CARTER ENDORSES THE NOMINATION OF PAYÁ

    Former President Jimmy Carter has endorsed the nomination of Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá to receive the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Concord. The award is given by the Prince of Asturias Foundation, established by the Spanish monarchy, to recognize those who contribute to fraternity, the struggle against injustice and the defense of liberty.   Payá is the coordinator of a grass-roots initiative in Cuba known as the Varela Project, which seeks a referendum on greater personal, political and economic freedoms, as well as amnesty for political prisoners who have not committed violent acts.

     ñOswaldo Payá is a man of courage who speaks out for all Cuban citizens to have a voice in their country's future,'' Carter said in a written statement issued this week from Atlanta.  ñs leadership of the Varela Project and Christian commitment to human rights deserve international recognition.'' Last year, Payá received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Union's top human-rights award. The National Democratic Institute in Washington also gave him its highest honor, and he has been touted as a worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

    NEW ANTENNAS AN EFFORT TO JAM U.S.-BASED RADIO MARTI

    The Cuban government has installed four large parabolic antennas in Palma Soriano, in easternmost Cuba, which experts have said could be intended to jam transmissions of U. S. -based Radio Martí.

    "The antennas are about six meters (about 19 feet) in diameter and have been placed in the tallest structures: the water tank on the roof of the Palma Hotel, the Popular Council building, about 80 meters (about 250 feet) high; another on the water works water tank, about 300 meters (over 900 feet) high; and the fourth on the roof of the printing plant, at more than 100 meters (over 300 feet) high," said Juan Carlos Cárdenas, a human rights activist in Palma Soriano. It is widely known that at San Felipe, in southern Havana province, there are several such antennas, as well as in several other places on the island.

    POLICE CONFISCATE 20 PIGLETS FROM RURAL RESIDENTS

    Police confiscated 20 piglets belonging to four men, charging that they had bought them illegally. The four, José Luis Álvarez, William Mederos, and Edel García, residents of Cabaiguán, and Reinier Castellón, a resident of Yaguajay, said they bought the piglets for 8,287 pesos. They were transporting them home in a tractor when the chief of police for the Mayajigua sector arrested them.

    The men said they were taken to the Yaguajay police unit, where they were kept for more than 10 hours without food or drink before the unit chief, a major Valdivia, told them yelling and swearing that the pigs had been confiscated and would be butchered the next day. Valdivia justified the measure citing a resolution of the Mayajigua Popular Council, prohibiting the sale and purchase of pigs in the town to persons who live elsewhere. All the towns mentioned in the story are small, rural communities.

    CUBAN DISSIDENT CALLED A ñTHREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY"

    A lieutenant with the Department of State Security labelled a dissident here as a "threat to national security." León Padrón said he had been told to report on August 19 to a lieutenant Eric at the police station on Zapata and C Streets, but that several officers there said they had no idea who Eric might be. They told him to go home and wait for another summons, said Padrón. At around noon, a State Security who identified himself as Eric arrived at Padrón's home and confiscated his I. D. card, telling him he would have to retrieve it that evening at the police station.

    Padrón said that during their conversation, the officer told him: "You are a threat to national security; because of you and others like you the country could be bombed. What would you do if one of those bombs fell on the school your niece attends? If you continue with your activities, we will try you under Law 88." Padrón said the man concluded saying: "You are my enemy."

    HOLLAND TO WITHHOLD SUPPORT FROM THE 2003 HAVANA BIENNIAL

    As a result of the arrest of 75 Cuban cultural and social activists in recent months and their being sentenced to harsh terms of imprisonment of up to 28 years, the Prince Claus Fund has decided not to provide financial support to the 8th Havana Biennial, which will be held in November 2003. All those sentenced were engaged in the critical Cuban cultural and social arenas.

    The convictions signal a significant deterioration of the situation for intellectuals and artists. The body responsible for organizing the 8th Havana Biennial, which is an internationally acclaimed platform for non-western art, is associated with the government and has not distanced itself from the policy of prosecution. As a result, the Prince Claus Fund is forced to withdraw its collaboration.

    The Prince Claus Fund was a key financier of the 7th Havana Biennial in 2000, contributing 90,000 euro because of the high quality of the exhibition and the emphasis on intercultural exchange with artists in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.  The Prince Claus Fund sees its task as drawing attention to the difficult situation in which artists and intellectuals find themselves in Cuba at the moment. Under the present circumstances, it is particularly important to stand up for those who struggle peacefully for freedom of speech and for free cultural expression.

    NEW VENEZUELAN ELECTORAL COUNCIL PAVES WAY FOR REFERENDUM

    Venezuela's Supreme Court has achieved the remarkable feat of uniting supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chávez in praise of its choice of members for the new national electoral council. The council now faces the delicate task of organizing a possible recall referendum against Chávez. The appointment of the five-member council, unveiled by the court late Monday, had been held up for months by a deadlock in the legislative National Assembly between the pro-Chávez majority and the opposition.

    The key fifth member of the electoral board -- a chairman who will have the tie-breaking vote between two avowedly pro-government members and two from the opposition -- is to be Judge Francisco Carrasquero, a moderate who supports Chávez. The appointment of the electoral board -- which begins its work today -- removes the biggest obstacle to a recall referendum.

    Venezuela's Constitution allows citizens to petition for a recall referendum halfway into a president's term - for Chavez, that was Aug. 19. Last week, opposition leaders last week delivered more than 3 million voter signatures demanding a vote. Opposition leaders said the council's appointment was the beginning of the end of Chavez's government. Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the Organization of American States, applauded the move, saying in a statement that it would help provide a ñpeaceful, democratic, constitutional and electoral'' solution to Venezuela's political stalemate.

    DEMOCRATIC CONTENDER DEAN HARDENS CUBA STAND

    As he surges to the top of the race for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination and begins to think about a potential contest against President Bush, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean says he is shifting his views on the trade embargo with Cuba. Speaking to reporters during a four-day national campaign swing, Dean said he supports rolling back the embargo in order to encourage human-rights advancements -- but citing Fidel Castro's recent crackdowns on dissidents, says that in recent months he has become convinced that ñwe can't do it right now.''

    Dean called Cuba a ''political question,'' and said that recent developments on the island would prevent him from his goal of ñconstructive engagement of Cuba.'' ''If you would have asked me six months ago, I would have said we should begin to ease the embargo in return for human-rights concessions,'' he said. ñBut you can't do it now because Castro has just locked up a huge number of human-rights activists and put them in prison and [held] show trials. You can't reward that kind of behavior if what you want to do is link human-rights behavior with foreign trade.''

    In recent weeks, some Cuban-American exile leaders have openly questioned their years-long loyalty to the Republican Party, accusing Bush of breaking campaign promises to ratchet up the pressure on Castro's government. The reaction -- sparked by the repatriation last month of 12 suspected boat hijackers who were sent back after negotiations with the Cuban government to spare them from execution -- has turned into a potential political problem for Bush's reelection next year, and Democrats are already looking to exploit the situation. Bush's political advisors know that he needs strong Cuban-American support next year.

    US LIMITS CUBAN DIPLOMATSÍ POWER TO BUY, SELL CARS

    The United States said on Monday it will make it harder for Cuban diplomats in Washington to buy or sell cars, retaliating against them because Cuba imposes similar restrictions on U.S. diplomats in Havana. The State Department said it would bar staff of the Cuban Interests Section at the Swiss Embassy in Washington and their families from buying cars. They would, however, be allowed to keep cars they already own, import cars from an overseas vendor and buy vehicles from other diplomats or embassies.

    In a notice published in the U.S. Federal Register, the State Department said the Cuban diplomats may also rent cars from rental companies for up to 30 days, effectively depriving them of the lower rates that might come from long-term leases. "The primary effect of these terms and conditions ... is to restrict the ability of the Cuban Interests Section and its personnel to purchase, lease, or sell any vehicle in the United States," the notice said. The State Department said it was retaliating because Cuba makes it "inordinately difficult, if not altogether impossible" for diplomats at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to buy a new car or sell a used one.

    PRESIDENT CHAVEZ: ñSOME JUSTICES OBEY NOT THEIR CONSCIENCE BUT THE ïJINETERASÍ"

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said on Sunday, during his weekly radio and television show "Aló, Presidente," that the opposition does not really want to go through an electoral test with the government, while private TV networks are obstructing the designation of a new National Electoral Council (CNE) -first at the National Assembly and now at the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).

    "The deadline for TSJ (to designate a new CNE) is expiring, and a decision has not been made because some justices obey not their conscience but the 'jineteras' (as prostitutes are called in Cuba)," Chávez added, referring to the media. Even though he would not indicate the name of the justices who are under the influence of the "jineteras," sources said they are Antonio García and Pedro Rondón. "They (the opposition) want a CNE subordinate to 'jineteras.' They will not have it, and even if they managed to have it, we will not stand it. They are making a mistake," he warned. "I will not tolerate more. If private TV networks go beyond the limits we have established under the Constitution, they will put out of the air, and we will terminate the licenses they have been granted to use the electromagnetic spectrum."

    CASTRO: TV MARTI PLAN SURE TO FALL FLAT

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro predicted that new U.S. government attempts to use a satellite to broadcast TV Martí signals to the island would fail. ''I read something about that, and I was laughing,'' Castro said, answering questions from reporters at a book presentation by visiting Paraguayan writer Augusto Roa Bastos. ''Up to now, experience has shown that it has gone badly,'' Castro said of earlier efforts to thwart the Cuban government's jamming of TV Martí's signal.

    The Miami-based Office of Cuba Broadcasting said last week that within days it will start using a satellite located over the Atlantic Ocean to strengthen TV and Radio Martí signals. The satellite technology will cost nearly $1 million. Only satellite dishes will be able to pick up the new signal. TV Martí, which went on the air in 1990, broadcasts its signal from a balloon tethered to Cudjoe Key, about 20 miles east of Key West. Because of Cuba's jamming of the signal, very few people on the island have ever seen TV Martí. The United States has had more success at reaching Cubans through Radio Martí. Owning a satellite dish is illegal for Cubans. The government has cracked down in recent months, seizing antenna and reception boxes brought in from Mexico and Miami.

     VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT DEFIES COURT OVER CUBAN DOCTORS

     Venezuela's left-wing government on Friday condemned as politically motivated a court decision to bar Cuban doctors from working in Caracas' slums and said they would remain in their jobs. The ruling Thursday by the First Administrative Court rekindled a fierce debate in Venezuela about growing cooperation between President Hugo Chavez's government and communist Cuba.

    Accepting an appeal by the Venezuelan Medical Federation, the court decided that 417 Cuban doctors working in Caracas' Libertador district under a bilateral cooperation program were practicing illegally and should be replaced by local doctors. Calling the decision "grotesque," Health Minister Maria Urbaneja said the government would appeal.

     She told a news conference the Cuban doctors would stay in Venezuela and their numbers would be increased. "There is not a court decision that can be above our commitment to provide health and well-being for the people," she said. Opponents accuse Chavez, a close friend of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, of trying to install Cuba-style communism in Venezuela. More than 3,000 Cuban doctors, sports trainers, sugar experts and other technicians are working in Venezuela under a cooperation treaty that includes the shipment of 53,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil to Cuba.

    CONGRESSMAN DIAZ-BALART STATEMENT ON THE INDICTMENT OF CASTRO HENCHMEN FOR MURDER OF US CITIZENS

    Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) today issued the following statement regarding the federal grand jury indictment against the head of Castro's air force and two of its pilots who murdered three U.S. citizens and a permanent resident of the United States over international waters on February 24, 1996.

     "This indictment sends a clear message to Castro and his regime that the United States justice system will not tolerate the murder of its citizens.  I commend U.S. Attorney Marco Jimenez and Hector Pesquera, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI for doing everything possible to make certain that justice is served. 

    I have been working for this indictment and others for over 7 years.  This constitutes an important beginning toward justice for the crimes against humanity committed on February, 1996," stated Diaz-Balart.

    VENEZUELA TRIBUNAL BARS CUBAN DOCTORS

    The 1,000 Cuban doctors providing healthcare to Caracas' poor are illegally practicing medicine in Venezuela and should be replaced, a top appeals court ruled Thursday. The decision was a blow to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's ''Inside the Neighborhood'' program, in which doctors from the communist island nation provide primary care to people in the slums of Caracas. The program was widely assailed by Venezuelans who argued the doctors are practicing illegally and may not even be physicians.

     ''They gave them jobs without even seeing if they were doctors,'' said Douglas León Natera, president of the Venezuelan Medical Federation. ñThis is causing big public health problems.'' Leon's group filed an injunction two months ago seeking to bar the Cubans from practicing. They said Venezuelan law spells out what foreign doctors -- and Venezuelans who studied abroad -- must do to practice medicine legally in the country. The doctors failed to undergo the yearlong process to have their foreign degrees validated by one of the nation's nine medical schools. The judges ordered the government to replace the Cuban doctors with Venezuelans or licensed foreigners.

    U.S. INDICTS THREE CUBANS OVER 1996 PLANES SHOOT-DOWN

    A U.S. grand jury has indicted three Cubans on murder charges in connection with the 1996 shoot-down of two private planes near Cuba in which four Cuban Americans were killed, prosecutors in Miami said on Thursday. Federal prosecutors said Ruben Martinez Puente, head of the Cuban air force at the time, ordered the shoot-down, and Lorenzo Alberto Pérez Pérez and Francisco Pérez Pérez, Cuban air force pilots at the time, carried it out. The indictment may be largely symbolic since Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is unlikely to ever hand over the men to face trial. Prosecutors declined to address what specific steps they might take to bring the Cubans into a U.S. courtroom.  "We will take appropriate measures to see that the defendants are brought into custody," U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez said. The Cubans killed were: Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, Armando Alejandre Jr. and Pablo Morales.

    Many among Miami's Cuban exile community have long called for more aggressive action by the United States over the deadly midair encounter, in which two small planes flown by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue were shot down on Feb. 24, 1996, by Cuban MiG fighter jets near the Communist-ruled island. The indictment charged the three men with four counts of murder, one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and two counts of destruction of aircraft. Maximum penalties if they are convicted would be life imprisonment or the death penalty. "This was an act of premeditated murder," Jimenez said in announcing the indictment.

    Cuba has always maintained it shot down the planes because they were flying over its waters and had provoked Havana into action. Washington says they were flying over international waters and that unarmed planes should never have been downed in any case regardless of where they were flying. Prosecutors described an elaborate plot involving a Cuban espionage ring in Florida to lure the exile group's planes into a trap. The indictment came after weeks of growing discontent among some Cuban exiles, who have complained that the administration has not been tough enough on Castro. Until recently, the exiles were seen as a bulwark of support for U.S. President George W. Bush, who is up for re-election in November 2004.

     TV MARTÍ VIA SATELLITE A BID TO DEFEAT CUBAN JAMMING

     TV Martí will begin satellite transmissions to Cuba as early as next month in an effort to defeat the government jamming, U.S. officials announced yesterday. ''The freedom of Cuba's long-suffering people remains a high priority for this administration,'' Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the federal agency that oversees the broadcasts, said at the Miami office for TV Martí. ñOur efforts to provide a reliable, accurate and accessible source of news and information to the people of Cuba will advance the day when they can breathe free.'' The decision was viewed by some Cuban-Americans as part of an effort by President  Bush administration to quell rising frustrations among South Florida's exile community, which has openly criticized Washington in recent weeks for doing little to increase U.S. pressures on Cuba.

    Pedro Roig, director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, operators of TV Martí, characterized the satellite transmissions as ''historic,'' adding that ñthis will break the monopoly of information that Castro has over Cuba.'' TV Martí currently relies primarily on a regular TV signal, broadcast from a balloon tethered 10,000 feet above Cudjoe Key in the Florida Keys. Those transmissions have been easily blocked by the Cuban government, and few Cubans have ever seen its programs. The signal for Radio Martí, now broadcast on short-wave and AM frequencies, will also be broadcast on satellite, he added.

    ''We hope that the measures . . . will make it easier for the Cuban people to hear and see our signal through the electronic curtain that Fidel Castro has caused to descend upon the unfortunate Cuban people,'' Tomlinson said. ñBut if our efforts to penetrate this obstacle do not succeed, we will not stop trying. We will succeed.'' The signal will be broadcast from the Hispasat satellite, operated by a private Spanish company, which orbits above the Atlantic and close to the Brazilian coast. Hispasat provides a powerful signal with a ''footprint'' that covers all of Cuba and a large portion of Latin America, making it more difficult to jam, Tomlinson said. It is also widely used by broadcasters in Latin America and Europe.

    CUBA SIGNS FOOD SHIPPING ACCORDS WITH ALABAMA

    Cuba on Thursday signed agreements with Alabama and its port of Mobile to start importing food later this year, adding to a growing list of U.S. states trading with the communist-run island nation. Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks, heading a state delegation to Cuba, called it "the first step toward establishing a permanent trade relation" with Cuba.  Sparks gave to the president of the Cuban food import agency Alimport, Pedro Alvarez, a copy of a proclamation of his department which announces the  agreement between Cuba and Alabama. Alvarez said during a press conference that Cuba was set to buy $10 million worth of food.

    Maria Conchita Mendez, a Cuban native, manager for Latin American Trade and Development at the Alabama State Port Authority, signed an accord that will lead to regular shipping services to Cuba from the port of Mobile. "Mobile cannot fall behind," she said, in reference to ports in Florida, Texas and Georgia that have already signed agreements with Cuba. Mendez said Mobile would start shipments to Cuba in September or October and could become one of the largest ports serving the country. Cuba started buying food from the United States in 2001 after the U.S. Congress eased a 42-year-old trade embargo.

    U.S. REJECTS CUBAÍS CLAIM ABOUT ELIZARDO SANCHEZ

    The State Department rejected a Cuban allegation that a well-known human rights activist was a Cuban government informer, calling it another attempt to discredit Cubans who are seeking peaceful change. The allegation about Elizardo Sanchez, 59, who has headed a human rights group in Cuba for years, is made in a 67-page book published by the Cuban government and entitled ``El Camaján,'' or "The Chameleon.''

    Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Tuesday the charge is another example of an attempt by the Cuban government ``to create divisions in the opposition by pitting those dedicated to real reform one against the other.'' Sanchez acknowledged he had been in contact with state security agents in recent years, but denied that he had collaborated with them. ñI must tell you that I have confronted this regime for 35 years and my own history denies this frame-up,'' Sanchez told reporters at his house Monday.     

    BOOK SAYS CUBAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST IS CASTRO SPY

    Veteran anti-Castro activist Elizardo Sanchez, known around the world for his defense of human rights in Cuba, is a government spy code-named Juana, according to a book published by the government on Monday. The book by journalists employed in dictator Fidel Castro's communist government said Sanchez has been a secret service agent since 1997 and has informed on the activities of Castro's opponents and foreign journalists.

    But Sanchez, president of the Cuban Human Rights Commission, vehemently denied the allegations as an effort to discredit his opposition to Castro. "It's a colossal lie," the 59-year-old activist told reporters at his home. "It is part of a campaign, like those in the former Soviet Union, to disqualify and silence dissidents," he said. The book has sown further disarray and suspicion among Cuba's small dissident movement already shaken by mass arrests in March and the surfacing of a dozen infiltrators as witnesses during the trials of 75 members. The dissidents were sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years.

    Sanchez, who spent 8 1/2 years in jail in the 1980s, said the book entitled "El Camaján" (The Chameleon), was a montage of true and fabricated events. But the former Marxist professor who became a dissident in 1977 had difficulty explaining photographs in the book showing him apparently being decorated for his work by a Cuban intelligence service colonel. The pictures show him hugging the officer and toasting the occasion. "I can't remember. I think they were giving me a pen as a present and then there was an exchange of greetings," he said. Other photographs showed the gray-haired dissident meeting with an alleged intelligence agent in a Havana square and handing him papers on a park bench, and receiving a bottle of whiskey at another encounter.

    ANOTHER STRONG LETTER FROM LOCAL REPUBLICANS TO PRESIDENT BUSH URGING A NEW CUBA POLICY

   Dozens of local Republican-elected leaders have signed their names to a letter to President George W. Bush urging him to make changes to Cuba policy, a week after 98 directors of the Cuban American National Foundation and a group of state representatives sent the White House a similar notes. The letter echoes the message some Cuban-American leaders have delivered recently to Bush: GET TOUGHER ON CASTRO OR RISK LOSING CUBAN-AMERICAN SUPPORT IN THE 2004 ELECTION.

    ''We must not ignore the potential for significant erosion in the loyalty of our constituency, which is frustrated by the unfulfilled promise made by every candidate for president over the last 40 years: a free Cuba,'' the letter says. Hialeah Councilman Esteban Bovo, who drafted the document, said he followed the lead of several state legislators who sent a letter Monday to the White House asking for changes in Cuba policy. 

    The letter asks the president to authorize improvements in Radio and TV Martí; implement Title III of the Helms-Burton Act; abolish the wet foot/dry foot immigration policy that repatriates most Cubans picked up at sea; and stop the sale of food to Cuba by U.S. farmers. ''We supported your candidacy for President with great enthusiasm, and we expected a more proactive approach to the Cuba situation,'' the letter said. ñSadly, as of today, little has changed.''  The letter is signed by 34 Republican Cuban Americans who hold a wide range of offices, from County Commission to City Council. Unfortunately, last Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Power said that it is not a function of the United States to install a democracy in Cuba.


        

    CUBAN-AMERICANS ATTACK PRESIDENT BUSH POLICIES

    For the first time since he became a U.S. citizen decades ago, 62-year-old Santiago Portal won't vote for a Republican for president. The Cuban American says he's fed up with President Bush's policy on Cuba and is urging other exiles to choose someone else in next year's election. ñHe can't ask Cubans for votes if he hasn't helped the Cuban people get freedom," said Portal, holding a sign saying ñPRESIDENT BUSH PUSH FREEDOM FOR CUBA NOW! WHY ONLY IRAQ?"

    This kind of change of heart among Cuban-Americans - who overwhelmingly supported Bush in 2000 and helped ensure he won Florida's 25 electoral votes - has GOP officials in Florida concerned heading into an election year. Some Florida Republicans are now telling Bush they don't think his administration is doing enough to help the Cuban people and opponents of Cuban dictator  Fidel Castro's communist government. Even the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, publicly questioned the administration's decision in July to return 12 Cuban hijackers to be punished by the Cuban dictator.

    An increasing number of Florida's elected Republicans have urged the president to review or change his Cuba policy. ñIf our concerns are ignored, there's a real possibility that the Cuban community could" stay away from the polls, said state Rep. David Rivera of Miami, one of 13 Hispanic GOP state lawmakers who warned the president that he could lose support in Florida if he fails to revamp his Cuba policy. Bush took Florida from Al Gore by only 537 votes in the 2000 presidential election. The president received about 80 percent of the state's estimated 444,000 Cuban-American votes. Florida now holds 27 electoral votes, a tenth of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Some of Miami's Cuban-Americans are growing to distrust Republicans because of the lack of policy change. ñThey say: ïThese guys come down, they make promises to the community, they don a guayabera, they make promises in bad Spanish and they don't deliver,Í" Rivera said.

    CUBAN HIJACKERS RETURNED BY UNITED STATES SENTENCED TO PRISON

    A Cuban court has sentenced six Cubans who hijacked a boat to get to the United States to prison terms of seven to 10 years. The six were among 12 people accused of commandeering the vessel and repatriated last month after Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's Communist government assured Washington that they would face maximum sentences of 10 years in jail. The six others were released last week.

    A provincial court of five judges in the eastern city of CamagÙey tried the men on Monday and on Tuesday issued a verdict that declared them guilty of stealing a government-owned surveying boat with the use of violence. Antonio Carrion and Noelvis Martinez Carrion were sentenced to 10 years in jail, 22-year-old bakery worker Yosvel Chavez Novo got eight years and Adel Nápoles Rodriguez seven years. The court reduced to eight years the nine-year sentences sought by prosecutors for Angel David Velázquez Roldán and Mijael Suarez Martinez.

    The six men admitted in court that they stole the 36-foot (11-metre) boat called "Gaviota 16" from a port north of CamagÙey on July 15 and sailed toward the United States. They were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard. The boat and three guards taken hostage were returned to Cuba immediately while Washington sought assurances from Havana that the 12 accused hijackers would not be executed.  Cuban exiles in Florida were furious with the Bush administration for returning the 12 émigrés just three months after Cuba executed three ferry hijackers. Even Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in an unusual criticism of his brother's administration, said Washington should not have repatriated the Cubans.

    SENATOR DELAY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO WHO? CASTRO CELEBRATES AS CUBA SUFFERS

    House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) today called on Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to recognize basic human rights and grant his people free elections. "After decades of tyranny and a year of intensified oppression, Fidel Castro deserves no birthday wishes today," DeLay said yesterday. "While Castro celebrates his birthday, his people live in fear, terror, and hunger because of his merciless oppression."

    Castro, who turned 77 yesterday, has ruled Cuba with an iron fist since 1959.  Between 1959 and the late 1990s, more than 100,000 Cubans served time in Castro's prison camps and more than 15,000 were shot by his troops. According to a recent Amnesty International report on Cuban human rights abuses, "Beginning on 18 March 2003 the Cuban authorities carried out an unprecedented crackdown on the dissident movement. Seventy-five dissidents were detained, subjected to hasty and unfair trials, and, just weeks after being taken into custody, were given harsh prison terms of up to 28 years.

    "Amnesty International believes that they are prisoners of conscience, detained for the non-violent and legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association." Today the total number of such prisoners in Cuba is unknown, but is estimated in the thousands. DeLay is an adamant supporter of the United States' trade embargo on Cuba, designed to economically isolate the Western Hemisphere's only Communist state. "If Castro wants to give his people a real birthday present, he should embrace human rights, hold free elections and apologize for his regime's 40 years of theft, torture, and murder," DeLay said.

    PARAGUAY ABUZZ OVER CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTROÍS VISIT

    The expected arrival in Paraguay of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro for Friday's presidential inauguration of Nicanor Duarte in causing a stir in the tiny South American nation that like Cuba was once ruled for more than three decades by a tyrant. In Paraguay, where the vice president was assassinated in March 1999 without police ever catching the intellectual author of the crime, Castro's visit has sparked security concerns. Paraguay has been awash in rumors about assassination plots ahead of the Cuban strongman's visit. Some Cuban nationals were briefly detained in Asunción on Monday but apparently later released.

    The leading Asunción daily ABC Color on Tuesday published a full-page editorial saying that Castro should not be given the red-carpet treatment that he received in Argentina. The editorial, titled The Unwelcome Visit by a Political Dinosaur, reminded Paraguayans that, like the Cuban people, they too were ruled for decades by a dictator. Gen. Alfredo Stroessner's brutal right-wing military government ruled for 35 years, falling in 1989. The ABC Color editorial said ñwe can only ask if those who today are ready to receive with honors and adulation the Cuban dictator would have thought the same if it was Castro who governed our country with the same bloody methods.'' The editorial added: ñIn Cuba, there is not even recognition for the people of the only rights that the Constitution of 1844 recognized for Paraguayans: to have their complaints heard and to freely leave the country, which in practice has been converted into an immense prison.

    CUBA TRIES BOAT HIJACKERS RETURNED BY UNITED STATES

    The six men charged in last month's hijacking of a government-owned boat went on trial Monday in the central-eastern provincial capital of CamagÙey, authorities here confirmed. Honoring a promise to the U.S. government that they would seek no more than 10 years in prison for those charged, Cuban prosecutors asked between seven to 10 years for the men, according to those inside the proceedings.

    The men and the prison sentences sought for them were: Adel Nápoles Rodriguez, seven years; Yosvel Chavez Novo, eight years; Angel David Velasquez Roldán and Mijail Suarez, nine years; and Antonio Carrio Pena and Noelvis Martinez Carrion, 10 years. The case has sparked debate in Florida's Cuban exile community, where some leaders criticized American officials for repatriating 12 Cuban men initially suspected in the hijacking, along with three security guards who were held hostage.

    Exile leaders warned that the men's lives would be endangered if they were returned to their communist homeland. Even Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took criticized the decision by the administration of his brother, U.S. President George W. Bush. U.S. officials had initially worried about the men's safety because of the April 11 execution of the three Cuban ferry hijackers. But Havana assured Washington that the men would not be executed and prosecutors would not seek no more than 10 years in prison for those convicted. The Cuban government praised the repatriation as a rare example of U.S. cooperation and compliance with accords between Washington and Havana designed to prevent illegal migration.

    STATE GOP LEGISLATORS URGE ACTION ON CUBA

    A group of Florida Republican state representatives has drafted a letter warning President Bush he risks losing their support for the 2004 election if he does not adopt a tougher Cuba policy. The move, which amounts to a litmus test for federal candidates on Cuban issues, exacerbates a widening rift between the administration and some Cuban-American leaders -- many of whom have begun questioning their steadfast loyalty to the Republican Party.

    The letter, expected to be mailed to Washington today, echoes demands expressed recently by other Cuban Americans: revise current migration policy; indict Fidel Castro for the Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down; ensure that TV Martí is seen by people in Cuba; and increase assistance to dissidents on the island.

    ''We feel it is our responsibility as Republican elected officials to inform you that unless substantial progress on the above-mentioned issues occurs rapidly, we fear the historic and intense support from Cuban American voters for Republican federal candidates, including yourself, will be jeopardized,'' reads the letter, signed by 13 members of the state's Republican Hispanic Caucus (...) "Our public is very upset," State Rep. Juan Carlos Planas said Sunday. "[Bush] needs to know that unless things change, the support he has gotten in the past will not be there."

     Please, click here   Read the full article and the letter signed by the legislators 
  

    LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS CONSTITUTE "PROPHYLACTIC" GROUP AGAINST DISSIDENTS

    Three local government officials in the town of GÙines, south of Havana, have constituted themselves into a group they call "Support prophylactic group against government opponents." The three are the local delegate of the Popular Power in nearby Catalina, the local coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, and the area chief of police.

    On July 30, they called Virgilio Marantes to the shoe factory in GÙines, and informed him that they could open a process for "dangerousness" against him that could send him to prison for four years. They also told him the Revolution is benevolent, and that they would give him time to find a job and stop his activities directed against the Cuban government. Marantes is an ex political prisoner who has been fined on at least five separate occasions and has suffered several instances of harassment by government adherents.

    OTTO REICH: ñI KNOW THAT PRESIDENT BUSH IS INTERESTED IN DOING MOREƒ" --  WHO IS STOPPING HIM?  FIDEL?

    Otto Reich, White House special envoy for Latin America, said on Thursday that President Bush administration will step up efforts to pressure Cuban dictator Fidel Castro regime, aid dissidents and hasten the political transformation of the island. The new measures will include boosting U.S. radio and television broadcasts to Cuba and seeking international support for Cuban dissidents, Reich said in Miami.

      "I know that President Bush is interested in doing more to accelerate the process of change in Cuba, and it's safe to say that in the next few weeks and months you will see some additional steps," Reich said. The main objective of Reich's  failed trip to Miami this week was to reassure Cuban-American community leaders that the Bush administration will toughen its policies rather than merely carry out those of former President Bill Clinton. However, despite ReichÍs assurances, most Cuban-Americans have become dissatisfied with the president's policies on Cuba, which they see as ineffective.

    AFTER FORTY-FOUR YEARS OF CASTRO DICTATORSHIP, U.S. SEEKS "FRESH IDEAS" TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY IN CUBA

    Ruling out tighter sanctions against Cuba, President Bush administration is pushing for a democratic transition on the island through increased international pressure and more robust support for Cuba's dissidents. The administration dispatched to Miami this week Otto Reich, White House special envoy for Latin America; Dan Fisk, a top State Department Cuba specialist; and Adolfo Franco, an assistant administrator at the Agency for International Development, in hopes of coming up with fresh ideas for bringing about a democratic Cuba.

    Meanwhile, Roger Noriega, newly installed as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said a tightening of sanctions against the island is not an option. Noriega said it was a ñgreat tragedy'' that U.S. policy over the years has been focused on U.S. economic pressures on the island instead of looking to the dissidents themselves as the most effective agents of change.  Noriega also said the U.S. goal of  ñreaching out in solidarity to dissidents" will be a lot more effective if it has the support of the international community.

    However, Frank Calzon, director of the Center for a Free Cuba, said he strongly supports the appointment of Noriega but that he has doubts about the bureaucratic will to carry out Bush's policies. Calzon urged the administration to employ tough measures that, he said, have been available for years. Calzon cited the absence of an indictment of the Cubans responsible for the deaths of four Cuban-Americans in 1996. They were aboard two Miami-based private plane that were shot down north of Cuba by MiG jet fighters.

    CUBA WON'T PAY ITS FOREIGN DEBT

    Cuba's foreign debt has spiraled so high during its current economic crunch that creditors will probably have to forgive significant portions during any post-democracy restructuring, an official from the Inter-American Development Bank said on Thursday. "I think there will be a forgiveness element," Dennis Flannery, executive vice president of the IADB said at a Cuban economic forum in Miami. "I think the terms of restructuring Cuba's debt will be highly concessional."

     The conference of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy addressed rebuilding Cuba after a transition to a market economy -- something none of the participants expect under the communist government of President Fidel Castro. It painted a grim picture of the island's finances. Quoting from a U.S. State Department report, Flannery said Cuba's hard-currency foreign debt reached a record $12.2 billion in late 2002.

    The island has another $1 billion in commercial credits in arrears it is trying to renegotiate, owes Russia $20 billion, owes $6.3 billion on certified claims by American citizens and inestimable amounts of similar claims for expropriated property from its own citizens, the report said. Flannery said. Cuba's chronic delinquencies and mounting short-term debt have made it one of the world's riskiest borrowers -- credit analysts Dunn and Bradstreet rates it behind only Angola, Congo, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Iraq. You Cuba is a bankrupt country, said Adolfo Franco, assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development. If the trend continues a few more years, Cuba could require humanitarian donations of food to avert starvation, Flannery told reporters.

Please, click here   and read Dr. Cereijo's excellent article related to this issue

    THE NUMBER OF WEST NILE VIRUS CASES HAS TRIPLE

    The number of West Nile virus cases has tripled to at least 164 since last week and will likely break last year's record, a top federal health official said Thursday in the latest warning about the rapid advance of the mosquito-borne disease. ''The numbers are starting to change very, very quickly,'' said Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ''That is very concerning.''

    State health officials report seven people - all of them elderly - have died from the virus. Four of the deaths were reported in Colorado, the hardest-hit state. Health officials had expected the disease to spread this year to all corners of the country, invading Western states previously unscathed. But they appeared somewhat surprised at its speed. Symptoms for West Nile encephalitis or meningitis include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, disorientation and sometimes paralysis.

    Last year, 4,156 people caught the virus, and 284 died. There were 112 cases in four states at this point in 2002, when the United States suffered the biggest reported outbreak of West Nile encephalitis in the world. West Nile virus rarely kills, but about 1 in 150 people who get it will develop its potentially deadly encephalitis or meningitis. Most often, it affects the elderly. Of its seven victims this year, the youngest was 68.  Since West Nile first entered this country through New York in 1999, health officials have tried everything - mosquito spraying and other control efforts, prevention messages and disease detection systems.

    NO CHANGE IN CUBA POLICY

    Suggesting that the Bush administration is unlikely to make major changes in its Cuban refugee policy, new State Department chief of Latin American affairs Roger F. Noriega said Wednesday that any dramatic policy shift could invite a massive stampede from the island and a humanitarian tragedy.

    Asked about the Bush refugee policy, which has come under attack from Cuban exiles who say Washington should stop repatriating would-be refugees following the execution in Cuba of three people who had hijacked a vessel to flee the island this spring, Noriega stressed that ñwe remain committed to safe, orderly and legal migration with Cuba.''

    ''Any decision on our part that would lead to a dramatic outflow of people from Cuba, that would lead people to believe that we are somehow suspending our immigration laws, would invite a real tragedy,'' he said. ñCubans would conceivably try extraordinarily dangerous crossings.'' But Noriega qualified that statement by saying that while the Bush administration does not contemplate changing the so-called dry foot/wet foot policy, under which only Cubans stopped at sea are repatriated ñin light of the conduct of the Cuban dictatorship, it is not unfair to ask some of the questions that [exiles] are asking.'' ''I am not signaling any significant change in the policy, but we are constantly evaluating these issues,'' he said.

     ELOY GUTIERREZ MENOYO RETURNS TO CUBA 

    Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, a former comrade in arms of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro who broke with his revolution, said on Thursday he had returned to Cuba to work for democratic reforms on the communist-run island. "I return to work for a legal space for the opposition from which we can build a future based on pluralism and cohabitation," said Menoyo, who spent 22 years in prison for rebelling against Castro. Spanish-born Menoyo, 68, was enjoying a Summer vacation with his family in Cuba when announced his decision to stay in the island at the airport as his family left for Miami, where he has lived in exile since 1986.

    Some dissidents said his return changed nothing. One criticized Menoyo for never contacting Castro's opponents on his previous visits to Cuba. "I don't see any significant impact," said Vladimiro Roca. "He never contacted us or showed any solidarity, not even when I was in jail," Roca said. Since his release in 1986, Menoyo has been an advocate of reconciliation with the dictator, and an opponent of the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.

     DISSIDENT IMPRISONED IS HONORED

     Roberto de Miranda, one of the 75 dissidents and human rights activists jailed in March in a crackdown by the Cuban government, was honored with the Pedro Luis Boitel Award, named for a political prisoner who died in 1972. ''De Miranda has devoted his life to the establishment of free thought in Cuba, . . . tries to do his best for liberation of thought among young Cubans, and . . . to establish a society independent of the government,'' said Filip Dimitrov, who was prime minister of Bulgaria from 1991 to 1992. ''Such people are usually much hated by communist regimes because civil society is one of the greatest menaces to them,'' Dimitrov, a former dissident, said.

     De Miranda, serving a 20-year prison term, is president of the Association of Independent Teachers, an organization that seeks to keep political ideology out of Cuban schools. From Havana Roberto Larramendi, the executive vice president of the teacher's association, said by phone that he and other members were grateful for the gesture. ''This honors not only Roberto de Miranda but also the hundreds of teachers in the association who labor to keep education free of Communist ideology, which only teaches hate.''

    A CUBAN PHYSICIAN KILLED IN CARACAS

   A Cuban anesthesiologist, Alexis Ricardo Jiménez Pérez, 38, died on Monday at 11:30 p.m. in La Pastora, northwest Caracas, after being shot in the right cheekbone.  The Homicide Department of the Scientific and Criminal Investigation Force (Cicpc) and the Metropolitan Police of Caracas have launched the investigations on the case.
 Authorities are considering two versions of the incident. Cicpc estimates Jiménez was killed by a stray bullet. Apparently, Jiménez was killed amid a weapon confrontation outside the boarding house he lived in. 

    Meanwhile, the Caracas Metropolitan Police believes Jiménez was killed by people who entered the place. Jiménez was not working for "Barrio Adentro," a Cuba-Venezuela initiative to bring Cuban physicians to work in the poorest slums in Caracas. Jiménez was in Venezuela since 1995.Cuban government advocate censured for turnabout

    CUBAN GOVERNMENT CENSURES CDR MEMBER FOR SIGNING PROJECT VARELA

   "Give the people what belongs to the people," said Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) member Olga Lidia Arboláez at a meeting held to censure her for having signed on to Project Varela, an initiative advocating change in Cuba's government through peaceful means, such as elections. Arboláez was questioned by two police officials about having signed the Project, which the Cuban government strenuously opposes. Later, she was subject to a "meeting of repudiation" by a crowd in front of her home in CamagÙey.

    Arboláez argued that in Cuba liberty and democracy are needed, and that the best way to those ends is to let the people, through elections, come up with answers. She also challenged the members of the crowd, asking them to explain what and whom they feared. The woman later had to take refuge inside the house when a number of old people, members of the Association of Revolutionary Fighters asked that she be stoned.

    ANOTHER (VERY) HAPPY DAY FOR THE CUBAN DICTATOR, 12 CUBAN DISSIDENTS TAKEN BACK TO COMMUNIST CUBA ON MONDAY

    Seven Cubans -- dissidents and some relatives -- have won a rare chance to be resettled in a third country after the Coast Guard intercepted them at sea last week, but 12 other people on the same boat were taken back to Cuba on Monday. The seven will be held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay until they are sent to a country other than Cuba or the United States.

    Twelve others on the same stolen boat were held on a Coast Guard cutter for five days as authorities determined their fate, then taken to Bahía de Cabañas, Cuba, just after noon Monday, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Doss. Cuban-American activists and legislators had lobbied the White House for all 19 of the Cubans to be given safe haven because of their ties to the 24th of February Movement, an island dissident organization named in honor of Brothers to the Rescue fliers shot down by Cuban MiGs on Feb. 24, 1996. It seems that, as Governor Bush said a couple of days ago, President Bush's aides have "erred" again.

    The group reportedly included at least 10 members of the group and at least two members of the Democratic 30th of November Party and the Confederation of Democratic Cuban Workers. ''The administration says that all 19 were very carefully interviewed for claims of fear of persecution and I'm deeply saddened about the repatriation of the ones that were not spared,'' said U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-Miami). ''Nobody was ever thrown back over the Berlin Wall,'' he added.

    53 CUBANS ESCAPING FROM DICTATOR FIDEL CASTROÍS CUBA WERE RELEASED IN FLORIDA, 19 OTHER ALSO SEEKING FREEDOM ARE STILL DETAINED

    A group of 53 Cuban migrants who were detained after arriving at the Florida Keys last week have been released, but part of another group were still being detained at sea on Monday, immigration authorities said. The 53, which included two children, were released from Krome Detention Center over the weekend, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. They had been spotted on Key Largo on Thursday.

   Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard said that 14 members of a 19-member group intercepted about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Havana on July 28 were still being detained on board a ship. Petty Officer Carleen Drummond said the other five had been sent to the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they will be held indefinitely.

    Three Republican lawmakers from Florida had urged the Bush administration last week to admit all 19, calling them dissidents who could face retribution if returned to Cuba. A letter written by U.S. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart said the group was at ''risk of persecution'' by the Castro government. ''If they are returned, the 19 face retaliation and imprisonment by the Cuban dictatorship,'' the letter said.  Gov. Jeb Bush said last week that there should be a review of U.S.-Cuba immigration policy and that aides to his brother, President George W. Bush, had erred when they ordered the return last month of 12 Cubans accused of hijacking a boat.

     THE CUBAN AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION (CANF) DEMANDS AN EFFECTIVE CUBA POLICY 

     "It is with deep regret that we write this open letter to President Bush to express our disappointment with the administration's present Cuba policy: We write as your friends to ensure a successful Cuba policy, Mr. Bush.

    "When you were a candidate for president and again in Miami in May 2002, we heard words from you that gave us great expectations that Cuba policy would soon lead to a free and democratic Cuba. Unfortunately, the administration's Cuba policy has not been significantly different than that of the prior administration.

    "Today, we are no nearer to a free Cuba. The wet-foot/dry-foot policy is still in effect. Recently, the administration returned 12 Cubans to a dictator who denies basic due process of law and, moreover, a priori negotiated with the dictator their prison sentences. Radio and TV Martí still do not reach the Cuban people in a meaningful way. Castro has not yet been indicted for the murder of the four Brothers to the Rescue pilots, three of them U.S. citizens and all four Florida residents."

Please, click here   and read CANF's open letter to The President    

    CUBANSÍ RETURN ïJUST NOT RIGHT,Í GOVERNOR BUSH SAYS

    With political tension building over the U.S. government's decision to ship 12 boat hijacking suspects back to face prison in Cuba, Gov. Jeb Bush took the unusual step Thursday of criticizing his own brother's administration for the negotiations that led to the repatriation. The governor's rebuke comes as President Bush and the Republican Party face a rising tide of anger among Cuban-American exile leaders, who say last week's repatriation of the boaters is the latest offense by a GOP president who has failed to fulfill campaign promises to toughen policies targeting Fidel Castro's government.

    ''Despite the good intentions of the administration to negotiate the safety of these folks, that is an oppressive regime, and given the environment in Cuba, it's just not right'' to have sent the Cubans back, Gov. Bush said. ''There's an expectation that I'm going to be in lock step with the administration, and that tends to happen,'' the governor added. ñBut from time to time I have to disagree, and this is one of them.'' ''Early on, I was under the impression they would be sent to a third country,'' the governor said.

    The issue could prove politically damaging to the president, who relied, in part, on hundreds of thousands of typically loyal Republican Cuban Americans in 2000 to narrowly win Florida and, as a result, the White House. The president's advisors believe Florida could be pivotal for his reelection next year. The governor acknowledged in the interview that losing Cuban-American support could be devastating to the GOP, noting that President Bill Clinton's success in wooing even a mere third of their vote helped him win Florida in 1996. Acknowledging a failure by the White House to articulate a ''coherent policy'' on Cuba, the governor added that the president would announce major CHANGES in policy sometime before the 2004 election.   

    CHAVEZ WARNED THE UNITED STATES NOT TO MEDDLE ON VENEZUELAÍS AFFAIRS

    Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday warned the United States not to meddle in his country's affairs following comments by a U.S. official about a possible referendum on his rule. "I have to remind the U.S. one more time that they have no right to express their opinion ... we are an independent country not a colony of North AmericaƒI don't care what any spokesman from the State Department says ... this country must be respected,'' the president told thousands of cheering supporters during a street rally.

    Chavez, who survived a coup in 2002 and later outlasted a two-month opposition strike, now faces a campaign for a recall referendum from political  foes who accuse him of dictatorial rule. The outspoken ex-army paratrooper elected in 1998 has often riled Washington with his fierce populist, anti-capitalist rhetoric and close ties with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

    His comments followed remarks made by State Department spokesman Richard Boucher  urging the government and opposition to respect an accord they signed in May on the possible referendum on Chavez's rule. The Venezuelan constitution allows for a referendum on the president's rule after August 19 -- halfway through his current mandate. But the opposition says Chavez is trying to block and stall the vote. Boucher said Tuesday a decision on the referendum lies "with the courts, the National Electoral Council and the people of Venezuela, rather than with the executive branch of the government."

    SENATORS LIEBERMAN AND GRAHAM ATTACK PRESIDENT BUSHÍS WEAK CUBA POLICIES

    Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman assailed President George W. Bush Tuesday for an ñabandonment of American values'' in sending 12 Cuban boaters back to Cuban dictator Fidel CastroÍs communist island last week to serve prison time. Lieberman's attack marked the first push by a Democratic candidate for president to capitalize on a political rift within the Cuban exile community that has emerged in the days since the 12 suspected hijackers were sent back to Cuba.

    Senator Lieberman and Florida Sen. Bob Graham, who is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, are two of the party's most popular figures among Cuban-American voters. Lieberman pledged that as president he would increase aid to dissidents in Cuba and pay for stronger transmissions of Radio and TV Marti.  ñFor the U.S. government to negotiate a jail sentence for these people with a repressive regime that we know does not have fair trials is simply outrageous.'' About 400,000 Cuban-Americans from Florida voted in the 2000 election, and more than eight in 10 backed Bush. The President stood in Miami last year on Cuban Independence Day and read a list of Cuban goals -- none of which have been accomplished. The president ''has not done what he said he would do in relationship to the dictator who still rules Cuba,'' Lieberman said Tuesday.

    Senator Graham said the president was wrong to send the 12 boaters back. He called the decision to negotiate with the Cuban government and agree to prison terms of up to 10 years in exchange for avoiding execution a ''dramatic reversal'' in policy. ''I would have given them the opportunity to make their case for political asylum,'' Graham said. ñIf they did, I would have allowed them into the country, and if they didn't, I would have only returned them to Cuba with the understanding that they would not be adversely treated or discriminated against because they had attempted to flee the Castro tyranny.''