligence
apparatus," Fisk said. The tips had sent American
investigators on "wild goose chases" in three
continents and diverted resources in U.S. anti-terrorist
efforts.
Fisk emphasized: "This is not
harmless game-playing --- it is a dangerous and unjustifiable
action that damages our ability to assess real threats,
it could one day cost innocent people their lives."
Fisk also said his words were "chosen carefully"
and were cleared by intelligence and law enforcement
agencies. A State Department official said that Fisk's
comments had been approved before he spoke. "This
was looked at by a lot of eyes. This was not just Dan
Fisk, lone wolf," the official said. "We are
not in the business of handing out bad information."
But trying to mislead Washington on something as sensitive
as the war on terrorism would be a much riskier venture
that begs the question of why Castro would even try
it, said an official.
CARACAS,
October 10
VENEZUELAN
TENSIONS RISE BEFORE ANTI-CHAVEZ MARCH
Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez and his opponents traded insults
and accusations yesterday as the politically polarized
country braced for an anti-government march in Caracas
to demand the resignation of the president. Both sides
warned the march could end in violence.
Chavez
accused his civilian and military foes of plotting another
violent uprising against him. He said todayÍs opposition
march was part of this plot. ñThey must not think that
behind the march they're going to be able to stage a
coup. No. The people and the armed forces are on the
alert," Chavez said in a speech to retired military
officers. He charged that ña fascist and coup-plotting
oligarchy" was still trying to overthrow him.
Amid the coup
rumors, the armed forces stepped up security in Caracas,
including the deployment of tanks to protect the presidential
palace and military sites. Government agents have been
searching the homes of suspected coup plotters, including
several military officers. Opponents of the president,
who include dozens of dissident senior officers implicated
in April's coup, contend that he is leading Venezuela
toward Cuban-style communism. They condemned the anti-opposition
crackdown as a deliberate government ploy to try to
provoke violence during todayÍs march.
GUANTANAMO,
October 9
AMERICAN SOLDIER VANISHES
IN GUANTANAMO NAVAL BASE
Army
Staff Sgt. Ryan Foraker vanished more than two weeks
ago. Foraker's wallet, military ID and civilian shorts
and T-shirt were found folded and stuck in a rock crevasse
outside the Camp America barracks, just yards from Camp
Delta where 598 detainees accused of links to the Taliban
or al-Qaida are being held.
Foraker
was last seen about 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 24 - his day
off - when he picked up a flashlight from his quarters
and vanished into the night. ñEverything we have learned
about him, there is not a single shred of evidence to
support any kind of wrongdoing," said the colonel in
charge of Camp Delta. He described Foraker as a model
soldier.
SAN DIEGO, October 9
STAR
CUBAN PITCHER AND HIS COACH IN U.S.
Star
Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras is in the United States
and under the control of immigration authorities after
defecting last week while in Mexico. Contreras, coach
Miguel Valdez and his 19-year-old son were being held
at an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detention
facility in San Diego on Monday, an INS spokeswoman
said.
Contreras,
who turns 31 in December, is considered the best pitcher
in Cuba. He was last seen at the America Series tournament
in Monterrey, Mexico, last Tuesday night. The three
Cubans entered the United States through San Ysidro,
Calif., and came into INS custody on Oct. 2.
Contreras, a
6-foot-4 right-hander, rose to prominence with his performance
against the Baltimore Orioles in an exhibition game
at Havana in 1999. He pitched eight shutout innings
and allowed two hits while striking out 10.
HAVANA, October 8
THE
DICTATOR EYES REINCARNATION AS GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
After
43 years in power, aging Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
has decided what he would like to do next. He has seen
in his ñcrystal ball" that he will be reincarnated as
the image of his close friend and Nobel prize winner
Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
"In
my next reincarnation, I want to be a writer. And I
want to be one just like Gabriel García Márquez,"
said Castro, in a letter published on Sunday in Mexican
Cambio magazine. Castro said he idolized his Colombian
friend's "obstinate and persistent attention to
detail that supports, like a philosopher's stone, all
of the creativity of his dazzling exaggerations."
The dictator
recounts how both he and Márquez, who he refers
to tenderly as "Gabo," were both in Bogota
on April 9, 1948. On that infamous day, a lone gunmen
killed charismatic Colombian opposition leader Jorge
Eliecer Gaitan, unleashing a civil war known as "La
Violencia," which claimed as many as 300,000 lives
over the next decade.
CARACAS, October 7
PRESIDENT
CHAVEZ SAYS FOILS NEW COUP ATTEMPT
Venezuela's
President Hugo Chavez, who six months ago survived a
brief coup by rebel officers, said on Saturday his government
had foiled another attempt to topple him. Chavez said
officers from the Venezuelan Armed Forces had uncovered
a plot by military officials and civilians to destabilize
the country within the next week.
"We
have stopped a coup. I have little doubt about that,"
Chavez, accompanied by top cabinet ministers, told a
meeting of mayors and governors. "Though we aborted
this one, the threat from fascist coup-plotters and
reactionaries has not disappeared and we must remain
alert 24 hours everyday," Chavez said.
Chavez, who
has often denounced conspiracies and vague coup plans,
did not provide details on how the alleged plotters
planned to oust him. But he said an army officer who
took part in meetings at which the plan was discussed,
alerted officials to a scheme to topple him before Oct.
10. Chavez said security officials had searched the
home of Enrique Tejera Paris, a former foreign minister,
who the president accused of leading the plot. Paris
was not arrested, but remained under investigation.
CARACAS, October 6
IT
APPEARS THAT GAVIRIA FAILED AGAIN
The
OAS Secretary General, Cesar Gaviria said Friday it
was critical that President Hugo Chavez and his opposition
agree on an agenda for dialogue to avoid more upheaval
in a country that suffered a coup six months ago. Gaviria,
who was concluding a three-day mission in Caracas, said
OAS representatives would return to Venezuela in two
weeks to help establish an agenda.
ñIt would be unthinkable if this
country's leaders don't give a peaceful solution a chance.
Each side must make a commitment," Gaviria said at a
news conference. Gaviria held closed-door meetings with
Chavez, pro- and anti- government politicians, business
leaders, labor unions, Church representatives, and news
media owners. He said his visit was meant to lend credibility
to effort by the OAS, the United Nations and the Carter
Center, headed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter,
to broker talks.
Representatives of a coalition of
about a dozen opposition political parties urged Gaviria
to help persuade Chavez to hold early presidential elections.
Gaviria, however, said the OAS ñisn't here to solve
specific problems, we're here to try to persuade each
side to go to the table." Opposition leaders insist
early elections are the only way to prevent more violence.
They accuse the former army paratrooper of leading the
economy into recession and inspiring violence against
dissenters by casting his political adversaries as enemies
of his self-proclaimed revolution to help the poor.
CIEGO DE ÁVILA, October
6
WHO
WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT?
After
42 years serving as the governmentÍs grassroots watchdog
organizations, CubaÍs Committees for the Defense of
the Revolution are having trouble attracting fresh talent
to their ranks. At a recent meeting of Committee No.
1, area 42, in Morón, to choose officers, no
one would accept the presidency, adducing every conceivable
excuse, until one 76-year-old who was, in the words
of one attendee, "obviously drunk," let himself
be drafted.
"After
so many years, I canÍt allow the Committee for the Defense
of the Revolution to go without a president," said
Henry Clark in accepting the job. The meeting was being
held September 28, the anniversary of the founding of
the Committees.
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 5
HACKERS DEFACE STATE DEPARTMENT
SITE
Unidentified
hackers scrawled virtual obscenities on a State Department
Web site, forcing the department to close the site down,
spokesman Richard Boucher said on Thursday. The obscenities
appeared on Wednesday on the Web site www.usinfo.state.gov,
which is designed to provide information to computer
users outside the United States. The site was still
out of order on Thursday afternoon.
Boucher
said the site was hosted by a server outside the State
Department and no sensitive or classified information
was ever in danger. A State Department team was investigating
the incident. Boucher did not describe the obscenities
or know if they were politically motivated.
HAVANA,
October 5
HURRICANES
ISIDORE AND LILI DAMAGED THE FINEST CUBAN TOBACCO
Two
hurricanes, Isidore and Lili that hit western Cuba in
quick succession have destroyed thousands of curing
sheds for tobacco leaves used in the island's famous
hand-rolled cigars, officials said on Friday.
Both hurricanes plowed through the districts of San Juan and Martinez, and
San Luis, which grow the finest wrapper leaves that
make Cuba's Cohibas and Montecristos "habanos."
"Everything
was cut to pieces by the winds," said the director
of the local tobacco company in San Juan, where 3.5
million pounds of wrapped-up tobacco leaves were lying
under tons of wooden planks and zinc sheets. Ninety
percent of the rickety wooden sheds used to dry and
cure the leaves were destroyed by Lili, local party
officials said. Six thousand of the 14,000 sheds in
the province of Pinar del Rio were knocked down. Tobacco
industry sources said the main hurricane damage was
to seedling beds, which would delay tobacco planting.
CARACAS,
October 4
CHÁVEZ
PRAYS FOR OAS ASSISTANCE
A delegation from the Organization of American States
(OAS) on Wednesday began the latest bid to broker talks
between President Hugo Chavez and his foes, who remain
deeply at odds nearly six months after a coup briefly
toppled the populist leader. OAS Secretary General César
Gaviria, speaking after a brief meeting with Chavez,
urged Venezuelans to avoid violent solutions to the
crisis as fears of fresh political upheaval rattle the
world's fifth-largest oil exporter.
"We are concerned about how
tensions have risen in recent weeks and recent days,"
Gaviria told reporters. "Talks between the government
and the opposition should help reduce the conflict ...
and leave aside forceful solutions," Gaviria emphasized.
Gaviria, invited
by the government for his second visit to Caracas since
April's uprising, also plans to meet with opposition
parties to try to hammer out an agenda for reconciliation.
Anti-Chavez union and business leaders have said they
will call a national economic shutdown this month and
plan to hold a march on Oct. 10 to call for Chavez to
resign.
MEXICO,
October 4
THREE
CUBAN PLAYERS DESERTED IN MEXICO
Amid
rumors that they had defected, two members of the Cuban
team -- including top pitcher Jose Ariel Contreras --
didn't show up for Thursday's game against Venezuela
in the Americas Series tournament. Cuban officials refused
to talk to the media during the game and threw several
photographers out of the bullpen. Miguel Valdés,
a former manager of the Cuban national team, reportedly
had defected along with Contreras. It was also reported
that pitcher José Ibar also had defected. A source
reported the desertion of Ariel Pestano, a catcher of
the Cuban team.
Contreras, who
turns 31 in December, caught the attention of major
league scouts with his performance against the Baltimore
Orioles in an exhibition game at Havana in 1999. Pitching
in relief, the 6-foot-4, 224-pound right-hander,
allowed two hits in eight shutout innings against
the Orioles' best players. Several players defected
from Cuba in the 1990s and some went on to become stars
in the major leagues.
WASHINGTON,
D.C.,
October 3
PRESIDENT
BUSH ADMINISTRATION TAKES TOUGH STANCE ON IRAQ
The
Bush administration took a defiant stance on Iraq on
Tuesday, opposing a return of U.N. inspectors until
the United Nations strengthens their mandate. At the
same time, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said
Washington would welcome the assassination, or exile,
of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "The point is
that if the Iraqis took matters in their own hands,
no one around the world would shed a tear," he
said.
Asked
about congressional cost estimates of $9 billion to
$13 billion for a start-up to an Iraq war, Fleischer
said Bush had made no decision to go to war. "I
can only say that the cost of a one-way ticket is substantially
less than that. The cost of one bullet the Iraqi people
take on themselves is substantially less than that.
"The cost of war is more than that. But there are
many options that the president hopes the world and
people of Iraq will exercise themselves." Fleischer
said later he was making a rhetorical point and not
a new statement of administration policy.
PINAR DEL RIO,
October 3
THOUSANDS
OF CUBAN HOMES DESTROYED BY HURRICANE LILI
More
than 360,000 people were evacuated in south-western
Cuba as the
area is battered by Hurricane Lili. The thousands of
evacuated people headed for special shelters as the
huricane vented her wrath on Cuba's coastline. Flights,
rail and road services, plus schools and businesses,
have been severely disrupted already.
Rains
over Western Cuba diminished Wednesday morning as Lili
moved away into the Gulf after uprooting trees and destroying
thousands of homes and tobacco drying sheds in the western
tobacco-growing province of Pinar del Rio Tuesday. Citrus
plantations in Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Youth were
damaged, with more than 40,000 tonnes of oranges and
grapefruits lost. It was the second major storm to hit
Pinar del Rio in 11 days, a one-two punch not felt in
Cuba since 1948. The hurricane caused one death.
Witnesses
said fallen trees and telephone lines blocked streets.
Power supplies were cut off in the province. "My
God, my house was small but it was my house. Now I have
no house!" wept a woman on the outskirts of Pinar
del Rio city. Her wooden home had been completely destroyed.
Cuba is still recovering from last year's Hurricane
Michelle, the island's worst storm in half a century,
which killed five people, made 200,000 homeless and
caused $1.8 billion in damage.
CARACAS,
October 3
CHAVEZÍS
POLITICAL ALLY SAYS U.S. REFUSES VISA
A
Venezuelan parliament deputy and close political ally
of leftist President Hugo Chavez accused the U.S. government
on Wednesday of refusing him an entry visa because of
his alleged links with Middle
East terrorist groups.
Tarek William Saab, a prominent member of Chavez's ruling
party of
Lebanese origin, who sometimes
acts as the government's foreign policy spokesman, condemned
the allegations against him as infamy.
The U.S. government
has criticized Chavez for seeking closer ties with anti-U.S.
states like Iraq, Libya and communist Cuba. The U.S.
refusal to grant a visa to Saab came as President Bush
was trying to gather support at home and abroad for
a military attack against Iraq. Chavez, who irritated
Washington in 2001 by questioning the U.S. anti-terrorism
war in Afghanistan, visited Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
in Baghdad in 2000, drawing a public rebuke from the
U.S. government. "They've got me in some black
list photo because I embraced Saddam Hussein and shook
his hand," the outspoken Venezuelan leader said
in remarks to local industry executives on Tuesday.
HAVANA,
October 2
OUTGOING
ENVOY BLASTS MEXICOÍS CUBA POLICY
Mexico's
ambassador to Cuba, Ricardo Pascoe, marked his last
day in the post on Monday with a letter to President
Vicente Fox that criticized the government for steering
its foreign policy toward the United States and away
from Cuba. ñAt this moment we are on the threshold of
a de facto ... rupture in diplomatic relations between
Cuba and Mexico," Pascoe, recalled two weeks ago over
a corruption investigation, said in the letter.
Traditionally
close relations between Mexico and Cuba have cooled
over the past decade and deteriorated even further in
the past two years as Fox's conservative government
made strong ties with Washington its central foreign
policy goal. ñI do not share in this policy, which is
not only irresponsible, but is also a historic mistake
by our country," he said in the letter. ñWhen we get
closer to the United States, we get farther away from
Cuba, and vice versa."
Pascoe,
a former leftist radical and prominent figure in Mexico's
leftist opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution,
was recalled to Mexico in mid-September to face a probe
over alleged corruption and he later said he would step
down. Most
believe Pascoe is being removed because he remained
a strong supporter of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro even
while Mexico has become decidedly less friendly with
Castro.
Las
weekend, Cuban officials said they have been informed
by the Mexican government that PascoeÍs replacement
would be Roberta Lajous, an official of the Foreign
Ministry and member of the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI).
HAVANA, October 2
POLICE ARRESTED 300 ñDIVERS"
IN GARBAGE TANKS IN HAVANA
Police
last week arrested more than 300 people scavenging for
food in garbage tanks in the capital and the surrounding
province of La Habana. A reliable source said that the
arrests were justified on the fact that 15 people sought
for various crimes were among those arrested.
The president
of the ecological group NATURPAZ, Osmani Garcia, said
the operation started in the capital and extended to
the municipalities of Guines, Alquizar and Guira de
Melena. Those who scavenge in the tanks are called buzos
or "divers" because they submerge themselves
in the tanks.
HAVANA,
October 1st.
CUBA
SAYS FOREIGN BANKS FINANCING US FOOD PURCHASES
Alimport
Chairman Pedro Alvarez, Cuba's top food importer, said
foreign banks were providing some of the money for food
purchases from the United States.
ñThere have been some financial operations with
third party banks," Alvarez said. Some foreign banks
with offices in Havana met with U.S. businesses at the
fair on Saturday, the first of its kind since Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. President
Bush administration is considering reviewing the sales
at the request of pro-embargo lawmakers.
Pro-embargo
lawmakers in Washington are demanding an investigation
into the sales to Cuba, which amount to $140 million
since December, charging U.S. firms are somehow skirting
the law. A measure before Congress would allow U.S.
companies to provide credit for Cuba's purchases. However,
the president has vowed to veto it.
Where
Cuba had obtained the cash for the U.S. products it
has bought since December was a mystery until this weekend
at an unprecedented U.S. food fair on the Caribbean
island. "It is my understanding a number of finance
companies and banks that have always financed Cuba's
food imports continue to do so, regardless of the origin
of the products," said an American banker.
CARACAS, October 1st.
CHAVEZ ASKS HIS SUPPORTERS
TO DEFY THE OPPOSITION
President Hugo
Chavez urged his supporters Saturday to confront an
upcoming protest march to demand his resignation. ñWe
must be ready to defend the revolution. At least 10
million must be ready to take the streets. They won't
be able to stop us," said Chavez, speaking to a crowd
of several thousand people in Caracas.
Government
opponents have announced ñThe Seizure of Caracas," a
massive march scheduled for Oct. 10, to demand that
Chavez, elected in 1998, step down. Chavez asked his
supporters -- many wearing replicas of his trademark
paratrooper's red beret -- to defy the planned march
with pro-government rallies. Venezuelans opposed to
Chavez's continued rule blame him for a wrenching economic
recession, rising unemployment and a political crisis
that has divided the oil-rich but poor South American
country.
Leaders
of the 1 million-member Confederation of Venezuelan
Workers, the nation's biggest largest labor union, plan
to stage a general strike in mid-October, to seek Chavez's
resignation. Fedecamaras, Venezuela's leading association
of businesses, decided to join the work stoppage by
asking its affiliates to give workers a paid day off.
By staging the Oct. 10 march in the capital and calling
the national strike, Chavez' adversaries hope to recreate
the conditions that spurred an April coup that left
Chavez out of power for two days.
FORT
WASHINGTON,
October 1st
UNBELIEVABLE!
--
(Published
in our LATEST NEWS of June 13, 2002) - - 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
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.
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 is an outstanding
professional and I do not question his democratic
values. However, due to my 30 years of experience in
Washington, I am sorry to say that the task assigned
to him 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 their past and present colleagues,
I have found out that many 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,
October 1st
JAMES
CASON: CUBA HAS A ñJURASSIC ECONOMY"
James
Cason, the top U.S. diplomat to Cuba, sporting a white
tropical dress shirt known as a guayabera greeted food
producers from across the United States Saturday while
visiting a giant agribusiness fair in Havana. During
his tour of the facility, Cason encouraged American
exhibitors to get their payments in cash, instead of
arranging financing for sales. Cason used the opportunity to dampen enthusiasm by cautioning
them about the risks involved with engaging in commerce
with Cuba. He also accused communist Cuba of having
a "Jurassic economy."
Cuban
Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, who also toured
the fair Saturday, responded that it was the U.S. trade
embargo that was from ñJurassic Park." ñThe embargo-sour
will someday be in the Museum of Natural Sciences in
New York - in a corner because no one remembers it,''
he said. Cason and Perez Roque stood a few feet away
at one point, but did not meet. Asked if there was any chance for the passage of legislation
that would dismantle the four-decade old trade embargo,
Cason said: ñThe president would veto it. He made it
clear. So I would concentrate on cash sales."
Munching
on an ice cream bar, Cason continued strolling past
the product-packed aisles, chatting with exhibitors.
''I
used to do trade shows, so as a vehicle for selling
trade it's great,'' Cason told representatives of the
Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Still, he warned,
ñCredit is a different ball game. They [the Cubans]
have the poorest credit in the world."
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